Browsing by Author "van der Zaag, Pieter"

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Building Bridges between the Sciences and the Arts of Water Co-operation through Collective Action – Reflections
(Elsevier, 2014) Patrick, M. J.; Komakech, Hans; Mirumachi, N.; Moosa, H.; Prakash, A.; Salame, L.; Shubber, Z.; van der Zaag, Pieter; Wolf, A. T.
This reflection article highlights some of the science that underpins our understanding of cooperation over shared water resources. Power dynamics, hegemony, negotiation theory, social psychology and justice, international relations, conflict-cooperation and global change all contribute to the body of knowledge that scientists, researchers, policy and decision makers and practitioners draw upon in this field. The science is complemented by the necessary art of cooperation which is largely captured in the practice, management and governance of shared water resources. Institutional reform and the establishment of organisations in this context allows for many and varied methods for creating trusting relationships and effective partnerships for cooperation. Both the art and science is supported by the pedagogy of water cooperation which draws on the rich diversity of scientific disciplines and governance arrangements. Collective action can be used as a bridge between the sciences and the arts both in linking theoretical concepts and in linking the scientific and practical implementation of co-operation over shared waters.
The dynamics between water asymmetry, inequality and heterogeneity sustaining canal institutions in the Makanya catchment, Tanzania
(IWA Publishing, 2012-10-01) Komakech, Hans; van der Zaag, Pieter; van Koppen, Barbara
It has been suggested that the collective action needed for integrated water management at larger spatial scales could be more effective and sustainable if it were built, bottom-up, on the nested arrangements by which local communities have managed their water resources at homestead, plot, village and sub-catchment levels. The up-scaling of such arrangements requires an understanding of why they emerge, how they function and how they are sustained. This paper presents a case study of local level water institutions in Bangalala village in the Makanya catchment, Tanzania. Unlike most research on collective action in which water asymmetry, inequality and heterogeneity are seen as risks to collective action, this study looked at how they dynamically interact and give rise to interdependencies between water users which facilitate coordination and collective action. The findings are confined to relatively small spatial and social scales, involving irrigators from one village. In such situations there may be inhibitions to unilateral action due to social and peer pressure. Spatial or social proximity may thus be a necessary condition for collective action in water asymmetrical situations to emerge. This points to the need for further research, namely to describe and analyse the dynamics engendered by water asymmetry, inequality and heterogeneity at larger spatial scales.
Formalization of water allocation systems and impacts on local practices in the Hingilili sub-catchment, Tanzania
(Taylor & Francis online, 2013-05-31) Komakech, Hans; van der Zaag, Pieter; Mul, Marloes; Mwakalukwa, Tulinumpoki; Kemerink, Jeltsje
Water scarcity caused by increased demands often leads to competition and conflict over water in many river catchments in Sub-Saharan Africa. At the local level, water users have in many places been able to solve water allocation problems by crafting institutions based on customs and traditions. These self-governing arrangements are not necessarily fair or good, but are able to adapt to the changing resource context. Simultaneously, many African governments have adopted new policies and laws, and established new institutions to achieve equitable and sustainable management of water resources. The formalization of the property right to water is often part of the recipe. This paper analyses the impact of one such government-led formalization process on local water allocation practices. Based on a field study in the Hingilili sub-catchment, Tanzania, we find that government interventions do not achieve the goal of equitable and sustainable water management. However, we find that the principle of good neighbourhood that still exists between the highland and lowland farmers in Hingilili could form a base to reconcile diverging water interests between the highland and lowland farmers. The paper shows that the concept of bricolage [Cleaver, F., 2002. Reinventing institutions: bricolage and the social embeddedness of natural resource management. The European Journal of Development Research, 14 (2), 11–30] is useful to demonstrate the need for new institutions to be sufficiently embedded in existing local practices to succeed, but this is not a sufficient condition. The hydraulic position of the various actors (upstream or downstream) must also be taken into account, and may be considered a driver for institutional innovation.
The Last Will Be First: Water Transfers from Agriculture to Cities in the Pangani River Basin, Tanzania
(Water Alternatives, 2012-10) Komakech, Hans; van der Zaag, Pieter; van Koppen, Barbara
Water transfers to growing cities in sub-Sahara Africa, as elsewhere, seem inevitable. But absolute water entitlements in basins with variable supply may seriously affect many water users in times of water scarcity. This paper is based on research conducted in the Pangani river basin, Tanzania. Using a framework drawing from a theory of water right administration and transfer, the paper describes and analyses the appropriation of water from smallholder irrigators by cities. Here, farmers have over time created flexible allocation rules that are negotiated on a seasonal basis. More recently the basin water authority has been issuing formal water use rights that are based on average water availability. But actual flows are more often than not less than average. The issuing of state-based water use rights has been motivated on grounds of achieving economic efficiency and social equity. The emerging water conflicts between farmers and cities described in this paper have been driven by the fact that domestic use by city residents has, by law, priority over other types of use. The two cities described in this paper take the lion’s share of the available water during the low-flow season, and at times over and above the permitted amounts, creating extreme water stress among the farmers. Rural communities try to defend their prior use claims through involving local leaders, prominent politicians and district and regional commissioners. Power inequality between the different actors (city authorities, basin water office, and smallholder farmers) played a critical role in the reallocation and hence the dynamics of water conflict. The paper proposes proportional allocation, whereby permitted abstractions are reduced in proportion to the expected shortfall in river flow, as an alternative by which limited water resources can be fairly allocated. The exact amounts (quantity or duration of use) by which individual user allocations are reduced would be negotiated by the users at the river level.
Pangani River Basin over time and space: On the interface of local and basin level responses
(Elsevier, 2011-09) Komakech, Hans; van Koppen, Barbara; Mahoo, Henry; van der Zaag, Pieter
As the pressure on the water resources mounts within a river basin, institutional innovation may occur not as a result of a planned sequence of adjustments, but arising out of the interplay of several factors. By focusing on the basin trajectory this paper illustrates the importance of understanding how local-level institutional arrangements interface with national-level policies and basin-wide institutions. We expand Molle's typology of basin actors responses by explicitly introducing a meso-layer which depicts the interface where State-level and local-level initiatives and responses are played out; and focus on how this interaction finds expression in the creation and modification of hydraulic property rights. We subsequently apply this perspective to the case of Pangani River Basin in Tanzania. The Pangani River Basin development trajectory did not follow a linear path and sequence of responses. Attempts by the state government to establish ‘order’ in the basin by issuing water rights, levying water fees and designing a new basin institutional set-up have so far proven problematic, and instead generated ‘noise’ at the interface. So far water resources development in the Pangani has primarily focused on blue water, and the paper shows how investments in infrastructure to control blue water have shaped the relationship between water users, and between water user groups and the State. It remains unknown, however, what the implications will be of widespread investments in improved green water use throughout the basin – not only hydrologically for the availability of blue water, but also socially for the livelihoods of the basin population, and for the evolving relationships between green and blue water users, and between them and the State. The paper concludes with a question: will green water development engender a similar double-edged material-symbolic dynamic as blue water development has. The findings of this paper demonstrate that the expanded typology of basin actors’ responses helps to better understand the present situation. Such an improved understanding is useful in analysing current and proposed interventions.
Polycentrism and pitfalls: the formation of water users forums in the Kikuletwa catchment, Tanzania
(Taylor & Francis online, 2013-05-31) Komakech, Hans; van der Zaag, Pieter
Catchment forums have to address the reality that river catchments typically cover several administrative districts and have overlapping arrangements of state-led and locally created institutions. Institutional nesting has been proposed to integrate local arrangements. However, the creation of a polycentric or nested governance system raises questions of coordination. This paper describes and analyzes the process of creating a catchment forum in the Kikuletwa catchment in Tanzania. Resolving the problem of administrative boundaries and institutional fit while integrating customary arrangements with the state-led governance structure requires careful analysis of local structures.
The Role of Statutory and Local Rules in Allocating Water between Large- and Small-Scale Irrigators in an African River Catchment
(Elsevier, 2012-01) Komakech, Hans; Condon, Madison; van der Zaag, Pieter
This paper presents a case study of large- and small-scale irrigators negotiating for access to water from Nduruma River in the Pangani River Basin, Tanzania. The paper shows that despite the existence of a formal statutory water permit system, all users need to conform to the existing local rules in order to secure access to water. The spatial geography of Nduruma is such that smallholder farmers are located upstream and downstream, while large-scale irrigators are in the midstream part of the sub-catchment. There is not enough water in the river to satisfy all demands. The majority of the smallholder farmers currently access water under local arrangements, but large-scale irrigators have obtained state-issued water use permits. To access water the estates adopt a variety of strategies: they try to claim water access by adhering to state water law; they engage with the downstream smallholder farmers and negotiate rotational allocation; and/or they band with downstream farmers to secure more water from upstream farmers. Estates that were successful in securing their water access were those that engaged with the local system and negotiated a fair rotational water-sharing arrangement. By adopting this strategy, the estates not only avoid conflict with the poor downstream farmers but also gain social reputation, increasing chances of cooperative behaviours from the farmers towards their hydraulic infrastructure investments. Cooperative behaviours by the estates may also be due to their dependence on local labour. We further find diverging perspectives on the implementation of the state water use permits – not only between the local and state forms of water governance, but also between the differing administrative levels of government. The local governments are more likely to spend their limited resources on ‘keeping the peace’ rather than on enforcing the water law. At the larger catchment scale, however, the anonymity between users makes it more difficult to initiate and maintain cooperative arrangements.
Understanding the Emergence and Functioning of River Committees in a Catchment of the Pangani Basin, Tanzania
(Water Alternatives, 2011-06) Komakech, Hans; van der Zaag, Pieter
In this paper we explore the emergence and functioning of river committees (RCs) in Tanzania, which are local water management structures that allocate and solve water conflict between different water users (smallholder irrigators, large commercial farmers, municipalities, etc) along one river. The paper is based on empirical research of three committees in the Themi sub-catchment. The committees mostly emerged in response to drought-induced competition and conflict over water, rapid urbanisation around Arusha town, and the presence of markets for agricultural produce. The RCs are mainly active during dry seasons when water is scarce. We find that the emergence of the RCs can be understood by using the concept of institutional bricolage. We then assess their effective functioning with the help of the eight design principles proposed by Ostrom and find that the best performing RC largely complied with five of them, which indicates that not all principles are necessary for a water institution to be effective and to endure over time. The other two studied RCs complied with only three of these principles. All RCs leave the resource boundary open to negotiation, which lowers the transaction cost of controlling the boundaries and also allows future demands to be met in the face of increasing resource variability. All RCs do not fully comply with the principle that all affected must take part in rule creation and modification. In all three cases, finally, the 'nesting' of lower-level institutional arrangements within higher-level ones is inconsistent. To explain the difference in the performance of the three RCs we need to consider factors related to heterogeneity. We find that the functioning of RCs is strongly influenced by group size, spatial distance, heterogeneity of users and uses, and market forces.
Water allocation and management in an emerging spate irrigation system in Makanya catchment, Tanzania
(Elsevier, 2011-09) Komakech, Hans; Mul, Marloes; van der Zaag, Pieter; Rwehumbiza, Filbert
Although spate irrigation systems are risk-prone, they can be an important component for livelihood security in semi-arid areas. Spate uses water (flood water), which upstream users often do not require, as rainfall during these periods is more than sufficient. The use of this flood water for spate irrigation is therefore a good opportunity to convert water with a low opportunity cost to high value water. As more rivers are closing, due to socio-economic and climate changes, spate irrigation may become increasingly relevant in semi-arid areas. Spate irrigation systems pose institutional and technical challenges: collective action is challenged by complex upstream–downstream interactions between users within the system, and the high labour demands for regular reconstruction of temporary diversion weirs and intake structures. This paper describes a spate irrigation system in Makanya village, Tanzania that emerged in response to increased upstream water use. We use three of the four dimensions (hydrological, hydraulic and sociological) of spate irrigation proposed by Van Steenbergen (1997) to assess the Makanya spate irrigation system. The Makanya spate irrigation system has an organisational structure that is similar to the canal irrigation (furrow) committees located upstream, and effectively deals with the institutional demands of managing water in spate irrigation systems. Water allocation is reminiscent to the water sharing arrangements existing in the full irrigation system, which previously was in place at the site and in the high- and midlands of the Makanya catchment and therefore set this system apart from the traditional spate irrigation practice elsewhere. Technically, a major challenge is the reconstruction of the head works after each flood. Another aspect is the changes in the river bed. Flash floods carry sediments that deposit on the fields, raising the elevation of the irrigated land every year and making it increasingly difficult for the river water to enter the plots. Improving system efficiency through modernisation of the diversion and distribution structures in this case is not feasible due to the huge amounts of sediments delivered to the system each year. Instead investments in conjunctive use of groundwater could be the solution because it involves a relatively small intervention, minimises the physical disturbance of the system, and therefore is likely to respect the existing locally developed water management arrangements.