APIRAS APAARI Good Practice n.3. Multi-stakeholder approaches for enhancing command area water productivity In India

The Water Resources Department, Government of Maharashtra, responsible for building infrastructure and delivering water to farmers and other users, has so far created irrigation potential of about 5.3. million hectares and the current utilization is about 76%. About 5000 Water User Associations (WUAs) have been established to manage the water supply within their designated areas. However, the water use efficiency and productivity is adversely impacting the overall water security of the state. 2030 Water Resources Group (WRG), a global partnership program hosted within the Water Global Practice of the World Bank, supports the Government of Maharashtra on a state level through the Maharashtra Water Multi-Stakeholder Platform to address water security in the state. Command area water productivity is one of the four thematic areas of work. Since 2018, 2030 WRG has been successful in forging a few public-private-civil society partnerships, covering about 870 WUAs cultivating about 0.30 million hectares of area. In this Good Practice Note, Jonnalagadda VR Murty, Kavita Sachwani and Ajith Radhakrishnan discuss the importance of multi-stakeholder platforms and specific public-private and civil society partnerships in enhancing water use efficiency and institutionalizing an enabling environment that is critical for forging and nurturing such partnerships.