ASSESSING WATER TENURE SECURITY AND LIVELIHOODS OF HIGHLAND FARMERS: A CASE STUDY OF MAE SA WATERSHED, AMPHOE MAE RIM, CHANGWAT CHIANG MAI

摘要

Water is a major and vital resource for highland household consumption and agriculture in watershed areas of northern Thailand. Concurrently, water is also used by mid- and downstream communities. Water scarcity and high demand in dry season has triggered controversies over water use among relevant stakeholder. In general, water is widely perceived as a common pool resource which can be accessed freely. In fact, private, communal, state and open access rights are interacting in both complementary and conflicting ways. This study aims to analyze the complexity of water rights and to assess water security and livelihoods of the highlanders in this watershed. Under the complexity of water resource management and tenure in Mae Sa Watershed, our study approached this issue in the form of Water Security . A composite Water Security Index (WSI) was developed along three dimensions: (1) diversity of available water sources, (2) access to those sources expressed in percentage of irrigated land, and (3) risks of conflicts and water scarcity. The assessment showed that the water security of the upstream communities was significantly lower than that of the downstream communities in all respects. The assessment of farmers livelihoods under different contexts of water security revealed that the group of farmers with high water security generated higher income than that with low water security. In addition, members of the group with high water security tended to hold higher social position than those in the group with low water security, due to the positive influence of social status on water security. The risk assessment disclosed that the group with low water security encountered higher environmental risks than the group with high water security, due to total dependency on rainwater and the related high risk of drought situations. Due to intensive dependency on external production factors, the groups with high water security in upstream communities faced much higher risks than the groups with low water security. Our results could be seen as evidence against the general perceptions among lowland people and policy-makers that upstream communities enjoy an abundance of water resources and have full access to water as compared to the downstream communities. Upstream communities also tend to be regarded as troublemakers who use too much water and cause negative impacts on others living further downstream. Our study suggests that this perception needs to be revised and that related policy planning would incorporate water security aspects.