Water Users Associations in World Bank-Assisted Irrigation Projects in Pakistan

The field study carried out on Pakistan's water users' associations (WUA) examines one of the most interesting social experiments in World Bank financed irrigation projects. The essence of this experiment is a significant enhancement of the organizational capacity of the local social actors in state owned irrigation systems. This study explores how the three main sets of WUA functions are performed: (a) water management - allocation/distribution; (b) infrastructure maintenance at the system's end-level; and (c) management of the members' group itself. The study found significant variation in the degree to which different WUAs, once formed, continued to be effective participants in irrigation management or in other functions. Many of the WUAs studies were most active in watercourse design, construction, or brick-lining, and more broadly in resource mobilization. However, after physically improving the watercourse some WUAs faded, for various reasons, while others became active in water-related decision making and conflict resolution. This paper also identifies the areas in which further assistance could overcome persistent institutional weaknesses and increase the returns on investments in WUAs.