Romania – Water Users Association Development Project

A key component of the modernization and commercialization of Romania’s agricultural sector is the establishment and development of viable, sustainable irrigation Water Users Associations (WUAs), owned, operated, and managed by local farmers. The WUAs will manage the operations and maintenance of their irrigation systems, and also provide a vital link between the larger government water supply system, and the demands of the individual farmers. USAID/Romania’s Water Users Association Development Project (WUADP) seeks initially to establish WUAs in 50,000 ha of irrigated land, later expand into additional hundreds of thousands of hectares, and also support the World Bank’s Irrigation Rehabilitation and Reform Project in Romania.

Since 2002, Riverside Technology, inc. (RTi) has been providing technical services to WUADP through a sub-contract with PA Consulting Group. RTi staff have designed, implemented, and evaluated WUA Establishment and Development Training Programs throughout Romania. Over 90 WUAs have been trained, covering tens of thousands of hectares of irrigated land. Hundreds of WUA officers, members, and Romanian government officials have participated in these training programs. The training programs have focused on the purpose and function of WUAs in Romania, how to build local rural organizations in Romania, key organizational design principles, and how to properly manage and sustain the WUAs. The training program has used WUA-to-WUA training, where managers of older, already-established WUAs take an active role in training newly established WUAs, or WUAs in the processing of registering. The WUADP training programs developed and conducted by RTi staff have been so popular and successful that many Romanian WUAs from outside the WUADP area have arrived unexpectedly at training sessions and asked to be included. Further expansion of training activities is taking place.

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