Browsing by Author "Bopp, Carlos"

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    Collective Actions and Leadership Attributes: A Cluster Analysis of Water User Associations in Chile
    (2022) Bopp, Carlos; Engler, Alejandra; Jara-Rojas, Roberto; Hunecke, Claudia; Melo, Oscar
    Good leaders can greatly influence the effective governance of water resources, however, how their attributes relate to group cooperation in Water User Associations (WUAs) remains an open question. Using the case of Chile, we explore the factors of three non-cooperative behaviors in WUAs by performing a two-stage cluster analysis. The results describe four clusters that differ in structural and human characteristics, where highly cooperative WUAs are characterized by having presidents who dedicate more time to their duties, are more active in applying for governmental subsidies, are embedded in social organizations, have high levels of bridging social capital, and have a positive attitude toward the presidency. Our results add to the limited empirical knowledge about the role of leadership in fostering cooperation in the use of common-pool resources. This article sheds light on this matter as the results suggest that policy interventions should aim at strengthening social capital and providing incentives to increase the time dedication of presidents to the WUAs duties.
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    Infrastructure Conditions and Service Quality in Rural Drinking Water Systems: A Cluster Analysis of Community-Based Organizations in Chile
    (2024) Bopp, Carlos; Nicolas-Artero, Chloé; Blanco, Elisa; Fuster, Rodrigo
    In many countries, the drinking water provision in rural areas is in the charge of the users themselves, who constitute rural watersupply services (RWS) to operate and maintain the public infrastructure provided by the State. However, in practice, the condition of thecomponents of the implied infrastructure managed by RWS varies considerably, which has important implications for delivering high-qualityservice. This case study explores the nexus among infrastructure conditions, performance outcomes, and organization characteristics usingthe case of Chile. Using representatives’assessments from 406 RWS regarding the need for the replacement of several components oftheir system’s infrastructure, an index of infrastructure conditions was constructed and subjected to a cluster analysis that identified threedissimilar groups of RWS. The top condition cluster represents a reference group (benchmark) that exhibits the highest scores in water quality,quantity, and delivery reliability, which highlights the association between infrastructure conditions and performance outcomes. In addition,a comparison of RWS attributes of these three clusters allowed us to characterize them in terms of structural, organizational, management,and environmental variables. This study sheds light on the role of RWS infrastructure in enabling these organizations to deliver high-qualityservice, and the findings serve to guide policy actions and tailored planning. The methodology presented here can be applied in otherregions beyond that of the case study because it represents a low-cost tool to measure the infrastructure condition of RWS based on rep-resentatives’assessments and is an effective and practical way to distinguish RWS most in need of support. DOI:10.1061/JWRMD5.WRENG-6318 © 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers
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    Irrigation water use, shadow values and productivity: Evidence from stochastic production frontiers in vineyards
    (2022) Bopp, Carlos; Jara-Rojas, Roberto; Bravo-Ureta, Boris; Engler, Alejandra
    Increasing agricultural water use efficiency has the potential to contribute significantly to hydrological sustainability and to coping with increasing water scarcity. This paper focuses on the role of the quantity of irrigation water applied and irrigation method used in explaining output in wine grape farms. We applied propensity score matching to reduce potential selection bias from observables that might mediate in the choice of irrigation system. Stochastic Production Frontier models are then estimated for a sample of 371 Chilean wine grape growers. The results show that pressurized irrigation leads to higher production at all levels of water applied; however, at lower levels the impact on TVP is more pronounced. Shadow values calculated at observed output for pressurized and gravity systems are 0.026 USD m- 3 and 0.033 USD m- 3, respectively. Significant differences are found between low (0.046 USDm-3), medium (0.027 USD m- 3) and high (0.018 USD m- 3) levels of water applied. The average technical efficiency for the sample is 70.4% and there is no significant difference between growers using pressurized and gravity methods. Our findings suggest that irrigation water can be saved without compromising output, which has important implications for sustainability given that agriculture is the most water demanding sector in the world.
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    What is behind water user satisfaction with irrigation organizations performance? An empirical analysis under different water scarcity conditions
    (2024) Bopp, Carlos; Engler, Alejandra; Jordan, Cristian; Jara-Rojas, Roberto
    The level of satisfaction of individuals within a community sharing a common pool resource is essential to strengthening collective actions. In the case of irrigation water, which is becoming a critical resource due to its declining availability in many regions worldwide, the satisfaction level in Water User Associations (WUAs) is not guaranteed and also varies across individuals within these organizations. This study analyzed the satisfaction of users in WUAs and identified organization- and user-level characteristics associated with it. Using a sample of 393 users of 20 WUAs from the Mediterranean portion of Chile, we performed confirmatory factor analysis, correlational analyses, and multilevel regressions. A composite indicator of user satisfaction showed significant correlations with the positive evaluation of the WUA staff performance, the effectiveness of monitoring and enforcement, and the confidence that other users do not withdraw more water than they are allocated. We also compared users' satisfaction levels from WUAs facing higher and lower water scarcity problems and found that user satisfaction is significantly higher in the latter case. The results of the multilevel econometric models show that in WUAs under higher water scarcity, user satisfaction is affected by several structural characteristics (water withdrawal mechanism and location along the canal) and users' human and social capital variables (experience, education, and participation in organizations); in contrast, in WUAs with a low level of scarcity, few covariates were significant while unobserved characteristics became more relevant (34 % of total variance explanation). Our study contributes to the existing literature on user satisfaction in community resource management, which could be useful to promote effective and cohesive governance structures as, ultimately, users determine cooperation rates and willingness to participate in WUA actions.