From State to user-based water allocations: An empirical analysis of institutions developed by agricultural user associations in France

Abstract Regulating water use in agriculture in water stressed basins is a challenging task. Recent scholarship emphasises the need to combine strong State oversight for achieving the collective extraction caps with considerable leeway to users to allocate water according to local priorities. This form of “co-management” between the State and users aims to improve the implementation of sustainable extraction limits. This model was adopted in France where agricultural user groups share water resources within a capped allocation pool enforced by the State. This paper evaluates whether the allocation rules developed by user groups improve environmental, economic and social performance. A detailed survey was carried out amongst the 54 agricultural user groups created across France. Results suggest that the reform has led to greater awareness amongst irrigators of their water resources and the slow emergence of collective action. Allocation rules have been developed, reflecting local economic and social priorities, as well as the temporal and spatial dynamics of local surface and groundwater resources. Although challenges remain, the research presented in this paper supports co-management to manage agricultural water extraction, and discusses institutional design features that can facilitate its implementation.