Organisational strategies in situations of water scarcity: self-administered irrigation systems in Mexico

Abstract

A systematic comparison of in-depth case studies of self-organisation for the administration, maintenance and construction of irrigation systems seems to offer interesting and suggestive results in terms of gaining familiarity with and analysing the capacity for self-organisation, as well as for discovering and classifying different organisational responses to similar types of problems. This presentation deals with our findings concerning typical responses in situations of water scarcity. The presentation begins with a discussion of the methodological basis used in the case studies of self-managed irrigation systems. This is followed by a review of background information on the capacity for self-organisation in the context of irrigation systems in Mexico. We then present our findings on organisational responses to water distribution in situations of scarcity. The paper closes with an evaluation of what occurs when no such organisational response is forthcoming.