Self Managed Irrigation and Drainage Districts

PIM Reform in China: Self-Managing Irrigation and Drainage Districts

Adapted from paper of same title authored by Richard Reidinger, World Bank, Beijing

Self-financing Irrigation and Drainage Districts (SIDDs) in China are a type of PIM. To promote long-run sustainability, SIDDs emphasize self-financing. However, the basic principle behind both PIM and the SIDDs is that farmers should participate and have some management control in decisions which affect their future and livelihood. The SIDD concept or system has been developed in China to match Chinese conditions and deal with many of the key issues facing Chinese irrigation management. The SIDD system is also designed to incorporate and implement Chinese policies and reforms, like "market oriented" development, the "user pays" principle, treatment of water as a commodity, water charges to cover costs, water charges according to volume of water used to encourage efficient use, and direct participation and self-management by the water users who contribute to the investments.

To date, some 490 WUAs and 38 WSCs or WSOs (Water Supply Organizations) have been established in 10 provinces and three large municipalities including Beijing on a pilot basis, supported under six ongoing or proposed World Bank-financed projects. The results of these SIDD pilot projects have generally been positive, especially for the WUAs, with increased production, reduced water waste, increased water charge collections, reduction or elimination of water conflicts among farmers, and increased "ownership," participation and contributions by farmers.

A key challenge for the future of SIDD and WUA development will be how to maintain WUA quality as they spread to wider areas, when few Water Resources staff have training in and experience with the participatory concepts on which their work with WUAs are based. A second key challenge will be how to overcome the internal government bureaucratic and institutional constraints faced by the WSCs (or any type of WSO reform), which is essential to reform main system management. The need for this reform will become increasingly important in order to save water and provide high quality water supply to users, as the WUAs spread.