This book, based on anthropological research on local irrigation management in the Mekong Delta, sheds light on state-society interactions at the interface between bureaucratic and informal areas. Data from ethnographic case studies was framed abductively by institutional bricolage approach (Cleaver 2012) and state power (Goebel 2011). The study goes beyond institutions process and individual bargaining to argue that local irrigation management is guided by the co-evolution between the state and local actors. It is the everyday dialogue that, in the co-existence of hierarchical state management structure and the space of local flexibility, officially and unofficially refines the local practices. Huynh Thi Phuong Linh worked as junior researcher at ZEF, Bonn, Germany. She specialises in social science research on agriculture and irrigation management, local water governance, and policy-practice analysis.