Many poor farmers have been using wastewater for years without formal water rights. Improving water management practices in upper portions of a watershed or urban area, to reduce wastewater volume, will also reduce a portion of the irrigation supply for those farmers. Improvements in wastewater treatment can also reduce water supply if the treated wastewater is transferred from its original point of use.
Policies can be implemented to compensate poor farmers by providing them with alternative sources of irrigation water or giving them payments or training that would enable them to pursue alternative livelihood activities. Policies that enable the poor to reduce wastewater use gradually, while seeking other livelihood activities, might be wiser than policies that cause sharp disruptions in wastewater supply (Qadir et al., 2007).