Irrigation projects consistently fail to meet their projected performance in hydrologie, agronomic, or economic terms. Too often the state bureaucracy seeking to develop irrigation places the blame for such failure on the project beneficiaries–farmers. Citing problems such as water theft, fee non-payment, and the taking of irrigation water out of turn, analysts fail to examine the broader institutional and organizational factors that shape the behavior of farmers. Moreover, little emphasis is given to the lack of accountability of irrigation agency bureaucrats. This book explores the...