Farmers say no to new water burden

'If the government has no choice but to follow the dictates of international monetary organisations," says Prof Nithi Eiewsriwong of Chiangmai University, "then maybe there is no need for a government. It's as if we have no government left.

"It used to be that when you borrow money, you first propose a project, prove its benefits, and show how it will break even within a specific time.

"It is the duty of the government-who borrows the money-to decide how they can repay it. The government should decide its own measures of collecting money to repay the debt. "However, today, international monetary agencies decide and design everything for us," said Prof Nithi.

In its policy matrix in the area of Water Service Delivery reform, a prior action to be taken is to consult with stakeholders "to initiate a process of cost recovery in public irrigation schemes."

Mr. Craig Steffensen, the resident advisor for the Asian Development Bank in Thailand, explains why water pricing must be implemented. He says the reform aims to "promote the optimal use of irrigation water in the country. "Demands for water in Thailand are increasing at a time when water resources are increasingly scarce.

We have all witnessed the worsening effects of drought in Thailand over the past few years. "International best practices suggest that efficiency in water management can be improved considerably through imposition of nominal water user fees.

It's basically a quirk of human nature that people who get something for free are more inclined to use it less efficiently than those individuals who have to pay for water, however small the cost. "By assessing a nominal cost for water use, use of irrigation water might thus become much more efficient, and make more irrigation available to farmers, especially during critical periods" (Watershed, March-June 2000).

In the same interview he said that the Thai government "intends to go after industrial estates, factories and housing estates in and around Bangkok which are located next to irrigation canals that the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) constructed years ago." Many of these groups have pumps drawing water from irrigation canals and do not pay their fair share. So measures will be implemented to collect water user fees from these groups in particular.

"After that, there are groups that are willing to pay for water, such as sugarcane farmers in Chon Buri....," Steffensen told Watershed. "Given the increasing scarcity of water resources, the best way to develop broad support for water user fees in Thailand may be to demonstrate to people that it is to their advantage to pay, if doing so means having greater access to more reliable and plentiful water supply.

"Supporting this statement, ADB senior national advisor Apichart Anukularmphai said, "Many farmers are willing to pay for water, including farmers in Nakhon Sawan province. They said it is fair for them to pay," said Mr. Apichart.

He said the fee is not a tax on water but a service charge to be paid by those who use the service. "It is not fair to use the money of people nationwide to support only a few groups of people. Therefore those who benefit from such projects should pay," said Mr. Apichart.

Despite the logic of Mr. Apichart, the farmers themselves have mixed feelings about paying for water.

Most farmers are compliant-they have been shouldering so many burdens which they never asked for. For instance, they have never requested for the ASP loan.

"How do these restructuring plans come up?" asks Mrs. Duangjai Navathamapichet, a sugarcane grower in Kanchanaburi. "It is too much burden for us to pay for water-how can we benefit from these schemes that the Ministry of Agriculture proposes?" We don't need these plans-we need only uncorrupt officials, politicians and cabinet members," she said.

She said many irrigation projects have been abandoned and unused. "Look at the irrigation canal near my area: there is no water, nobody benefited from it," she said, singling out the irrigation canal at the Klondo sub district in Dan Makhamtia district of Kanchanaburi.

On the other hand, some farmers don't mind paying up for water, provided they are assured of guaranteed service.

"I don't mind paying for water service if the government can guarantee delivering us water all year round," said Sawai Dee-nguleaum from Nakhon Ratchasima.

"But what will happen if it cannot deliver us the promised water?" asked the farmer. Many farmers wonder how officials would collect the water fee, or how they will be charged.

How would the water officials, for instance, differentiate the water from the service that they use and the water from rain, or natural rivers and canals?" Do we have to pay for the water that Mother Earth and the forest give us?" asked Pompet Kaenpet of Ban Tomdong in Phayao. "Are they going to charge us for something that they put no hands on?" added Pompet.

"This canal is being maintained by all of us in this water basin. Do we have to pay for this?" asked the farmer.

In the Northern region domestic water management continues to deteriorate, mostly due to several external factors. Locals point to the new RID-introduced irrigation system, forest destruction, and industrial investment promotion.

"Before the new irrigation system was introduced to us, we helped each other in the dry season. We helped clean and clear up the canal and our weirs. "We do not need the money from the government. We have enough water to distribute among us villagers," said 65-year-old Muankham Wongduang of Huykaew, Phayao.

Most farmers feel that it is not fair for them to be forced to pay for the water cost recovery.

Further, they believe that paying for water services will not solve the problem of water scarcity or increase the efficiency of the water usage.

"Why does water become scarce?" asked Jorni Ordochao from Chiang Mai.

"Is it because we farmers are using too much water, or is it because the forests-the water source and moisture generators-have disappeared?" Do these technocrats believe that our paying for water can generate more water for us to use?" asks the Northern leader.

In order to provide more water for use, what does he suggest? "To provide more water is to protect forests, maintain and improve present irrigation systems," said the local leader.

At present farmers pay direct and indirect taxes.

"So far, we have been paying for all the rising costs of agricultural investments, fertilisers, and pesticides. We have to pay for the high price of petrol, for farm machinery, as well as increases in transportation costs.

"We have been paying all kinds of taxes to the government, but does the government guarantee the price of our rice?" said Pensri Ratanadaeng from Kanchanaburi.

Other farmers complain that the government has never done anything to relieve their debt but instead wants to actually increase it. "The new costs of investment that we have to pay will bury us, we will get into deeper debt. Why does the government not try to help us? Why do they have to collect more money from us," said Wat Kajongklang from Nakhon Ratchasima.

Some wonder how the government could think that farmers do not practise water usage efficiency. "Had they come and seen how we plant rice, how we live.... We sometimes have to carry water from faraway places when nearby water is gone. "Sometimes we can not plant at all when there is no rain.

"Many irrigation canals are around our area, and they're all dry. Do we have to pay for these dry canals?" Other farmers suspect that money will be wasted in ASP loan projects.

"Who will really gain from the loan scheme? After borrowing from different lenders-from the World Bank to Miyazawa-and then spending money likebia (play money) and now (spending) the ADB's money.." "Then the officials claim that this investment comes from the people's taxes so they have to collect it back from farmers. "Do we actually, really benefit from these schemes?" said Pompet Keanpet from Phayao.

"Think about it, who really benefits from these schemes? How many construction and consultant companies gain from projects which are imposed on us?" Pompet asks state officials and the ADB to evaluate the past projects.

Most dams and reservoirs can not store enough water for farm use in the dry season and many irrigation canals remain dry, he says. "And now they are going to build more dams and reservoirs!" he adds.

During periods of acute water scarcity, agriculture receives lower priority than urban needs.

For instance, farmers are ordered to delay or stop planting or using water to route water to major cities and towns.

After 98 years of RID operations, the estimated irrigation area is about 22.11 million rai. There are 89 big irrigation projects and 25 river basins which have only about 70,769 million cubic metres of water.

Natural resources-such as water-are essential to all, and should not be managed by market mechanisms, said Dr Kasian Tejapira of Thammasat University.

"Otherwise, water would not flow by gravity but by purchasing power," he said. "Commoditisation of water should not be allowed, because the right to natural resources is a basic right all human beings have," Dr Kasian insisted.

On the other hand, Mr. Apichart says that two factors will shape water pricing: affordability and level of service. "If farmers use services, why don't they pay for it?  We are not going to charge for what we have at the moment but if the government injects some money into existing reservoirs or irrigation canals, those who will use these should pay for it," said Mr. Apichart.

He warns that farmers should not panic and that the mass media should give correct information. "We are in the process of study and consultation with the stakeholders," said Mr. Apichart.

Although small-scale farmers would be exempt from the water fee according to the ADB, Mr. Srisuwan Kuankajorn of the Towards Ecology Recovery Foundation remains concerned that small-scale farmers will be deprived of water because bigger farms will have the ability to buy.

"The purchase power of farmers is not the same. Large-scale farmers or those in the agribusiness and industry can pay for the water they use. How can the poor do the same? "Is there any guarantee that the small-scale farmer will have the same access to sufficient amounts of water-considering that they have no purchasing power?" said Srisuwan.

He said it is difficult to treat water like most market goods. First, water is broadly perceived as a public property. Second, the uses of water within a river basin are interdependent. If large-scale farmers withdraw water in one part of the basin, it will automatically reduce the availability of water for other users. Golf courses or industries that pump groundwater may lower the water table and increase pumping costs for other users.

"These interdependencies suggest that if the large-scale farmers can have access to water it will automatically affect others in the basin, particularly those located downstream," Srisuwan added, concluding: "Don't you think that the poor farmers will be left out?"

In its Development Policy letter, the Thai government states: "The ASP's (Agriculture Sector Programme) primary objective is to achieve sustainable growth of the agriculture sector through the implementation of reform measures required for: (i) increasing agricultural productivity (ii) enhancement of export competitiveness of agricultural products, and (iii) restructing of agricultural institutions and improvement of government in the sector.

A total of 22,200 million baht will go to six major programme loans covering 20 projects:- 8,000 million baht for increased productivity in irrigation and natural water areas- 3,100 million baht to develop commodity quality and the ability to manage agriculture programmes.

• 2,500 million baht for community potentiality development programmes.
• 5,350 million baht for research and technology development programmes.
• 1,010 million baht to establish New Economy Zones.
• 2,240 million baht to organisational, institutional and information system restructuring programmes.