IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agiwat/v304y2024ics0378377424004086.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What is behind water user satisfaction with irrigation organizations´ performance? An empirical analysis under different water scarcity conditions

Author

Listed:
  • Bopp, Carlos
  • Engler, Alejandra
  • Jordan, Cristian
  • Jara-Rojas, Roberto

Abstract

The level of satisfaction of individuals within a community sharing a common pool resource is essential to strengthening collective actions. In the case of irrigation water, which is becoming a critical resource due to its declining availability in many regions worldwide, the satisfaction level in Water User Associations (WUAs) is not guaranteed and also varies across individuals within these organizations. This study analyzed the satisfaction of users in WUAs and identified organization- and user-level characteristics associated with it. Using a sample of 393 users of 20 WUAs from the Mediterranean portion of Chile, we performed confirmatory factor analysis, correlational analyses, and multilevel regressions. A composite indicator of user satisfaction showed significant correlations with the positive evaluation of the WUA staff performance, the effectiveness of monitoring and enforcement, and the confidence that other users do not withdraw more water than they are allocated. We also compared users’ satisfaction levels from WUAs facing higher and lower water scarcity problems and found that user satisfaction is significantly higher in the latter case. The results of the multilevel econometric models show that in WUAs under higher water scarcity, user satisfaction is affected by several structural characteristics (water withdrawal mechanism and location along the canal) and users' human and social capital variables (experience, education, and participation in organizations); in contrast, in WUAs with a low level of scarcity, few covariates were significant while unobserved characteristics became more relevant (34 % of total variance explanation). Our study contributes to the existing literature on user satisfaction in community resource management, which could be useful to promote effective and cohesive governance structures as, ultimately, users determine cooperation rates and willingness to participate in WUA actions.

Suggested Citation

  • Bopp, Carlos & Engler, Alejandra & Jordan, Cristian & Jara-Rojas, Roberto, 2024. "What is behind water user satisfaction with irrigation organizations´ performance? An empirical analysis under different water scarcity conditions," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 304(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:304:y:2024:i:c:s0378377424004086
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2024.109072
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377424004086
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.agwat.2024.109072?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jean-Philippe Venot, 2014. "Rethinking commons management in Sub-Saharan West Africa: public authority and participation in the agricultural water sector," Water International, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(4), pages 534-548, July.
    2. Gorton, Matthew & Sauer, Johannes & Peshevski, Mile & Bosev, Dane & Shekerinov, Darko & Quarrie, Steve, 2009. "Water Communities in the Republic of Macedonia: An Empirical Analysis of Membership Satisfaction and Payment Behavior," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 1951-1963, December.
    3. Karami, Ayatollah & Choghakhor, Hamid Yeilagh, 2018. "Fa ctors Affecting Farmer's Satisfaction with Water Users Associations Performance at Gotvand Irrigation Scheme in Khuzestan Province, Iran," International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development (IJAMAD), Iranian Association of Agricultural Economics, vol. 8(3), June.
    4. Carlos Bopp & Alejandra Engler & Roberto Jara-Rojas & Claudia Hunecke & Oscar Melo, 2022. "Collective Actions and Leadership Attributes: A Cluster Analysis of Water User Associations in Chile," Water Economics and Policy (WEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 8(01), pages 1-30, January.
    5. Araral Jr., Eduardo, 2009. "What Explains Collective Action in the Commons? Theory and Evidence from the Philippines," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 687-697, March.
    6. Lam, Wai Fung, 1996. "Improving the performance of small-scale irrigation systems: The effects of technological investments and governance structure on irrigation performance in Nepal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(8), pages 1301-1315, August.
    7. Pablo Sarricolea & Mariajosé Herrera-Ossandon & Óliver Meseguer-Ruiz, 2017. "Climatic regionalisation of continental Chile," Journal of Maps, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 66-73, November.
    8. Mauricio Herrera & Cristian Candia & Diego Rivera & Douglas Aitken & Daniel Brieba & Camila Boettiger & Guillermo Donoso & Alex Godoy-Faúndez, 2019. "Understanding water disputes in Chile with text and data mining tools," Water International, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(3), pages 302-320, April.
    9. Yang, Yimin & Schmidt, Peter, 2021. "An econometric approach to the estimation of multi-level models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 220(2), pages 532-543.
    10. Uysal, Özlem Karahan & AtIs, Ela, 2010. "Assessing the performance of participatory irrigation management over time: A case study from Turkey," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 97(7), pages 1017-1025, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Leroy, David, 2023. "An empirical assessment of the institutional performance of community-based water management in a large-scale irrigation system in southern Mexico," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    2. Bouma, Jetske A. & Joy, K.J. & Paranjape, Suhas & Ansink, Erik, 2014. "The Influence of Legitimacy Perceptions on Cooperation – A Framed Field Experiment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 127-137.
    3. Budiman Subhan Arif & Rondhi Mohammad & Khasan Ahmad Fatikhul & Peratama Bagus & Rokhani & Suwandari Anik & Ridjal Julian Adam & Soemarno & Prijono Sugeng & Soedarto, 2021. "Water Scarcity, Mountain Deforestation and the Economic Value of Water in a Small-Scale Irrigation System: A Case Study in East Java, Indonesia," Quaestiones Geographicae, Sciendo, vol. 40(2), pages 153-166, June.
    4. Junichi Ito, 2012. "Collective Action for Local Commons Management in Rural Yunnan, China: Empirical Evidence and Hypotheses Using Evolutionary Game Theory," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 88(1), pages 181-200.
    5. Takayama, Taisuke & Matsuda, Hirotaka & Nakatani, Tomoaki, 2018. "The determinants of collective action in irrigation management systems: Evidence from rural communities in Japan," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 113-123.
    6. Vafaei, Elahe & Shahabi Ahangarkolaee, Saeed & Lucas-Borja, Manuel Esteban & Shabanali Fami, Hossein & Zema, Demetrio Antonio, 2021. "A framework to evaluate the factors influencing groundwater management in Water User Associations: The case study of Tafresh County (Iran)," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    7. Firat Arslan & Juan Ignacio Córcoles Tendero & Juan Antonio Rodríguez Díaz & Demetrio Antonio Zema, 2023. "Comparison of Irrigation Management in Water User Associations of Italy, Spain and Turkey Using Benchmarking Techniques," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 37(1), pages 55-74, January.
    8. Anthony Bennett, 1998. "Sustainable public/private partnerships for public service delivery," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 22(3), pages 193-199, August.
    9. Kangile, Rajabu Joseph, 2015. "Efficiency In Production By Smallholder Rice Farmers Under Cooperative Irrigation Schemes In Pwani And Morogoro Regions, Tanzania," Research Theses 265681, Collaborative Masters Program in Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    10. Zemadim, B. & McCartney, Matthew & Langan, Simon & Sharma, Bharat, 2013. "A participatory approach for hydrometeorological monitoring in the Blue Nile River Basin of Ethiopia," IWMI Reports 201009, International Water Management Institute.
    11. Su, Yiqing & Chen, Xiaohan & Li, Yanyan & Wang, Yahua, 2024. "The robustness mechanism of the rural social-ecological system in response to the impact of urbanization——Evidence from irrigation commons in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    12. Andersson, Krister, 2013. "Local Governance of Forests and the Role of External Organizations: Some Ties Matter More Than Others," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 226-237.
    13. Calvo, Rubén & Álamos, Nicolás & Huneeus, Nicolás & O'Ryan, Raúl, 2022. "Energy poverty effects on policy-based PM2.5 emissions mitigation in southern and central Chile," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    14. Elisa Blanco & Guillermo Donoso & Pablo Camus, 2023. "Water Conflicts in Chile: Have We Learned Anything from Colonial Times?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-17, September.
    15. Roberto Pizarro & Pablo A. Garcia-Chevesich & John E. McCray & Jonathan O. Sharp & Rodrigo Valdés-Pineda & Claudia Sangüesa & Dayana Jaque-Becerra & Pablo Álvarez & Sebastián Norambuena & Alfredo Ibáñ, 2022. "Climate Change and Overuse: Water Resource Challenges during Economic Growth in Coquimbo, Chile," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-10, March.
    16. Juan Camilo Cardenas & Luz Angela Rodríguez & Nancy Johnson, 2014. "Vertical Collective Action: Addressing Vertical Asymmetries in Watershed Management," Documentos CEDE 12608, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    17. Cook, Nathan J. & Wright, Glenn D. & Andersson, Krister P., 2017. "Local Politics of Forest Governance: Why NGO Support Can Reduce Local Government Responsiveness," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 203-214.
    18. Wang, Yahua & Chen, Chunliang & Araral, Eduardo, 2016. "The Effects of Migration on Collective Action in the Commons: Evidence from Rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 79-93.
    19. Harrison, Elizabeth, 2018. "Engineering change? The idea of ‘the scheme’ in African irrigation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 246-255.
    20. Borisova, Ekaterina, 2011. "Decision to make a HOA: Empirical evidence," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 24(4), pages 48-57.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:304:y:2024:i:c:s0378377424004086. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/agwat .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.