Manejo eficiente del agua en sistemas comunitarios de riego Andinos

Abstract

Community irrigation systems are extremely interesting because they combine infrastructure, whose elements cannot always be understood by engineering, and very rich and varied agreements to access water, the combination of infrastructure and social institutions allow water to be managed. This is one of the few documents that articulately addresses technical elements and the social organization of community water systems. To do this, the researchers focus on a particular locality in the Colombian Andean area, whose results and reflections They can be extrapolated to other mountainous areas of the tropics. Although this book is the result of a research project, it is written in an entertaining way seeking access to all audiences interested in the topic of community irrigation systems. It gives indicators of water losses, efficiency of irrigation application, the rich social agreements on which these systems are based and the perceptions of users, as well as the terrible policy and legal limitations to respond effectively to the reality so well understood by irrigators. That is to say, the authors shed light on the operation and the elements of success that could be replicated, as well as some reflections on how these systems can be improved based on the action of the users themselves, public policies, and the improvement of infrastructure and other elements that favor rural development, articulating with management of water, particularly in rural areas of the high tropics.