Social dimension of the policy of the use of water Nasr M.L.Y. in

(1)

in

Dupuy B. (ed.).

Aspects économiques de la gestion de l' eau dans le bassin méditerranéen Bari : CIHEAM

Options Méditerranéennes : Série A. Séminaires Méditerranéens; n. 31 1997

pages 405-419

Article available on lin e / Article dispon ible en lign e à l’adresse :

--- http://om.ciheam.org/article.php?ID PD F=CI971553

--- To cite th is article / Pou r citer cet article

--- Nasr M.L.Y. Social dimen sion of th e policy of th e u se of water. In : D upuy B. (ed.). Aspects économiques de la gestion de l'eau dans le bassin méditerranéen . Bari : CIHEAM, 1997. p. 405-419 (Options Méditerranéennes : Série A. Séminaires Méditerranéens; n. 31)

---

http://www.ciheam.org/

http://om.ciheam.org/

(2)

Loth Youssef

SUMMARY

-

In irrigated agricultural areas where water supply pattern given by irrigation districts (policy maker) does not meet the water demand pattern desired by users to satisfy their crop water requirements, a conflict will arise both between irrigation districts and users and among the users themselves, since irrigation system is defined as a set of physical and social elements. These conflict can be explained through the structural-culture dimension. The structural-cultural is dominated by two main categories, the situations and actions. Situations are composed of the particular setting of the farmer, the culture of the area, and the social structures and processes surrounding the farmer. The actions are the actual and decisions made by the farmers. The factors making up the farmers situation then result in a set of behaviour patterns and decisions. The Egyptian experiences showed that conflicts between social dimension, which determine farmer irrigation behaviour, and policy maker represented by the MPWWR arises because of the differences between the design assumptions of water supply and the farmer demand which is controlled by social behaviour. It was observed that farmers prefer to irrigate at daytime from about 3:OO am to about 12:OO noon, where water supply pattern is assumed that farmers have to irrigate all 24 hours a day. During Islamic occasion -like month of Ramadan- where farmers are fasting, they started irrigation right after the mid-night meal until the early morning hours. Also, the weekly market day at each village affect the farmers irrigation behaviour. They prefer not to irrigate on that day to have a chance for crop marketing and to meet other traded purposes needed for their farm cultivation.

Key-words: Conflict, irrigation behaviour, social structure, water supply pattern, water demand pattern.

RESUME

-

Dans les surfaces irriguées agricoles, où l'offre d'eau proposée par les offices

d'irrigation n'est pas suffisante pour la demande d'eau désirée par les utilisateurs pour satisfaire les besoins de leur cultures, un conflit va surgir entre les offices d'irrigation et les utilisateurs

d'un côté et entre les utilisateurs eux mêmes de l'autre côté. Puisque le système d'irrigation est défini comme un groupe d'déments physiques et sociaux, ces conflits peuvent être expliqués par la dimension structurelle-culturelle. Cette dimension est dominée par deux aspects

principaux, les situations et les actions. Les situations comprennent la culture de la région où le fermier s'installe, les structures et le cadre social environnant. Des facteurs qui constituent la situation du fermier résultent des schémas de comportement et de décisions. L'expérience Egyptienne montre que les conflits entre la dimension sociale, qui détermine le comportement à cause des différences entre les offres de l'eau planifiées et les demandes du fermier

(3)

406 L. Y. Nasr

qui sont déterminées par son comportement social. On a constaté que le fermier préfère irriguer durant le jour entre 3h du matin et midi, tandis que le système d'irrigation planifié suppose qu'il va irriguer durant les 24 heures du jour. Durant quelques manifestations islamiques, comme le mois du Ramadan par exemple, les fermiers jeûnent et ne commencent I'irrigation que juste après le repas de minuit, jusqu'aux premières heures du jour. Aussi, les marchés hebdomadaires dans chaque village modifient le comporfement des fermiers en matière

d'irrigation. Ils préfèrent ne pas irriguer durant le jour pour avoir le temps d'acheter les produits nécessaires pour cultiver leur fermes.

Mots-clés: conflit, comporfement en matière d'irrigation, structure sociale, schéma de l'offre de l'eau, schéma de la demande en eau.

not meet the to

the Egypt, some of

the the Aswan

to satisfy the

could not such as

the of

mands of

is

the the planting

of such conflicts can be looked fiom both will the social dimension

which affect the policy of the use of spect to

the of

to modify the spatial

to manipulate all of

to of

to enhance of

This definition emphasizes the the actions of people in

tion of also of the

types of action to those that involve tapping and that has

An as a set of physi-

cal and social elements employed (i) to fiom

fiom

this to to the

of uses; and (iii) to

et al., 1992).

The physical elements of an as dams,

the tant

of

Without them, the physical elements cannot even come into being. These social elements can be cate-

as

1980). The to the rules

ships among the in the

(4)

actual in

tations. These actual

tute the social

(as with with

a common wa- they may be

in

of

to the notion of both institutions and social is the concept of which connotes a set of expectations and tasks

function 1980). A distinction must be made between and individuals. All individuals involved in play many si- multaneously, but only those that

to included in

an system. Specially, we make two im- to definition, an

acting in in

This distinction is to

the system

and the of which

tion is in the

ties both activities and

such as

the played by staff that

to to be

of the system.

System function boundaries

The definition of an system encompasses of

the and applica-

the basis estab- that divide an system into

The acquisition subsystem includes the physical and social elements associated with the

its

includes elements associated with the movement of

in to the

edge of a field on which it is to be applied.

systems, this

the

in applying the soil. this subsystem, of

system is

in the application subsystem.

Social basis

social as well as physical elements. As discussed in the section defining

systems, these elements involve To some extent,

an delineat-

ing the of an system.

in subdivisions of an

tems. This is tice.

out by units of

in systems

on physically defined systems.

the use of social

to define an in

is

fiom the of to the field.

to and it within

the almost all

in the final stages of allocation and application. Often also, is the nominal

of of the public agency

and its actual span

in the than it

does in policy.

in conjunction

with the of systems. As

time (that between an

(5)

40 8 L. Y. Nasr

and an association, example) a socially based definition of shifts

also, time difficult.

fiom local to local, et al., 1992).

is a

of must exist in an system to

potential of the collective action by those people must exist to manage the

ganized will have a g e a t effect on

the management of that in de-

application, use, will often be

associated in the social

of the system, including on

and official decision

while the in a

policy analysis examine the "tools" of the social scientists must look at the

as well as

to effectively

manage an system.

own;

to irri-

to a in

exist to

viewing an unit as a kind of tion, one can identify

and social diagnostic analysis, we

study these social and the

izational to manage the wa-

We examine the social and

and within and between the supplies

and of

diagnostic analysis we must look at the social web of

zations,

the among the in an

system and between the the

these so-

cial influence

gation system management? We need to study how the physical technology is liked with the

to that these pat-

of social

ganization of

in diagnostic analysis to examine both types

made up of and explicit

penalties, and values. of be-

into such as

an a

contain and implicit penalties, values; they often involve people in face-to-face

a

to clean a the

meeting with officials to

A diagnostic analysis of an system should include a study of the which influence A sociologist in the

field needs to behav-

and how the

we often do not

study but the con-

sequences of such as ef-

ficiencies yields. studying

and decision making, a

detailed an

system and the possible con- on that system.

One possible method of examining behav- and decision making involves dividing the social into situations and actions. Situations composed of the set-

ting of the the of the and the

social the

sions made by the up the

in a

milk et al 1983).

The situation

The situation includes the

setting, the the and .

then subdivided into a

of which

(6)

thus evaluate the situation.

The setting to the in which the

but the physical, institutional, and technological settings

These the

the population living

within a institutional

setting; the

an a

of

the to

as incentives disincentives as he attempts to his goals in

the of thinking,

feeling, and behaving in the social setting.

(i) activities;

ing and socially acceptable as well as ceptions; those aspects of the the

as good bad, as false, as to what exists and what does not exist.

is that aspect of a social system which de-

its the

tion of its dimen-

sions (i)

nominal units within the social system which occupy specific positions in to each

within the social system which occupy specific

positions in to that of

of position; the and wealth associated with a unit in a social system.

long continued actions by individuals that

instance, an extension can change

so that yields.

A study of the institutional

by a set

high quality? Such pesticides, and extension advice. An

tion to the quantity and

quality of such inputs We need to look at the knowledge, skills,

to decision

making and its impact on the management of an system.

The actions

The of all these which make up the situation is the actual decision making and

of As a of the

setting, facing the

his fields?

he apply to this

.

A study of

should be a of analysis. As is the basic building block of any system, a knowledge of how and why he acts in a

we to study the of

an sys-

tem, it to examine how those be-

and decisions come about.

in the

the situation a

means explaining a specific type of be- as

which help explain the

of the these

helps to explain why a a of act as they do.

the of setting, the

defining the physical setting the

the the size of the the location of units within the the time fiame involved, and the base of the community

points the

which will affect the

institutional types of

linkages ties: (i) enabling linkages,

vide to the

(7)

410 L. Y. Nasr

(ii) functional linkages, which supply physical inputs

liiages. A technological setting includes all the facilities a social

the

ing the setting of that in a

the tained within that

the each

involve the unit, the focus of study, and the unit's

ing the the

with of the envi-

We will call these units subunits. instance, if the focus

of the the

the unit with the individual fields in the as the

such as a bank a Coop as the institutional link- to examine the

of the unit to all the existing

the of situation must

an

k m 2 of the

Asia. The Nile Valley is composed of a flood plain

about 18 km flat that

in

km long and 220 km at the coastline.

5000 7.3 million

of its is

gated land and its tion

development.

in Egypt was estimated at 59.2 billion m3, of which

84%

The assumption of thepolicy

Egypt, by

the to the

Even this

a scale, still in

the

the on that

of design assumptions which do not to what is actually happening on

will be a

the the ca-

nal and the flow to fiom

the soil type and the ex-

it will

be the of to

in (iii) the

flow

the

the the to meet the

above assumptions with the least amount of com-

munication between the the

the of

to all

both the day and at

the of

fiom to

field; and

( i x )

sufficient to

tem is dependent on socio-economic conditions and the

the day than at night because

and the is small so it is

to the day. At night,

the women

help, snakes and mosquitoes and

(8)

visibility is the is dynamic in

decision on what to Finally, due to limited dis- a

has shown that the use of is not consistent with the assumptions listed above.

of

The physìcaUsocìa1 characteristics

a system. Two types

used in

4 days on and 4 days off 7 days on and 7 days off and

4 days on and 8 days off 5

cotton and maize in addition to vegetables.

in addition to vegetables.

to most cases,

than allocated. This

on the the

puddling.

The setting; the

in the clas-

sification of

institution

in lifting methods. Some lifting di-

fi-om the its

by using saqias diesel of the

saqias a of

with the exception of a few which

single with

owned by single they

tion to a

in (ii)

ness; and (iii) of insects out at night Wetawie, 1989).

BETWEEN

At the total of Egypt is

than the total the

Egypt will face a deficit between the supply and the demand because of the in population and the need to this and demand, it will be

blame one

On the supply side, the claims that the at night when

spilling out to the and that the try to

compensation. On the demand side,

that enough

that the they have

the offi-

cials have political to

of 1987).

Since any system is designed to meet its objectives if those assumptions well

and between what is

what might be done in of them.

(9)

412

Supply pattern versus demandpatter

The supply given by in

ing

that not

a continuous basis 24

to fiom about 3:OO am to about 12:OO noon (Figs. 1 and 2).

The deficit amount of

by adding the supply of the to the

demand of in

Nasr

enced between about 7:OO am and 12:OO noon in in (Fig.3) to the Om Sen

canal. they not deficits

because the in the canal is not included as of using this canal

is a of the canal level.

Using in a change in the

deficit as shown in (Fig. 4).

Fig.4) indicates the deficit in magnitude and of time.

Om Sen branch canal

M W R Supply pattern

2 4 9

1 - The water supply pattern of the W 1989)

(10)

:3

2

-

Water demandpattern offarmers the Om Sen

Om Sen branch conal Deficit or surplus

-

3 5 9 I O II 12 13 14 15 l6 17 l8 19 2021 22

Time hours

3 - Daily pattern surplus and deficit water combining W W delivery and farmers demands 1989)

(11)

Om Sen branch canal Real deficit or surpius

I

- g o C o

i i

⁴

i

⁶

i

6 9

lb

^li 15 li l 6 . r i

lè

IS 2b 2122s

Time hours

- DeJicit and surplus water pattern taking into consideration the canal water storage

The maximum deficit lps to 620

lps and no deficit exists 11 :O0

a m ;

a change of one The total in the canal is only about 10 of the total of

(typically the of most Egyptim-canals).

Looking to (Fig. 4)

vividly the that Egyptian

Even if the in the canal is used is still a deficiency in

the a

the and

not communicating but in-

on a saqia and on a mesqa

to

of of

the season. The actual a of five

using a saqia have been

based upon the of of the

saqia of the day the

cultivated by the is cotton.

The five the saqia at

ent times while in the canal. They

gated cotton eight times 1981

season between and August.

cotton by the five

shown in (Figs 5 and 6)

the show the

total of that the saqia

all the (Fig.7)

gives the total of all the

season cotton &

1984).

at Om Sen canal of the month of July 198 1

,

plant is

(Figs.8 and 9) indicated that the

tion at each of the day

due to the high demand the

tion. The same thing happens the

gation due to the of in the canal and because this is peak of demand

is taking place by et al. 1983).

(12)

to between 3 am and 12 noon. They don't like to at night because it is too They don't like to in the because it is too hot. This

is evident the shown in (Figs.6,7,8,9 and 10).

of on an

in the month of July is

(Fig.9). Although to be

available on this day, it was still the is available because of leakage of the gates, illegal means,

l the month of July, 1981,

month of fasting is 10).

is the day

light the final meal is taken 2:OO am This indicates that almost this meal, the

began to the

on

an to animal

et al., 1983).

el Sheikh Team fiom the

that few

also affect the

Farmers use pattern on a saqia

5 - pattern during on rotation period for first

irrigation of 1989)

(13)

416 L. Y. Nasr

Farmers use pattern on a saqia

Time hours

6 - pattern during on rotation period forBph irrigation of Cotton 1989)

Farmers total seasonal use pattern On a single saqia planted with Cotton 26

24

El

.-

C 22-1

m ffl

5 20

Time hours

7

-

Seasonal pattern for Cotton 1989)

(14)

Om Sen meska farmers use a t t e

Time hours

8

-

pattern for crops consisting mainly

during one rotation period in July, 1989)

Om Sen m.eska farmers use pattren Rotation is off crop pat mostly Rice

I

Time hours

9 - pattern for crops consisting mainly of during one rotation period in July, 1981

(15)

418 L. Y; Nasr

OM Sen meska use the month of July

r

Time

-

for month Jde, 1981 on the Sen

canal 1989)

ply given by (policy

not meet the de-

to satisfy

ments, a conflict will both between among

This the

of the use of

of (MPWWR)

system is defined as a set of physical and social elements. The physical elements such as dams, canals and

of such elements needs a set of assumption. The social elements as institutions and social

The concept institutions to the

social defining

ship among the in the system.

These

and decision making and divided into situations and actions. Situations composed of the

setting of the the of the

social the

the actual and deci-

sions made by the making up

the situation then in a set of behav-

The Egyptian indicated that to the situation actions and the

assumptions conflicts

between both sides. was indicated that to on day time than night, the ious occasions affect decision of when to the local day is not a

specific is

accepted a specific than

of

was also noticed that the policy assumptions set-

ted by the and did not flexible

enough to meet

indicates how much the social dimension of the policy affects the use of

(16)

Coward, E.W. (1980). development; institutional and

development in Asia, ed.E.W. N.Y., USA,

vol.1. USA.

EWUP. (1984). Egypt's system in old land, Findings of the E m ,

W., T., Nelson, J., Sunada,

Podmore, C. A. and Podmore, T. systems concepts and Vol.

night timing of Om sen

No.108, Egypt.

and J.F. (1987). between supply of and A case

study. Commission and of sixth Afio-Asian on

in Vol.

80523.

assessing on

1, Food