Water resources could in principle be managed by several users as common property resources. In the absence of effective mechanisms for co-management at the watershed or river-basin level, however, water resources often become open access. Conflicts often arise between upstream and downstream users. Irrigators at the tail end of a large irrigation system may have the formal right to water, but their share may be taken by farmers near the head of the system, who may even have switched to higher value and more water consumptive crops through collusion with irrigation officials. Access to finance and technology, . the ability to pump water from aquifers or.
