62) decentralised governance of irrigation water in cambodia - CDRI

group of middle class 16 , popular, community members were appointed in the FWUC election in
Pursat province. Similarly, the deputy chair of the FWUC in Rolous was a former CC member
and was elected on similar grounds to the appointed DAP FWUC committee members i.e. for
being known in the community as honest and transparent in financial dealings. Furthermore,
the deputy has good networks within the state system and had previously displayed good
leadership by being responsive to the demands and problems of farmers. In contrast, the FWUC
committee in Stung Chinit entirely consisted of non-position holding community members.
5.2.2 Actual Roles of the FWUC
When a FWUC is established, the PDOWRAM, in collaboration with the FWUC committee,
creates a statute outlining the roles and responsibilities of the committee as well as detailing
issues such as estimated ISF requirements. This statute is most commonly based on a template
included in Circular No.1 on the Implementation Policy of Sustainable Irrigation Systems
(MOWRAM 1999). The mandated roles of FWUC committees, therefore, are similar within
each scheme.
The differences between the roles of the FWUC committees primarily lie in their technical
and financial capacity as well as the level of communication between the FWUC members and
other stakeholders. Although the FWUCs in each case study scheme achieve varying levels
of operational success, the common roles of the FWUC committees as revealed through the
interviews and field observations, are:
1. To act as a “point of call” for famers when issues of water management arise that they
cannot resolve among themselves and to discuss these issues with PDOWRAM, CCs
and sub-national authorities in order to resolve them
2.
3.
4.
To manage water allocation and resolve minor conflicts within the community
To organise the collection of ISF for O&M
To encourage and promote farmer participation
5. To coordinate with authorised provincial departments, local authorities, academic
centres, private sector and NGOs for scheme development and maintenance
6. To disseminate government policies and report/share information with farmers,
government and other concerned stakeholders.
Interviews in Rolous, particularly with farmers, revealed that the FWUC committee
there lacks the capacity to respond quickly and adequately to resolve issues within the
irrigation command area. For example, when the farmers expressed an urgent need to repair
the infrastructural damage caused by Ketsana storm in 2009, the FWUC was slow to respond
which created distrust in a number of farmers; said damage had still not been addressed at
the time of writing. Despite this, farmers would still relate their water issues to the FWUC
committee and this position as the “point of call” or mediator had become its primary role.
The FWUC committee would ordinarily report farmers’ issues to PDOWRAM or the CC and
a solution would be arrived at and communicated to the FWUC committee who in turn would
pass on the information to the farmers.
16 Farmers who spend approximately USD2.5 per day (on food and agricultural inputs), have a paddy field of
approximately 2-3 ha, 3-4 head of cattle (cow or buffalo) or 1 two-wheeled tractor.
20 Decentralised Governance of Irrigation Water in Cambodia: Matching Principles to Local Realities