1920s 1960s 1980s 1990s 1960-70s 2000s Water redistribution in Wadi Siham Jebel Falafyla Command area in 1960s (blue) CONCLUSIONS: WSIP exacerbated not initiated water insecurity downstream Interaction with receiving context and its actors shaped outcomes of WSIP Heterogeneity of pre-existing knowledge systems must be considered for successful IMT and unitary models of governance (WUAs) external interventions must build on emerging initiatives Study of local social dynamics and institutional and agrarian developments is a precondition for proper management and maintenance of a flood-resistant modernised irrigation infrastructure Water control and access entailed a strong political component: there are winners and losers Technically and hydrologically interconnectedness vs. operational and organisational discontinuity need for an organisational model that creates communication and co-operation between the various organisational systems in the wadi CONCLUSIONS: WSIP exacerbated not initiated water insecurity downstream Interaction with receiving context and its actors shaped outcomes of WSIP Heterogeneity of pre-existing knowledge systems must be considered for successful IMT and unitary models of governance (WUAs) external interventions must build on emerging initiatives Study of local social dynamics and institutional and agrarian developments is a precondition for proper management and maintenance of a flood-resistant modernised irrigation infrastructure Water control and access entailed a strong political component: there are winners and losers Technically and hydrologically interconnectedness vs. operational and organisational discontinuity need for an organisational model that creates communication and co-operation between the various organisational systems in the wadi 1 1 Universit Università Ca Ca’ Foscari Foscari, , Venice Venice, Italy; [email protected]; , Italy; [email protected]; 2 IAS IAS-CSIC, Cordoba, CSIC, Cordoba, Spain Spain; [email protected] ; [email protected] www.fluidinternational.org www.fluidinternational.org Water Distribution for a 1-year return flood at completion of Khalifa Irrigation System (2010) 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 0 30 60 90 120 150 1 80 2 10 2 40 2 70 3 00 330 hours m 3 /s After Waqir Debashya Khalifa Barquqa Present irrigated area Past irrigated area 1800 ha 3700ha 3500ha 1000ha 2500ha Water (in) security in Water (in) security in Wadi Wadi Siham Siham , Yemen: yes, but for whom? , Yemen: yes, but for whom? Laura Bonzanigo Laura Bonzanigo 1 & Cecilia Borgia & Cecilia Borgia 2 Social and agrarian changes through time and implications for water control Jebel Falafyla First colonisation of upstream area’s right bank Last wave of local migrants J e b e l F a l a f y l a Post- independence irrigation infrastructure developments CONTEXT: Wadi Siham, Tihama Plain, Yemen 1920s -1980 planned agricultural policies and wider social transformations rapid agrarian evolution 1993 -2000 Wadi Siham Irrigation Project (WSIP): permanent hydraulic works to substitute existing temporal spate irrigation structures irrigation modernisation, IMT and WUAs 2000 >>> water developments in the catchment due to agricultural and urban expansion upstrteam of the research area Closing basin CONTEXT: Wadi Siham, Tihama Plain, Yemen 1920s -1980 planned agricultural policies and wider social transformations rapid agrarian evolution 1993 -2000 Wadi Siham Irrigation Project (WSIP): permanent hydraulic works to substitute existing temporal spate irrigation structures irrigation modernisation, IMT and WUAs 2000 >>> water developments in the catchment due to agricultural and urban expansion upstrteam of the research area Closing basin Water distribution for a 1-year return flood (1950s) 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 0 3 0 6 0 9 0 120 1 50 1 80 21 0 24 0 270 300 330 hours m 3 /s After Waqir Debashya Khalifa Barquqa 880 ha 50ha 6000 ha Irrigated area OBJECTIVES: To trace dynamics of water control and spate irrigation technologies through time and space and forces at play To highlight implications of WSIP on water distribution and access and interaction with the receiving context Give recommendations to TGH for intervention in irrigation management OBJECTIVES: To trace dynamics of water control and spate irrigation technologies through time and space and forces at play To highlight implications of WSIP on water distribution and access and interaction with the receiving context Give recommendations to TGH for intervention in irrigation management PROBLEMs: “abundance” upstream and scarcity downstream scant information about processes and causes Impact of WSIP on water distribution and access? PROBLEMs: “abundance” upstream and scarcity downstream scant information about processes and causes Impact of WSIP on water distribution and access? METHODS & TOOLS: political ecology frame applied research methods from PRA wadi scale METHODS & TOOLS: political ecology frame applied research methods from PRA wadi scale The tradition of “following the water” has not halted yet. One day perhaps not too faraway, the bountiful farms of what are now the “lucky upstreamers” in the wadi, may join the downstreamers’ queue for water. The tradition of “following the water” has not halted yet. One day perhaps not too faraway, the bountiful farms of what are now the “lucky upstreamers” in the wadi, may join the downstreamers’ queue for water. ? next?