Participation is something to be optimized rather than maximized without regard to benefits or costs. This article examines in theoretical and empirical terms the incentives for water users to take more responsibility for the operation and maintenance of irrigation systems. Extensive survey data from a study covering nearly 500 farmers in the Gal Oya irrigation scheme in Sri Lanka support the proposition that farmers will be more willing to manage and maintain systems where water supply is relatively scarce rather than absolutely scarce or abundant. In fact, when farmer organizations were introduced in Gal Oya, this proposition was confirmed, though the field experience (as always) was less orderly than hypotheses presumed. Of particular significance are reasons why free riding may not be so important a deterrent to collective action in irrigation management within a middle range of water availability. Farmers who avoid contributing resources and who fail to cooperate in water distribution are likel...
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Uphoff et al. (1990) studied this question.