There is in much of contemporary irrigation development a large paradox. Irrigation development, while contributing to productivity, frequently thwarts social justice—it either introduces incipient inequalities in access or it reinforces those that exist. More progressive irrigation development policies are being developed and tested in several countries. These new approaches give more attention to the role of local groups in governing irrigation systems while reducing the heavy-handed involvement of state agencies. These new approaches are seen as both consistent with achieving greater fairness in irrigation development as well as with the new fiscal realities of governments nearly everywhere. Supporting these new approaches are a set of institutions and individuals with nonengineering expertise who traditionally have not been defined as central to irrigation development. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 1988
