Water management below the outlet - a survey-based analysis on the Indus Basin irrigation system in Pakistan

This article examines the prevalent management rules of farmers below the outlets - at the local level. The aim is to identify the institutional gaps, which - if corrected - could substantially result in a more efficient use of the scarce surface water resources among the farmers. The publication contextualises findings from personal interviews, field visits and a survey in three villages in Punjab, in 2018. With regard to management deficiencies, the most commonly described problem of an allocation asymmetry, also known as the head-tail problem, was not found in the survey. Nevertheless, this research found that other aspects such as the lining of watercourses, the clout of low ranked irrigation officers over determining water tariffs, and the missing links between different hydraulic levels of organisation are representing equally challenging thresholds for an efficient and equitable water usage.