Institutional innovation in groundwater governance in Odisha (India): A numerical simulation in water user association (WUA)

Abstract

In this study, I enquired the scope of cooperation in water resource governance that has potential to enhance net farm income by reducing the cost of water. Water user association (WUA) on groundwater is a government-subsidised cooperative model where farmers make collective decisions regarding water distribution. Many times, due to improper management of the groundwater resource system and its physical structure, cooperation collapsed. Moreover, subsidized irrigation water exaggerated water extraction, and as a result, the water table declined beyond the bottom of the well, threatening the sustainability of the WUA. In this study, I described diversity of agricultural production systems (APS) under similar community irrigation distribution systems. From diverse APS, I developed distinct farm types and substantiated them with theoretical viewpoints and empirical data. I further maximized net return of a farm by adopting cost effective cropping pat-terns. To maximize water conservation in a community irrigation distribution system, an incentive scheme in a principal-agent ( P-A) mode is devised that features a cooperative model. The P-A model results indicated that economic incentives offered for water saving from the WUA motivated farmers to adopt water saving activities at the farm level. In addition, WUA achieved maximum total water savings by reducing pumping operation. However, the impact of economic incentives for water saving differs by farm type. Therefore, the study recommends that a WUA should amend its water distribution institutions to encourage adoption of water-saving cropping pat-terns by member farmers by advancing multiple fixed and variable incentives.