Contents Preface 1 Why is Gender Equity a Concern for Water 1 Management? Sara Ahmed 2 Negotiating Gender Equity through Decentralised 51 Water Management in Coastal Gujarat: The Case of UTTHAN Sara Ahmed 3SEWA: Campaigning for Water, Women and Work 93 Sara Ahmed 4 Mainstreaming Gender Concerns in Participatory 123 Irrigation Management: The Role of AKRSP(I) in South Gujarat Shilpa Vasavada 5Water Women: Managing Community Lift Irrigation 153 Systems in Jharkhand Soumya Sarkar and Sukanta Sarkar 6Looking Back, Thinking Forward: The Khudawadi 179 Experience with Access to Irrigation for Women and the Landless Seema Kulkarni 7Flowing Upstream: Towards Gender Just, 211 Equitable and Empowering Water Management Sara Ahmed About the Authors 236 Abbreviations and Acronyms 238 Annexure 242 Glossary 244 Resources 246 Index 250 List of Tables 2.1 Water sources in Mithi Virdhi 68 2.2 Water sources in Neswad 68 4.1 Gender division of labour in agriculture 130 4.2 Gender division of labour in canal management 131 4.3 Decisions in Kevdi canal from a gender perspective 132 4.4 Uses of canal water 135 4.5 Status of irrigation projects 139 5.1 Irrigated land as a percentage of net sown area in Jharkhand 154 5.2 CMLIs run by women in the Barhi-Koderma Area 164 5.3 Financial transactions made for irrigation 172