The negotiation of rules and state intervention in irrigation management: The Júcar Canal in the mid-19th century

Abstract

The way the rules for distributing water work in irrigation communities has been the object of numerous studies. Yet, little is known about how the negotiation process that is required to design such rules has developed historically, which is what this article focuses on. Specifically, the case of the Júcar Canal, which was built in the 13^th century and went on to become the largest irrigation system in Spain after undergoing an extension in the early 19^th century. As a result of said extension, there were many clashes between the old and the new irrigators, the climate of cooperation between users diminished and it became necessary to draw up a new set of regulations. Two crucial factors allowed a new agreement to be reached: the fact that the irrigators were able to redesign the institutions with a high degree of autonomy, and the intervention of representatives of the political authorities of the State who adopted the role of external arbitrators.