PARTICIPATORY SYSTEM FOR SUCCESSFUL WATER MANAGEMENT IN THE TOYOGAWA IRRIGATION PROJECT, JAPAN

In principles, Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) means the involvement of irrigation users in all aspects at all levels of irrigation management. In practice, all over the world efforts are being made to realize the principles. However, in the execution of PIM, role sharing between farmers and government is a serious problem, and thus a clear method and ideas are needed to improve PIM. In particular, a broad discussion of role sharing is demanded. This paper illustrates how the Japanese way of role sharing in PIM is realized based on the case of the Toyogawa Irrigation Project in central Japan. Organizationally, the project is jointly managed by five entities, including both the public sector and the farmers’ organizations. These entities have clearly divided their functional roles in irrigation management, with the ultimate decision power in all aspects of irrigation management given to organized farmers. The power is realized either directly or through the land improvement districts’ representative system depending on the levels of the irrigation system. The public entity provides coordination support to create a transparent forum of discussion together with scientific information for farmers’ understanding and decision-making. The participatory institutional line-up of Toyogawa Irrigation Project enables the upland areas that suffered periodically from water deficits to develop itself into Japan’s major producers with a high productivity and remarkable crop diversification.