ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on what kinds of water user associations (WUA) to assist, and in what way. Project designers should provide for WUAs an evolutionary path of institutional development. Understanding irrigation systems in socio-technical terms suggests that organizational design efforts should not be entirely separate from technical considerations. Inappropriate technical decisions and performance can certainly make futile even the best of organizational intentions and plans. Equally important, organizations cannot operate without satisfactory material possibilities and rewards. Choices about organizational design should be made in collaboration with technical personnel, even if planning and implementation efforts are the responsibility of specialists who deal with social relations and with developing institutional capacity for irrigation tasks. Irrigation organizations without legal articles of incorporation exist in many countries and carry out relatively effective water management. Legal aspects of WUAs need to be considered and provided for in program design.
