Study On The Construction And Sustainable Development Of Farmer Water User Association In Irrigated Areas

China is a country with shortage and uneven distribution of water in the aspect of time and space; and at the same time, flood and drought disasters take place frequently. For a long time, the problem of water shortage has been one of the core issues that constrain the development of agriculture and national economy. In the past, we usually use the traditional means of engineering and technology to solve the problem of water shortage in the irrigation. However, with the increasing difficulty of new construction and its strong financial support required, this method encountered obstacles at the cicumstances of national limited financial resources. And the problem of low utilization of water resources is prevalent in rural areas. Many studies show that poor management of irrigation water projects was the root course of water shortage.Water resources and associated refining facilities belong to quasi-public goods that are difficult of refine and separate, and is also related to the basic production and daily life. In principle they are supplied by the government but now transferred to the market because of the low efficiency of management and financial burden of government. As a new management style, participatory irrigation management model can be a very good solution.Farmer Water User Association, formed by democratic consultation and agreement of majority of water users, is one type of the participatory irrigation management and an social organization that are not for profit target. It is introduced into China from 1990s. At the beginning Hubei and Hunan province are as the pilots of reform, and then this type has gradually spread to the whole country. On the current view this association can basically achieve a win-win situation between farmers and Irrigation District Water Department and be satisfied by the masses, the collective and the government. And it can better solve the problem that exist before as well as lightening farmers' burden and enhancing the efficiency of management and utilization. However, we should realize that this association is not regulate in the operation of organization and also lack of appropriate supporting systems at present for its short history. And at the same time the problem of funds shortage exists in the maintaining process because of its not-for-profit character. The core of the thesis is on the research of the sustainable development of Farmer Water Users Association. In this purpose, it grasps in two aspects: one is to affirm the necessity and inevitability of the existence of this participatory management, and at the same time analyze the problems in the constructing and operating process as well as making some policy suggestions for its future sustainable development; the other is to analyze the feasibility of completely adopting maket-oriented method for the supply of rural water project from the aspect of quasi-public goods. And also explore the function of government in this aspect in order to effectively promote the sustainable development of the Farmer Water User Association.