Irrigation management reforms in the Yellow River Basin: implications for water saving and poverty

Abstract

The overall goal of this paper is to better understand irrigation management reforms in the Yellow River Basin, especially focusing on the effect that it will have on water use and poverty. Based on a random sample of 51 villages and 189 farmers in four large irrigation districts in Ningxia and Henan provinces, both provinces in China's Yellow River Basin, the results show that two of the major types of irrigation management institutions, water user associations and contracting, have begun to systematically replace traditional types of collective management. The impact analysis demonstrates that it is not the nominal implementation of the reforms that matters, but rather it is the creation of new management institutions that offer managers incentives to save water. Specifically, when managers in reformed organizations are provided with incentives, they save water. Importantly, given China's concerns about poverty alleviation, the reductions in water have little effect on higher incidences of poverty. RÉ SUMÉ Le but global de cet article est de mieux comprendre les réformes de gestion de l'irrigation dans le bassin du Fleuve Jaune, en se concentrant particulièrement sur leurs effets sur l'utilisation de l'eau et la pauvreté. Pour ce faire, l'article poursuit trois objectifs. Il examine d'abord l'évolution des institutions qui sont impliquées dans la réforme de gestion de l'irrigation et de sa gouvernance, particulièrement les mécanismes qui encouragent les gestionnaires de l'eau à utiliser l'eau plus efficacement. En second lieu, il cherche à identifier l'impact de la réforme de gestion de l'irrigation sur l'utilisation de l'eau par les plantes, qui est la motivation première de toute politique sur l'eau d'irrigation. En conclusion, il regarde comment les évolutions des institutions de gestion de l'irrigation affectent la pauvreté. A partir d'un échantillon aléatoire de 51 villages et de 189 paysans dans quatre grandes zones d'irrigation des provinces de Ningxia et de Henan, toutes deux situées dans le bassin du Fleuve Jaune de la Chine, les résultats montrent que deux des types principaux d'institutions de gestion de l'irrigation, les Associations et les prestataires de services, ont commencé à remplacer systématiquement les types traditionnels de gestion collective. L'analyse d'impact démontre que ce ne sont pas les aspects formels des réformes qui importent, mais plutôt la création de nouveaux organismes de gestion qui incitent leurs responsables à économiser l'eau. En effet, quand des gestionnaires d'organismes réformés sont incités, ils économisent effectivement l'eau. Surtout, compte tenu des préoccupations de la Chine concernant la lutte contre la pauvreté, ces économies d'eau se font sans grands effets négatifs sur les plus pauvres.

Bridging critical institutionalism and fragmented authoritarianism in China: An analysis of centralized water policies and their local implementation in semi‐arid irrigation districts

“…WUAs, which are considered an effective public participatory approach for maintaining the sustainable use of water resources (Wang et al . ; Zhang et al . ; Hu et al .…”

Participatory Irrigation Management and Irrigation Water Use Efficiency in Maize Production: Evidence from Zhangye City, Northwestern China

“…The source of irrigation water may also influence IWUE. Farmers achieve higher IWUEs when groundwater was used compared to those who only use surface water shown in previous studies [36,40]. Groundwater is an important source of irrigation in the study area, so we include a variable to represent the source of irrigation water.…”

“…However, other empirical studies on the performance of the PIM find that most WUAs have not been universally successful in either saving water or improving farm incomes [34,35]. The main reason for the ill performance is due to their lack of cooperation with other institutions and the absence of training for WUA managers [36,37].…”

Managing the village-level open-access water resources in a region facing rapidly declining water availability

“…The collective action for pond management was taken by the group who directly were involved in pisciculture in the pond. Here, direct motivation came from economic benefit quite consistent with the picture in China (Wang et al 2003). Incentives and compliance were critically important to minimize deterioration and raise investment in critical resource management activities particularly at individual level.…”