Chapter 14 - Analysis of irrigation governance in Indus Basin: Key controversies and external factors affecting sustainability

Abstract

Water availability in the Indus Basin Irrigation System (IBIS), a typical arid ecology, is characterized by water scarcity and variability. The issues of water scarcity and variability in the basin are fiercely debated among researchers based on their area of training, geographical scale, and legal perspective. The technical and political debate on water issues at transboundary (between India and Pakistan), interprovincial (between upper riparian Punjab and lower riparian Sindh), and at field level (between head and tail end) tilts more to the political economy considerations rather than technical deliberation. The chapter is drafted with the objective to analyze key debates and performance issues, their potential trigger in global climate and socioeconomic changes, and potential role of technological and political factors. The institutional performance under potential threats and opportunities regimes is mapped using Ostrom’s design principles, and the validity of these principles in changing socioeconomic, technological, and climatic landscape is discussed. Institutional analysis is conducted at transboundary and interprovincial scale, considering historical and contextual factors shaping the water conflicts. At local level, institutional analysis of state-administered canal systems and indigenous irrigation systems is conducted for comparison of institutional arrangements routing water distribution among farmers. The comparative analysis of small-scale community systems and the large-scale state systems makes a case to understand vast hydrological landscape of Pakistan, on one hand, and attempts to understand self-governance issues in both types of systems. The synthesis of the chapter attempts to demonstrate that self-governance of irrigation systems and irrigation management transfer back to communities can be better learnt from community irrigation systems and way forward to sustain small- and large-scale irrigation systems under emerging threats of climate change, technology, commercial farming, policies, etc.