Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Water Users' Associations Ordinance, 1981.

This Ordinance provides for the formation, operation and promotion of water users' association in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Whenever at least fifty-one percent of the irrigators on a water course who are above the age of eighteen years agree to the formation and operation of an Irrigator's Association, they shall make an application to the Director, On-Farm Water Management, through his or her Field Officer. Applications shall be decided upon by the Field Officer. The primary purpose of the Association shall be— (i) the operation, maintenance, improvement and rehabilitation of the watercourse; (ii) 1 [the improvement of water supply from surface or ground water and construction of water storage tanks]; and (iii) the improvement of On-Farm Water Management. An Association shall be a body corporate. The Irrigator's Associations on each distributary may form a Federation of Associations. When more than half of the watercourses on a distributary are organized into Irrigators' Associations, a Distributary Association may be formed. Any other Association formed thereafter on any other water-course on the same distributary shall immediately become constituent member of the Distributary Association. On each major canal all the Distributary Associations may form a Federation of Associations.
Membership in the Association as representative of joint owners or as tenant does not imply relinquishment or prima facie evidence of title to land. Credit may be extended to a legally constituted Association and Association shall have power to encumber the land in the Command area without unanimous consent of the land owners.