AQUASTAT - FAO's Global Information System on Water and Agriculture

    Institutional framework

    During the AQUASTAT country updates, in addition to quantitative information, qualitative information is gathered on a number of different issues.

    Referring to the themes "Water management, policies and legislation to water use in agriculture" and "Legislative and institutional framework of water management", qualitative information is collected on:

    Institutions:

    • Main institutions in water management: description and mandates, delegation and decentralization, with particular attention to irrigation and drainage development such as planning, investments, operation and maintenance, quality control of the service, status of these institutions.
    • Key players in irrigation and drainage development: planning, investments, creation/management, operation and maintenance, control of the quality of the service, fixing and control of prices.
    • System of control of water use, of pollution and of drainage water disposal; is the role of water supply and pollution control under the same body or a different body?

    Water management:

    • Water user associations (WUAs) and other local management bodies/mechanisms: status and role, relations with other coordination structures.
    • Organization of the management of water in agriculture and territorial level of competencies: local, provincial, regional and national, degree of transfer water and irrigation management, trends.
    • Training, extension, capacity building, information management.

    Finances:

    • Level of financial autonomy of authorities in charge of irrigation.
    • Modalities for funding and cost recovery of irrigation: fees (fee/tariff principle - according to demand, to offer, by volume, by area, etc.).
    • System of financial incentives: subsidies in agriculture and irrigation.

    Policies and legislation:

    • Water and irrigation policies: laws, codes, decrees, etc., their main orientation, date approved.
    • Agriculture-related policies having an effect on water management: main principles and goals (food security, economic development, equity, liberalization, privatization etc.).
    • Main elements of the water and land regulations (access to water and land, fiscal regime): status, implementation, changes, role of traditional ruling systems in water management.

    Referring to "Prospects for agricultural water management", qualitative information is collected on the long-term trends and prospects (future total water demands, future agricultural water demands) and factors that may influence future agricultural water use and irrigation in the country or region, such as: free trade on agricultural products, reallocation of water due to the competition with other sectors, decrease of agricultural irrigated product prices, change in consumer diets, disengagement of the state, strengthening of environmental protection:

    • Performance of irrigation: competition or integration with other sectors (for example integration of irrigation with aquaculture), directions for progress, constraints or opportunities to irrigation development and management (environmental, social, economic ).
    • Impact of recent policy changes in water resources, irrigation management, integration of irrigation in other sectors, and the role of irrigation in food production/food security.
    • Existing policies/strategies for natural hazards mitigation (drought or floods).
    • Policies for funding of irrigation infrastructure, donor involvement.
    • Institutional changes (irrigation sector reform, irrigation management transfer).
    • Impact of international initiatives on national policies.

    Selected publications

    A list of all publications is available on the Publications page. A non-exhaustive selection of some publications more specifically related to water management is given below: