Water scarcity is a critical policy issue in the arid regions of northwest China. The local government has
widely adopted integrated water resources management (IWRM), but lacks support from farmers and
farm communities. We undertook a case study in the Minqin oasis of northwest China to examine
farmers' responses to IWRM and understand why farmer water users' associations (WUAs) are not
functioning effectively at the community level. Results of quantitative and qualitative surveys of 392
farmers in 27 administrative villages showed that over 70% of farmers disapprove of the IWRM marketbased
reforms. In particular, the failure of farmer WUAs can be attributed to overlapping organizational
structures between the WUAs and the villagers' committees; mismatches between the organizational
scale of the WUAs and practical irrigation management by the farmers themselves; marginalization of
rural women in water decision-making processes; and the inflexibility of IWRM implementation. An
important policy implication from this study is that rebuilding farmer WUAs is key to overcoming the
difficulties of IWRM. The current water governance structure, which is dominated by administrative
systems, must be thoroughly reviewed to break the vicious cycle of tension and distrust between farmers
and the government.
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