88
overview of the study area, especially having close meetings with people related to
the environmental and socioeconomic issues in Maneadero Valley. Even when there
are more than 300 water users registered in the COTAS (according to the REPDA
database), just 52 of them were available to participate in the survey. This was due
to the fact that: (1) most of them only rent the land, (2) they no longer live in
Maneadero or (3) they are elderly people whose age and medical condition did not
allow them to participate in the survey.
Consistency of data input was ensured by creating a formatted Excel spreadsheet.
Quality control for data input was ensured through checks on data input from the
original paper questionnaires into the spreadsheet and through direct clarification of
specific translated answers to avoid misinterpretation. We gave careful consideration to data handling processes from data input to translation and interpretation
(coding, classification and statistics with Stata software).
Sociodemographic Profile of Surveyed Farmers
Seventy-three percent of the sample is formed by men and the other 27% are women.
The age range with greater frequency was 50–69 years, with an average age of
62.7 years. The level of studies of 44.2% of the respondents corresponds to the
elementary school level, 23.1% with high school level, 19.2% undergraduate level
and 7.7% have equivalent studies to PhD and masters. The rest (5.7%) have no
school education.
The main economic activity of the respondents is agriculture (80.8%). The rest
of the respondents are renting their land (9.6%), and in some cases, they also have
another employment (7.7%) or are retired (1.9%). The monthly economic income
with more frequency was from 2000 to 10,000 pesos (48.1%), and the next one was
11,000–20,000 pesos (26.9%). Almost 80% of the participants live in the same land
they own and the rest have an independent house.
Farmers Participation in Water Management and Governance
We explored the rationales for farmers’ participation: the perceptions of the current
groundwater management, the problem and the proposed solutions; water management responsibilities and the usefulness of the participatory spaces provided by
CONAGUA, through COTAS meetings. In doing so, we found that 90.4% of the
respondents assist to the COTAS meetings, because they are members and to stay
informed on water management in Maneadero Valley. Farmers attend meetings
every third Sunday of the month organized by COTAS, but monitored by CONAGUA,
who is the authority that makes the final decisions.
M. Villada-Canela et al.
overview of the study area, especially having close meetings with people related to
the environmental and socioeconomic issues in Maneadero Valley. Even when there
are more than 300 water users registered in the COTAS (according to the REPDA
database), just 52 of them were available to participate in the survey. This was due
to the fact that: (1) most of them only rent the land, (2) they no longer live in
Maneadero or (3) they are elderly people whose age and medical condition did not
allow them to participate in the survey.
Consistency of data input was ensured by creating a formatted Excel spreadsheet.
Quality control for data input was ensured through checks on data input from the
original paper questionnaires into the spreadsheet and through direct clarification of
specific translated answers to avoid misinterpretation. We gave careful consideration to data handling processes from data input to translation and interpretation
(coding, classification and statistics with Stata software).
Sociodemographic Profile of Surveyed Farmers
Seventy-three percent of the sample is formed by men and the other 27% are women.
The age range with greater frequency was 50–69 years, with an average age of
62.7 years. The level of studies of 44.2% of the respondents corresponds to the
elementary school level, 23.1% with high school level, 19.2% undergraduate level
and 7.7% have equivalent studies to PhD and masters. The rest (5.7%) have no
school education.
The main economic activity of the respondents is agriculture (80.8%). The rest
of the respondents are renting their land (9.6%), and in some cases, they also have
another employment (7.7%) or are retired (1.9%). The monthly economic income
with more frequency was from 2000 to 10,000 pesos (48.1%), and the next one was
11,000–20,000 pesos (26.9%). Almost 80% of the participants live in the same land
they own and the rest have an independent house.
Farmers Participation in Water Management and Governance
We explored the rationales for farmers’ participation: the perceptions of the current
groundwater management, the problem and the proposed solutions; water management responsibilities and the usefulness of the participatory spaces provided by
CONAGUA, through COTAS meetings. In doing so, we found that 90.4% of the
respondents assist to the COTAS meetings, because they are members and to stay
informed on water management in Maneadero Valley. Farmers attend meetings
every third Sunday of the month organized by COTAS, but monitored by CONAGUA,
who is the authority that makes the final decisions.
M. Villada-Canela et al.