Managing water supply is a key part of environmental policy in countries around the world. Ensuring farmers have access to functional irrigation systems is vital for both food security and agricultural productivity. Evidence from western Nepal highlights how modern and traditional irrigation governance systems can be blended to form a hybrid model. Embracing new systems does not have to mean abandoning old ones.
Nepal’s irrigation story is one of ingenuity grounded in tradition. For generations, farmers engineered their own systems to divert water from rivers through earthen canals of their own making, guided not by formal plans but by shared knowledge and cooperation. Alongside these hand-dug channels, communities built their own systems of governance: to allocate water, resolve disputes, and maintain the infrastructure.
In the western plains of Nepal, this community spirit is personified by the Badghar (or Barghar), the village head who is both leader and moral anchor. The Badghar position is an authoritative and moral administrative anchor for resource allocation, dispute resolution, decision-making, and social announcements.
The Badghar’s enduring influence highlights how traditional leadership can complement modern institutions like Water Users Associations (WUAs), offering valuable lessons for building irrigation governance systems that are resilient, equitable, and rooted in local realities.
Modernization and the rise of WUAs
Over the past decade, Nepal has accelerated the modernization of its irrigation systems. It has done so by expanding networks and implementing measures to enhance agricultural land productivity through 12 major irrigation development projects. Together, these provide water to approximately 570,000 hectares of land. These physical improvements are often accompanied by the creation (or strengthening) of WUAs and subsidiary committees.
Introduced in 1992, the Water Resources Act formalized the mandate of WUAs. However, informal community-based user groups and farmer-managed irrigation systems have a much longer legacy in Nepal. There are three types of WUA irrigation management systems currently in Nepal: Agency-Managed Irrigation Systems (AMIS), developed and managed by the government; Jointly Managed Irrigation Systems (JMIS), developed by the government but managed in part by committees; and Farmer Managed Irrigation Systems (FMISs), developed and run by the community.
In western Nepal’s Rani Jamara Kulariya (RJK) and Babai irrigation projects, some of the country’s largest and oldest FMIS, there has been extensive infrastructural and institutional modernization. However, institutional reforms did not entirely replace traditional governance structures. Instead, they merged traditional and modern systems to create a hybrid structure.
The hybrid structure
Institutional modernization of WUAs in the RJK and Babai irrigation systems included the integration of the Badghar’s and other complementary traditional roles. This is because in western Nepal, the Tharu, a dominant indigenous community, have a system of democratically electing traditional village leaders (i.e., the Badghar).
Indeed, in western Nepal, the Badghar’s role in canal management remains central even after the formation of WUAs. While the WUA’s role includes liaising with government agencies and farmers, allocating water, collecting service fees, maintaining canals, and organizing WUA elections, the Badghar sits within the WUA and continues to serve in a trusted position—resolving disputes, collecting tariffs, and providing information on water schedules.
Historically, this role was almost always held by a male member of the community, but recently, there have been cases where women have also been elected as Badghar.
This integration of WUA and Badghar reflects a hybrid governance model, where modern and traditional authorities adapt to local needs and context. The Badghar’s role complements several key aspects of WUA governance:
- Local legitimacy: Farmers tend to trust the Badghar’s decisions over those of newly elected WUA leaders, especially on issues that demand nuanced social judgment, such as allocating water during scarcity.
- Institutional memory: The Badghar passes down knowledge on the water sources, the canal system’s history, and the WUA bylaws.
- Conflict resolution: The Badghar often resolves disputes faster than formal WUA grievance processes, which tend to take longer.
- Gender reach: Women were more likely to know about the Badghar’s role than about WUA’s role in irrigation delivery. Many women are unaware of the WUA because they are often not invited to the meetings. However, almost all women will reach out to the Badghar to obtain information about water allocations or payment for irrigation services. However, women farmers have increasingly taken on key responsibilities in canal maintenance and are gradually assuming lead roles in WUA governance.
Tensions between traditional and modern systems
The de facto authority of Badghar is slowly being eroded and marginalized as formal governance systems and processes become prevalent. This is because the connection of Badghar with local and other governance structures is not formally outlined. Further, not every Badghar is a member of the WUA. Typically, each Mauja (village) nominates one Badghar to represent it in the WUA. However, since a ward can include two or more Maujas depending on its size, a single ward may have multiple Badghar representatives. The WUA governance structure does not include representation from all Badghars.
Many farmers are also still unaware of the existence of the WUAs and their functions, and instead depend on the Badghar for irrigation information and dispute resolution. This dual system of governance, without clear integration, may lead to institutional friction and create confusion that ultimately affects farmers and their agricultural productivity.
The way forward
As the government and development partners lead the modernization of irrigation across western Nepal, the call for collaboration between WUAs and traditional Badghar is growing louder. Integrating the Badghar’s role—or equivalent traditional roles in other regions—within the WUA framework can enhance local ownership and inclusion while preserving valuable institutional memory.
By fostering a hybrid governance model, Nepal can scale resilient, equitable, and sustainable irrigation systems, and add to ongoing discussions highlighting the need for hybrid governance models in irrigation that integrate local knowledge systems, enabling decolonization and enhancing equity. This approach not only enhances adaptability but also establishes a governance architecture that can effectively meet future challenges while preserving cultural heritage.
