Tenure arrangements determine how people, communities and organizations gain access to, and use, natural resources, and are gaining increasing attention and recognition as part of efforts towards sustainable, equitable and efficient use of natural resources. Yet, there is little literature available on the concept of water tenure. The purpose of this paper is to examine the notion of tenure in connection with water resources and to
explore whether the concept of water tenure has the potential to make a useful contribution towards addressing some of the world’s water resources challenges. It seeks to provide answers to the following questions: (a) What is water tenure? (b) Does water tenure really exist? (c) Could the concept of water tenure
be useful in terms of the development of natural resources policies and practices? See more about:

FAO TECHNICAL PAPERS and FAO LAND AND WATER DISCUSSION PAPERS
1. A perspective on water control in southern Africa –support to regional investment initiatives, 2003 (E)
2. On-farm composting methods, 2003 (E, F)
3. Payment schemes for enviornmental services in watersheds / Sistemas de pago por servicios
ambientales en cuencas hidrográficas, 2004 (E, S)
4. Drought impact mitigation and prevention in the Limpopo River Basin – a situation analysis, 2004 (E)
5. Water desalination for agricultural applications, 2006 (E)
6. Land evaluation – towards a revised framework, (E) 2007. Only available in PDF format at
http://www.fao/ag/agl/public.stm
7. Coping with Water Scarcity: What Role for Biotechnologies? 2008 (E)
8. Review of evidence on drylands pastoral systems and climate change (E)
9. Monitoring agricultural water use at country level (E, F)
10. Exploring the concept of water tenure (E)