Composite Water Management Index - 2 | Economic Survey & Government Reports - UPSC PDF Download

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112 
 
Theme 5: Participatory Irrigation practices—Demand side management 
What does the theme comprise? This theme focuses on the involvement of users in the irrigation 
ecosystem through local Water User Associations (WUAs), and accounts for 10 points (out of 100) in the 
Index. Several experts and committees, including the Working Group on Major and Medium Irrigation 
and Command Area Development of the Twelfth Plan, have identified WUAs as critical for improving the 
utilization of irrigation potential and maintaining and upgrading irrigation assets. Comprised of local 
water users—farmers, WUAs have several competitive advantages in the management of irrigation 
systems, including deep knowledge of local needs and constraints, the ability to monitor irrigation use 
and to maintain assets, and the capacity to achieve local buy-in for pricing and fee collection. This 
theme, thus, focuses on whether states have established a legal framework to involve WUAs in 
Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM), the proportion of areas where WUAs have actually been 
established, and the user fees that they have been allowed to retain as a proxy for the level of 
decentralization of irrigation management.  
Key highlights 
 Non-Himalayan states North-Eastern and Himalayan states 
Top Performer Rajasthan Himachal Pradesh 
Bottom Performer Haryana Uttarakhand, Tripura, Arunachal 
Pradesh 
Median Score 5.46 3.33 
1-year Median 
Change 
-0.29 0 
 
  
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112 
 
Theme 5: Participatory Irrigation practices—Demand side management 
What does the theme comprise? This theme focuses on the involvement of users in the irrigation 
ecosystem through local Water User Associations (WUAs), and accounts for 10 points (out of 100) in the 
Index. Several experts and committees, including the Working Group on Major and Medium Irrigation 
and Command Area Development of the Twelfth Plan, have identified WUAs as critical for improving the 
utilization of irrigation potential and maintaining and upgrading irrigation assets. Comprised of local 
water users—farmers, WUAs have several competitive advantages in the management of irrigation 
systems, including deep knowledge of local needs and constraints, the ability to monitor irrigation use 
and to maintain assets, and the capacity to achieve local buy-in for pricing and fee collection. This 
theme, thus, focuses on whether states have established a legal framework to involve WUAs in 
Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM), the proportion of areas where WUAs have actually been 
established, and the user fees that they have been allowed to retain as a proxy for the level of 
decentralization of irrigation management.  
Key highlights 
 Non-Himalayan states North-Eastern and Himalayan states 
Top Performer Rajasthan Himachal Pradesh 
Bottom Performer Haryana Uttarakhand, Tripura, Arunachal 
Pradesh 
Median Score 5.46 3.33 
1-year Median 
Change 
-0.29 0 
 
  
 
113 
 
Figure 28: Performance of States and UTs on Theme 5 – Participatory irrigation practices—Demand 
side management 
Index scores, Range 0-10 (FY 15-16, FY 16-17, FY 17-18) 
 
At the overall level, state and UT performance declined marginally in the last three years, despite 
majority states having legal frameworks to promote WUA involvement. The median for the theme 
stands at 4.15, lower than the FY 15-16 and FY 16-17 averages. This is despite the fact that 80% of the 
reporting states (20 out of 25) have a framework in place to facilitate PIM through WUAs, suggesting 
regulatory frameworks, although may be necessary, but are not sufficient to improve participatory 
management practices. Theme indicators also reflect low rates of WUA participation in irrigation 
management activities, as well as unsatisfactory ISF collection by states and limited fee retention by 
WUAs, which are critical levers to enable sustainable participatory irrigation practices.  
At the category level, non-Himalayan states perform better than North-Eastern and Himalayan states, 
but both categories haven’t displayed any significant progress in the last three years. Rajasthan is the 
only state that has demonstrated exceptional performance on the theme, and achieved near-perfect 
scores in both FY 16-17 and FY 17-18.  
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112 
 
Theme 5: Participatory Irrigation practices—Demand side management 
What does the theme comprise? This theme focuses on the involvement of users in the irrigation 
ecosystem through local Water User Associations (WUAs), and accounts for 10 points (out of 100) in the 
Index. Several experts and committees, including the Working Group on Major and Medium Irrigation 
and Command Area Development of the Twelfth Plan, have identified WUAs as critical for improving the 
utilization of irrigation potential and maintaining and upgrading irrigation assets. Comprised of local 
water users—farmers, WUAs have several competitive advantages in the management of irrigation 
systems, including deep knowledge of local needs and constraints, the ability to monitor irrigation use 
and to maintain assets, and the capacity to achieve local buy-in for pricing and fee collection. This 
theme, thus, focuses on whether states have established a legal framework to involve WUAs in 
Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM), the proportion of areas where WUAs have actually been 
established, and the user fees that they have been allowed to retain as a proxy for the level of 
decentralization of irrigation management.  
Key highlights 
 Non-Himalayan states North-Eastern and Himalayan states 
Top Performer Rajasthan Himachal Pradesh 
Bottom Performer Haryana Uttarakhand, Tripura, Arunachal 
Pradesh 
Median Score 5.46 3.33 
1-year Median 
Change 
-0.29 0 
 
  
 
113 
 
Figure 28: Performance of States and UTs on Theme 5 – Participatory irrigation practices—Demand 
side management 
Index scores, Range 0-10 (FY 15-16, FY 16-17, FY 17-18) 
 
At the overall level, state and UT performance declined marginally in the last three years, despite 
majority states having legal frameworks to promote WUA involvement. The median for the theme 
stands at 4.15, lower than the FY 15-16 and FY 16-17 averages. This is despite the fact that 80% of the 
reporting states (20 out of 25) have a framework in place to facilitate PIM through WUAs, suggesting 
regulatory frameworks, although may be necessary, but are not sufficient to improve participatory 
management practices. Theme indicators also reflect low rates of WUA participation in irrigation 
management activities, as well as unsatisfactory ISF collection by states and limited fee retention by 
WUAs, which are critical levers to enable sustainable participatory irrigation practices.  
At the category level, non-Himalayan states perform better than North-Eastern and Himalayan states, 
but both categories haven’t displayed any significant progress in the last three years. Rajasthan is the 
only state that has demonstrated exceptional performance on the theme, and achieved near-perfect 
scores in both FY 16-17 and FY 17-18.  
 
114 
 
As mentioned earlier, increased user participation in irrigation management can significantly improve 
asset maintenance and water use efficiency. While regulatory frameworks exist in most states to 
institutionalize participation of WUAs, financial support is needed to enable them to successfully 
execute their responsibilities. High retention of ISF fees by WUAs is one potential way to empower them 
financially through monetary incentives. This is observed in case of Rajasthan where WUAs retain 100% 
of the ISF and have deep involvement in irrigation management practices. Additionally, capacity building 
and technical training for WUAs are also important aspects, and can help ensure success of such 
participatory models. 
As discussed earlier, the theme comprises of three indicators. The following section provides 
commentary on the indicator-level performance for these indicators assessed under the theme.  
 
Indicator 13 is a binary indicator specifying whether a state has established a legal framework to 
facilitate Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) through Water User Associations (WUAs). A Water 
User Association (WUA) is a grouping of local water users, largely farmers, that pool together financial 
and operational resources for the maintenance of irrigation systems, and in some cases, negotiate water 
prices with the service providers and collect user fees. As described previously, WUAs have significant 
competitive advantages in the Operations and Management (O&M) and user fee collection for irrigation 
systems due to their local knowledge and direct incentives. Arunachal Pradesh and Delhi were unable to 
report data on the indicator and have been scored nil on the indicator in the Index calculation.  
  
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112 
 
Theme 5: Participatory Irrigation practices—Demand side management 
What does the theme comprise? This theme focuses on the involvement of users in the irrigation 
ecosystem through local Water User Associations (WUAs), and accounts for 10 points (out of 100) in the 
Index. Several experts and committees, including the Working Group on Major and Medium Irrigation 
and Command Area Development of the Twelfth Plan, have identified WUAs as critical for improving the 
utilization of irrigation potential and maintaining and upgrading irrigation assets. Comprised of local 
water users—farmers, WUAs have several competitive advantages in the management of irrigation 
systems, including deep knowledge of local needs and constraints, the ability to monitor irrigation use 
and to maintain assets, and the capacity to achieve local buy-in for pricing and fee collection. This 
theme, thus, focuses on whether states have established a legal framework to involve WUAs in 
Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM), the proportion of areas where WUAs have actually been 
established, and the user fees that they have been allowed to retain as a proxy for the level of 
decentralization of irrigation management.  
Key highlights 
 Non-Himalayan states North-Eastern and Himalayan states 
Top Performer Rajasthan Himachal Pradesh 
Bottom Performer Haryana Uttarakhand, Tripura, Arunachal 
Pradesh 
Median Score 5.46 3.33 
1-year Median 
Change 
-0.29 0 
 
  
 
113 
 
Figure 28: Performance of States and UTs on Theme 5 – Participatory irrigation practices—Demand 
side management 
Index scores, Range 0-10 (FY 15-16, FY 16-17, FY 17-18) 
 
At the overall level, state and UT performance declined marginally in the last three years, despite 
majority states having legal frameworks to promote WUA involvement. The median for the theme 
stands at 4.15, lower than the FY 15-16 and FY 16-17 averages. This is despite the fact that 80% of the 
reporting states (20 out of 25) have a framework in place to facilitate PIM through WUAs, suggesting 
regulatory frameworks, although may be necessary, but are not sufficient to improve participatory 
management practices. Theme indicators also reflect low rates of WUA participation in irrigation 
management activities, as well as unsatisfactory ISF collection by states and limited fee retention by 
WUAs, which are critical levers to enable sustainable participatory irrigation practices.  
At the category level, non-Himalayan states perform better than North-Eastern and Himalayan states, 
but both categories haven’t displayed any significant progress in the last three years. Rajasthan is the 
only state that has demonstrated exceptional performance on the theme, and achieved near-perfect 
scores in both FY 16-17 and FY 17-18.  
 
114 
 
As mentioned earlier, increased user participation in irrigation management can significantly improve 
asset maintenance and water use efficiency. While regulatory frameworks exist in most states to 
institutionalize participation of WUAs, financial support is needed to enable them to successfully 
execute their responsibilities. High retention of ISF fees by WUAs is one potential way to empower them 
financially through monetary incentives. This is observed in case of Rajasthan where WUAs retain 100% 
of the ISF and have deep involvement in irrigation management practices. Additionally, capacity building 
and technical training for WUAs are also important aspects, and can help ensure success of such 
participatory models. 
As discussed earlier, the theme comprises of three indicators. The following section provides 
commentary on the indicator-level performance for these indicators assessed under the theme.  
 
Indicator 13 is a binary indicator specifying whether a state has established a legal framework to 
facilitate Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) through Water User Associations (WUAs). A Water 
User Association (WUA) is a grouping of local water users, largely farmers, that pool together financial 
and operational resources for the maintenance of irrigation systems, and in some cases, negotiate water 
prices with the service providers and collect user fees. As described previously, WUAs have significant 
competitive advantages in the Operations and Management (O&M) and user fee collection for irrigation 
systems due to their local knowledge and direct incentives. Arunachal Pradesh and Delhi were unable to 
report data on the indicator and have been scored nil on the indicator in the Index calculation.  
  
 
115 
 
Figure 29: Indicator 13: Has the state notified any law/ legal framework to facilitate Participatory 
Irrigation Management (PIM) through Water User Associations (WUAs)? 
(FY 15-17, FY 17-18) 
 
Similar to last year, 80% states and UTs have notified a legal framework for involving WUAs in 
participatory irrigation management. 20 out of 25 reporting states and UTs reported having a 
framework in place, while only Haryana, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, Tripura and Puducherry are yet to 
institute such a framework. Majority of states have drafted legislations to promote WUA involvement, 
but this has not been sufficient to drive improvement in participatory irrigation management at the 
ground level. This is reflected by the low theme median score of 4.15 points (out of 10), and poor 
performance of states and UTs scores on the remaining indicators under the theme (indicator 14 and 15) 
related to WUA participation in irrigation management.  
States can use these legislations strategically to enable effective functioning of WUAs. Through 
adequate legal recognition, states can help WUAs define rights and duties of its members, its 
relationship with irrigation department, irrigation maintenance responsibilities, as well as potential 
income sources. Additionally, such legislations can help ensure accountability and support conflict 
resolutions in their functioning.
150
 Outcomes from Participatory Irrigation Practices through WUAs in 
the Waghad region of Maharashtra have demonstrated notable success. Farmers have contributed up 
to INR 50 lakhs (cumulatively) to support development activities in the region. As a result, through 
this participatory approach, there has been increase in overall irrigation area by between ~1500 
hectares between 2004 and 2014-15, improvement in adoption of drip irrigation amongst farmers 
(rising from 25% to 40% between the mentioned period), almost 100% recovery of water charges, 
27% water saving, and rise in average farmer incomes from INR 60,000 to ~INR 2,90,000.
151
 
                                                           
150
  Participatory Irrigation Management: Understanding the Role of Cooperative Culture (International Commission on Irrigation and 
Drainage, 2013) page 5, https://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/water_cooperation_2013/pdf/ICID_Paper_Avinahs_Tyagi.pdf. 
151
 Selected Best Practices in Water Management (NITI Aayog, 2017), 
https://niti.gov.in/writereaddata/files/document_publication/BestPractices-in-Water-Management.pdf 
Page 5


 
112 
 
Theme 5: Participatory Irrigation practices—Demand side management 
What does the theme comprise? This theme focuses on the involvement of users in the irrigation 
ecosystem through local Water User Associations (WUAs), and accounts for 10 points (out of 100) in the 
Index. Several experts and committees, including the Working Group on Major and Medium Irrigation 
and Command Area Development of the Twelfth Plan, have identified WUAs as critical for improving the 
utilization of irrigation potential and maintaining and upgrading irrigation assets. Comprised of local 
water users—farmers, WUAs have several competitive advantages in the management of irrigation 
systems, including deep knowledge of local needs and constraints, the ability to monitor irrigation use 
and to maintain assets, and the capacity to achieve local buy-in for pricing and fee collection. This 
theme, thus, focuses on whether states have established a legal framework to involve WUAs in 
Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM), the proportion of areas where WUAs have actually been 
established, and the user fees that they have been allowed to retain as a proxy for the level of 
decentralization of irrigation management.  
Key highlights 
 Non-Himalayan states North-Eastern and Himalayan states 
Top Performer Rajasthan Himachal Pradesh 
Bottom Performer Haryana Uttarakhand, Tripura, Arunachal 
Pradesh 
Median Score 5.46 3.33 
1-year Median 
Change 
-0.29 0 
 
  
 
113 
 
Figure 28: Performance of States and UTs on Theme 5 – Participatory irrigation practices—Demand 
side management 
Index scores, Range 0-10 (FY 15-16, FY 16-17, FY 17-18) 
 
At the overall level, state and UT performance declined marginally in the last three years, despite 
majority states having legal frameworks to promote WUA involvement. The median for the theme 
stands at 4.15, lower than the FY 15-16 and FY 16-17 averages. This is despite the fact that 80% of the 
reporting states (20 out of 25) have a framework in place to facilitate PIM through WUAs, suggesting 
regulatory frameworks, although may be necessary, but are not sufficient to improve participatory 
management practices. Theme indicators also reflect low rates of WUA participation in irrigation 
management activities, as well as unsatisfactory ISF collection by states and limited fee retention by 
WUAs, which are critical levers to enable sustainable participatory irrigation practices.  
At the category level, non-Himalayan states perform better than North-Eastern and Himalayan states, 
but both categories haven’t displayed any significant progress in the last three years. Rajasthan is the 
only state that has demonstrated exceptional performance on the theme, and achieved near-perfect 
scores in both FY 16-17 and FY 17-18.  
 
114 
 
As mentioned earlier, increased user participation in irrigation management can significantly improve 
asset maintenance and water use efficiency. While regulatory frameworks exist in most states to 
institutionalize participation of WUAs, financial support is needed to enable them to successfully 
execute their responsibilities. High retention of ISF fees by WUAs is one potential way to empower them 
financially through monetary incentives. This is observed in case of Rajasthan where WUAs retain 100% 
of the ISF and have deep involvement in irrigation management practices. Additionally, capacity building 
and technical training for WUAs are also important aspects, and can help ensure success of such 
participatory models. 
As discussed earlier, the theme comprises of three indicators. The following section provides 
commentary on the indicator-level performance for these indicators assessed under the theme.  
 
Indicator 13 is a binary indicator specifying whether a state has established a legal framework to 
facilitate Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) through Water User Associations (WUAs). A Water 
User Association (WUA) is a grouping of local water users, largely farmers, that pool together financial 
and operational resources for the maintenance of irrigation systems, and in some cases, negotiate water 
prices with the service providers and collect user fees. As described previously, WUAs have significant 
competitive advantages in the Operations and Management (O&M) and user fee collection for irrigation 
systems due to their local knowledge and direct incentives. Arunachal Pradesh and Delhi were unable to 
report data on the indicator and have been scored nil on the indicator in the Index calculation.  
  
 
115 
 
Figure 29: Indicator 13: Has the state notified any law/ legal framework to facilitate Participatory 
Irrigation Management (PIM) through Water User Associations (WUAs)? 
(FY 15-17, FY 17-18) 
 
Similar to last year, 80% states and UTs have notified a legal framework for involving WUAs in 
participatory irrigation management. 20 out of 25 reporting states and UTs reported having a 
framework in place, while only Haryana, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, Tripura and Puducherry are yet to 
institute such a framework. Majority of states have drafted legislations to promote WUA involvement, 
but this has not been sufficient to drive improvement in participatory irrigation management at the 
ground level. This is reflected by the low theme median score of 4.15 points (out of 10), and poor 
performance of states and UTs scores on the remaining indicators under the theme (indicator 14 and 15) 
related to WUA participation in irrigation management.  
States can use these legislations strategically to enable effective functioning of WUAs. Through 
adequate legal recognition, states can help WUAs define rights and duties of its members, its 
relationship with irrigation department, irrigation maintenance responsibilities, as well as potential 
income sources. Additionally, such legislations can help ensure accountability and support conflict 
resolutions in their functioning.
150
 Outcomes from Participatory Irrigation Practices through WUAs in 
the Waghad region of Maharashtra have demonstrated notable success. Farmers have contributed up 
to INR 50 lakhs (cumulatively) to support development activities in the region. As a result, through 
this participatory approach, there has been increase in overall irrigation area by between ~1500 
hectares between 2004 and 2014-15, improvement in adoption of drip irrigation amongst farmers 
(rising from 25% to 40% between the mentioned period), almost 100% recovery of water charges, 
27% water saving, and rise in average farmer incomes from INR 60,000 to ~INR 2,90,000.
151
 
                                                           
150
  Participatory Irrigation Management: Understanding the Role of Cooperative Culture (International Commission on Irrigation and 
Drainage, 2013) page 5, https://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/water_cooperation_2013/pdf/ICID_Paper_Avinahs_Tyagi.pdf. 
151
 Selected Best Practices in Water Management (NITI Aayog, 2017), 
https://niti.gov.in/writereaddata/files/document_publication/BestPractices-in-Water-Management.pdf 
 
116 
 
Case study: Participatory Irrigation Management: WUA managing dam system operations in Uttar 
Pradesh
152
 
 
Overview  
Uttar Pradesh has demonstrated effective use of its Participatory Irrigation Management Act, and 
enabled the WUA to take charge of the Rohini Dam System in Bundelkhand region of the state. The state 
has undertaken capacity building activities for WUA in the region, through World Bank’s support and 
handed over the charge of the system in 2018 post conducting necessary training activities.  
This initiative, through timely execution of all planned activities, has also led to increased and equitable 
water availability in the region. Along with this, considerable amount of water saving is also being 
observed. 
Key actions  
1. The state conducted capacity building for the WUA in association with the World Bank, and 
handed over the responsibility of the system post the training activities.  
2. Once the charge was handed over, the WUA members jointly developed a roaster to assign 
duties amongst themselves for ensuring timely execution of activities.  
3. A Management Committee has also been formed as a part of the process for executive decision 
making. 
Impact 
The project activities have led to 1.13 TMC water being saved in the region. Tails of Chauka and Garauli 
Minor have received water after 27 years, due to the activities undertaken through this initiative. This 
has also led to equitable distribution of water through adoption of tail end irrigation principle. It has 
ensured that no disputes related to canal operation persist among farmers. 
Lessons for other states 
Empower WUAs through capacity building: States should invest in building capacity of its WUAs 
through adequate training and skill building workshops. This can enable WUA to take on larger 
responsibilities in irrigation management practices, as well as ensure successful execution of duties. 
Deeper involvement by WUAs can also help ensure regular maintenance and proper upkeep of systems, 
and increase longevity of irrigation assets.   
                                                           
152
  As per case study shared by the state government with NITI Aayog