Water Reform and Economic Development: Institutional Aspects of Water Management in the Developing Countries

Abstract

Irrigation projects offer increased and much needed food-production possibilities to a great number of developing countries. In this chapter, the authors explore some institutional possibilities for achieving water reform in canal irrigation systems. Although the several John Rawlsian principles cannot be claimed as a foundation, the Irrigators' Service Associations in the Philippines can be considered as an innovative institutional arrangement for achieving water reform. The authors take water reform to pertain to institutional modifications which alter patterns of water allocation among farmers. They provide a brief overview of the literature covering the role of water management in agricultural development. There is an abundant literature on both the production and the equity implications of the absence of good water management. There is some difference in the ways in which unreliable water deliveries can affect production. It is possible to view the production and equity issue in terms of quantity of water.