Self-Created Rules and Conflict Management Processes : The Case of Water Users' Associations on Wghad Canal in Maharashtra, India

In India, community participation is receiving much importance in water planning and management. However, in the absence of effective institutional arrangements to govern the allocation and maintenance activities, it is more likely that such participation will fail to achieve the desired results. Therefore, the present study is an attempt to assess the self-created rules adopted by two Water Users Associations (WUAs) in Maharashtra State, India, to govern the use and distribution of water resources. The paper describes the perception of the members with regard to some of these self-created rules. It was observed that both the WUAs studied had effectively enforced these rules, leading to improved water management and efficient conflict management process. Although preliminary, the findings indicate scope for designing strategies to achieve the objective of forming a federation — better planning and distribution of water among WUAs