Irrigation Networks in the Western Himalaya: Methodological and Conceptual Implications for Public Administration Theory

Abstract

"Interconnected gravity flow irrigation systems (kuhls) in the western Himalaya provide fertile ground for developing methodologies and conceptual frameworks useful for analyzing public organization networks. This paper integrates resource dependence theory with insights drawn from the new institutionalism and population and human ecology to generate a model which suggests that under conditions of common environmental vulnerability, interconnectedness can become a resource which reduces the risk and uncertainty associated with unpredictable environmental perturbations. This proposition is tested by developing an empirical indicator of the structure of interconnectedness between kuhl irrigation systems and examining the relationship between interconnectedness and interkuhl coordination of water management activities. After analyzing the structure and effects of irrigation networks within one watershed, I examine the technical, embedded, cognitive and normative basis' for network coherence. The paper illustrates the methodological and conceptual challenges associated with moving beyond networks as metaphors for interorganizational relations to the network as a rigorous analytical construct."