The Struggle of Traditional Irrigators to Control the Turia River (Spain 1850-1951): A Failure of Collective Action in River Basin Management

Abstract

"This paper analyses the evolution of the institutions involved in the management of irrigation in the Turia River basin in the period 1850-1951. During one century, the traditional water users’ associations struggled to control the river regulation processes and to create higher institutions to manage the river basin, finally achieving the formal creation of a basin agency with the support of the State. After the war, the Franco regime executed a complete reform of this institutional framework, leading to the organization of a unique powerful hydraulic bureaucracy that left the irrigation institutions out of the decision making process at the river basin level. The analysis of this study case shows the opportunities and constraints faced by small institutions pursuing the organization of higher institutions for the collective management of common pool resources."