Agricultural water management is shifting from a culture of supply management to that of demand management. Modernization of institutions and technology is required to adapt water management to local settings, improve social equity and system performance. Modernization aims to raise water productivity and improve water efficiency by generating water savings. This in turn gives resource 'space' for re-allocation to other competing uses with higher economic or social returns.
During the second half of the 20th century, the irrigation sector has been successful in generating large increases of food production and closing gaps in food security. Large national or state irrigation agencies have been able to put extensive agricultural areas under irrigation. However they have proved less successful in managing these systems after construction. Most of the time, conception and management of these irrigation systems were supply driven. Decision processes were rather a top-down and bureaucratic exercise, which leaves little flexibility to downstream users in choosing cropping patterns planting calendars and water delivery schedules. Furthermore, unreliable water deliveries have been one of the main drivers for the user to turn to groundwater, leading in many instances to over exploitation of shallow groundwater circulation.
This supply driven-model has shown its limits in the 1980s in terms of burden on national budgets and insufficient performance of agriculture, lack of maintenance of the irrigation systems and impacts on natural resource management. Consequently in the 1990's irrigation embarked in a thorough-going reform, a massive transfer of authority and responsibility to local organizations (Water User Associations, Federation of WUAs, Local Public Agencies etc.). The objective was to create favourable conditions for both improving performance of irrigation systems and raising overall agricultural profitability in order to promote viable farming systems, alleviate poverty and ensure food security. Demand driven management strategies are now taking over, based on principles such as: subsidiarity, responsibility, transparency and responsiveness. Local actors, farmers and other users, are more and more involved in the decision process and in bearing the cost of operation and maintenance of the system.
One of the first priorities of modernization is to assess the physical conditions of the irrigation system and identify the practical options for moving towards more reliable and flexible water delivery service and accommodate a variable demand for water services. Ultimately this is the users who must decide about the level of service they need and are willing to pay for. Modernization programs must then clearly target enlarging technical and managerial options proposed to local users. Modernization is not limited to physical changes, but should be seen as a fundamental transformation in the management of water resources by changing rules, procedures and structures (physical and/or institutional), related to water rights, water delivery services, accountability mechanisms and incentives.
Therefore, modernizing irrigation water deliver is fundamental in reaching a cost-effective service for all users and in improving water productivity. This is a complex challenge for local organizations since water management needs to go beyond commodity production, and integrate all uses of water within the gross command area of a particular irrigation scheme. But it is clear that strategies for modernization should not be developed in isolation but pilot tested, coordinated at various level of organizations and interventions (project, agency, regional and national) and implemented when the requisite capacities are in place.
