Irrigation management reforms in the Yellow River Basin: Implications for water saving and poverty

The overall goal of this paper is to better understand irrigation management reforms in the Yellow River Basin, especially focusing on the effect that it will have on water use and poverty. Based on a random sample of 51 villages and 189 farmers in four large irrigation districts in Ningxia and Henan provinces, both provinces in China's Yellow River Basin, the results show that two of the major types of irrigation management institutions, water user associations and contracting, have begun to systematically replace traditional types of collective management. The impact analysis demonstrates that it is not the nominal implementation of the reforms that matters, but rather it is the creation of new management institutions that offer managers incentives to save water. Specifically, when managers in reformed organizations are provided with incentives, they save water. Importantly, given China's concerns about poverty alleviation, the reductions in water have little effect on higher incidences of poverty. Copyright (c) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.