Figure 1:
Irrigation systems by ecological-physical settings.
Map 1:
Locations of the four ecological-institutional settings.
Table 1:
Nesting structure and adaptation strategies.
| Extent and structure of nesting | Farmers’ adaptation strategies | Patterns of change of local institutions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sinkang | Tightly nested Through strict adherence to RIS and heavy infrastructure investment. | Seeking help from IA for more intensive management and infrastructure investment. | A rapid deterioration of local institutions. |
| Kungwen | Disjointedly nested Through adherence to RIS with major modifications with a view to strengthening horizontal complementary among farmers. | Responses falling into two extremes. While some farmers take the initiative to perfect the existing rules, some simply give up. | Rigorous yet unstable rule-crafting efforts in pockets of systems, resulting in a certain degree of institutional diversity. |
| Guiren-Taipu | Weakly nested Through infrastructure investment from the IA and complementary actions from farmers and IA officials. | Seeking help from IA for continual infrastructure investment with farmers fine-tuning the local rules to cope with contingencies at specific locales. | Relatively minor institutional changes with narrow scopes. |
| Guiren-Yirenjun | Minimally nested Through a recognition of autonomy and farmers’ collective action. | Crafting and re-crafting rules for better collective action. | Rigorous rule-crafting efforts with a high degree of institutional diversity. |
Figure 2:
Estimated differences of paired systems on social capital (SC), management order (MO), mutual help (M), farmer involvement-past (I), farmer involvement-present (Ii), groundwater-past (GW), groundwater-present (GWi), fallowed lands (F), deprivation (D), and conflicts (C).
Note: Each graph pairs one region with the other three. Groundwater measures are not available for Kungwen.
Table 2:
Multiple dimensions of irrigation performance.*
| Sinkang (N=13) | Kungwen (N=8) | Guiren-Taipu (N=5) | Guiren-Yirenjun (N=8) | Sinkang (N=13) | Kungwen (N=8) | Guiren-Taipu (N=5) | Guiren-Yirenjun (N=8) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of fallowed lands (%) | 21.46 | 62.25 | 47 | 36.75 | 18 | 57.50 | 50 | 47.50 |
| Reliance on groundwater in late 1990s (%) | 3.31 | – | 16 | 17.50 | 1 | – | 20 | 17.50 |
| Reliance on groundwater in 2008 (%) | 16.23 | – | 23.60 | 16.88 | 10 | – | 25 | 17.50 |
| Change in reliance on groundwater** (%) | +12.92 | – | +7.6 | −0.62 | +9 | – | +5 | 0 |
| Farmer involvement in early 1980s (%) | 21.79 | 25.16 | 38 | 32.50 | 17.50 | 18.75 | 37.50 | 27.50 |
| Farmer involvement in 2008 (%) | 9.13 | 2.03 | 23.25 | 21.19 | 6.25 | 0 | 23.75 | 16.25 |
| Extent of mutual help among farmers (%) | 18.23 | 2.13 | 18 | 25.63 | 8 | 0 | 10 | 20 |
| Extent of deprivation | 0.69 | 0.25 | 1.40 | 0.75 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Extent of conflicts | 0.15 | 0.50 | 0.80 | 0.63 | 0 | 0.50 | 0 | 0 |
| Social capital | 2.38 | 2.125 | 2 | 2.38 | 3 | 2.50 | 2 | 3 |
| Management order | 2.08 | 3.25 | 2.60 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
*For details, refer to Appendix 2.
**The score of ‘change in reliance on groundwater’ is calculated by subtracting the 1998 figure from the 2008 figure for systems in each ecological-physical setting.
Table 3:
Fallowed lands in Kungwen.
| Irrigation group | Fallowed lands in percentage of total cultivated areas |
|---|---|
| Sher Tien | 25 |
| Tu Cheng Tze | 90 |
| Xue Jia Liu | 30 |
| Sha Lun Jiao | 90 |
| Xi Nan Liu | 50 |
| Xi Pu Liu | 98 |
| Si Kung Chin Liu | 65 |
| Si Xue Jia Liu | 50 |
Figure 3:
Longitudinal comparison of groundwater and involvement.
Note: The median farmer involvement has decreased universally. The pattern for groundwater suggests greater cross-system variation in groundwater use, with the increase in consumption more pronounced in Sinkang (SK) and Taipu (TP) but less so in Yirenjun (YRJ).
Appendix 1.
Physical and agricultural characteristics of the ecological-institutional settings.
| Sinkang | Kungwen | Guiren-Taipu | Guiren-Yirenjun | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hydrological/physical characteristics | A. Planned water supply (cms)* | 274.08 | 191.23 | 118.05 | 75.29 |
| B. Actual water supply (cms) | 196.69 | 98.39 | 70.00 | 34.30 | |
| Water shortage percentage (A-B/A*100%) | 28.23% | 48.54% | 40.70% | 45.6% | |
| Total length of canals (m) | 198,397 | 101,779 | 60522.5 (including a 9126 m lateral shared with Yirenju) | 80590.5 (including 9126 m lateral shared with Taipu) | |
| Social-agriculture information | Service area (ha) | 1600.33 | 5052.00 | 448.26 | 522.56 |
| Production of paddy per hectare in 2008 (ton/ha) | 10.31 | 6.67 | 8.50 | 7.50 | |
| Total number of farmer-members | 6006 | 5343 | 2684 | 2894 |
Note: All data are as of 2008.
*cms refers to “cubic meter per second”, which is used to measure the amount of water a particular area will receive during the water delivery periods for the area as specified in the Irrigation Plan.
Sources: Chianan Irrigation Association Headquarters, Sinkang Working Station, Kungwen Working Station, and Guiren Working Station.
Appendix 2.
Results of appraisal survey conducted in 2008.
What is the percentage of the service area in your irrigation system that was fallowed this year?
| Ecological-institutional setting | N | Mean (%) | Median (%) | Max (%) | Min (%) | Standard deviation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sinkang | 13 | 21.46 | 18 | 65 | 0 | 20.57 |
| Kungwen | 8 | 62.25 | 57.5 | 98 | 25 | 28.17 |
| Guiren-Taipu | 5 | 47.00 | 50 | 55 | 35 | 7.58 |
| Guiren-Yirenjun | 8 | 36.75 | 47.5 | 70 | 3 | 26.5 |
| Ecological-institutional setting | N | Mean (%) | Median (%) | Max (%) | Min (%) | Standard deviation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sinkang | 13 | 3.31 | 1 | 20 | 0 | 5.97 |
| Kungwen | 8 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Guiren-Taipu | 5 | 16.00 | 20 | 30 | 0 | 11.4 |
| Guiren-Yirenjun | 8 | 17.50 | 17.5 | 55 | 0 | 24.01 |
| Ecological-institutional setting | N | Mean (%) | Median (%) | Max (%) | Min (%) | Standard deviation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sinkang | 13 | 16.23 | 10 | 70 | 1 | 25.4 |
| Kungwen | 8 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Guiren-Taipu | 5 | 23.60 | 25 | 50 | 0 | 17.95 |
| Guiren-Yirenjun | 8 | 16.88 | 17.5 | 55 | 5 | 18.1 |
| Ecological-institutional setting | N | Mean (%) | Median (%) | Max (%) | Min (%) | Standard deviation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sinkang | 13 | 21.79 | 17.5 | 56.25 | 1.25 | 16.30 |
| Kungwen | 8 | 25.16 | 18.75 | 60 | 12.5 | 15.70 |
| Guiren-Taipu | 5 | 38.00 | 37.5 | 52.5 | 28.75 | 8.87 |
| Guiren-Yirenjun | 8 | 32.50 | 27.5 | 61.25 | 10 | 17.92 |
| Ecological-institutional setting | N | Mean (%) | Median (%) | Max (%) | Min (%) | Standard deviation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sinkang | 13 | 9.13 | 6.25 | 25 | 0 | 8.24 |
| Kungwen | 8 | 2.03 | 0 | 16.25 | 0 | 5.74 |
| Guiren-Taipu | 5 | 23.25 | 23.75 | 37.5 | 5 | 12.80 |
| Guiren-Yirenjun | 8 | 21.19 | 16.25 | 52.50 | 2 | 18.84 |
| Ecological-institutional setting | N | Mean (%) | Median (%) | Max (%) | Min (%) | Standard deviation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sinkang | 13 | 18.23 | 8 | 100 | 0 | 26.71 |
| Kungwen | 8 | 2.13 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 3.64 |
| Guiren-Taipu | 5 | 18.00 | 10 | 60 | 0 | 24.9 |
| Guiren-Yirenjun | 8 | 25.63 | 20 | 80 | 0 | 29.21 |
| Ecological-institutional setting | N | Mean | Median | Max | Min | Standard deviation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sinkang | 13 | 0.69 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1.03 |
| Kungwen | 8 | 0.25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.46 |
| Guiren-Taipu | 5 | 1.4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1.34 |
| Guiren-Yirenjun | 8 | 0.75 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1.16 |
| Ecological-institutional setting | N | Mean | Median | Max | Min | Standard deviation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sinkang | 13 | 0.15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.38 |
| Kungwen | 8 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1 | 0 | 0.53 |
| Guiren-Taipu | 5 | 0.8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1.30 |
| Guiren-Yirenjun | 8 | 0.63 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1.06 |
| Ecological-institutional setting | N | Mean | Median | Max | Min | Standard deviation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sinkang | 13 | 2.38 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0.87 |
| Kungwen | 8 | 2.13 | 2.5 | 3 | 1 | 0.99 |
| Guiren-Taipu | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Guiren-Yirenjun | 8 | 2.38 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0.92 |
| Ecological-institutional setting | N | Mean | Median | Max | Min | Standard deviation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sinkang | 13 | 2.08 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1.04 |
| Kungwen | 8 | 3.25 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1.98 |
| Guiren-Taipu | 5 | 2.6 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1.14 |
| Guiren-Yirenjun | 8 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1.31 |