Sustainable irrigation water management: a case study on secondary canal of Sindh Province of Pakistan
Date
2009-11
Authors
Lashari, Bakhshal, author
Memon, Mohammad Ayaz, author
U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, publisher
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Abstract
Sustainable irrigation water management requires a strong relationship among water users. The established Watercourse Associations (WCAs) at the tertiary level canal and Farmer Organization (FO) at the secondary level canal need to develop strong institute. The potential conflicts in water distribution equity among the water users and improvement in reliability of water delivery can be mitigated through appropriate technical and socio economic interventions such as water measuring mechanisms, proper maintenance, and investment on irrigation infrastructure improvements. The Farmer Organization (FO) in the Daulatpur Minor was established in 2000, but the process of social mobilization for forming a Farmer Organization was started in 1999. The present study was carried out for the period from October 2006 to April 2007 (one crop season) for the purpose to assess water delivery to farmers, water use efficiency and farmer's role for sustainable irrigation water management. The results on system performance demonstrate that the Daulatpur Minor received irrigation water for only 69 days out of 168 days allocated for winter crop season, thus the Minor remained closed for 99 days at various time and interval. However, the amount of water delivered to farmers was in excess as deliveries were estimated to be 8307 ac-ft (6.97 mm/day) including losses of the watercourse compared to the required 5056 ac-ft (4.24 mm/day) for the crop and water delivery to farmers along the distributary length was varying up to 95 percent. Consequently, water productivity achieved only Rupees (Rs) 1.10 /m3 which, is equivalent to US$ 0.018 /m3. In order to manage irrigation water in a sustainable fashion, the Farmer Organizations played a role in maintaining the channels jointly. In all, they contributed labor and equipment while removing over 43,000 cubic meter of sediment. The imputed cost of these contributions was almost Rs. 12 per acre (US$ 0.2 per acre), which is much less when compared to government expenditures on operation and maintenance of channels. Due to removing the sediment, the head-tail water delivery ratio improved from 1.68 to 1.14 (Lashari B and Murry-Rust H.D (2002). Further, the paper suggests that a water committee may be established at a district management level where various stakeholders are involved to further strengthen the newly established organizations for a better and more sustainable management of irrigation water.
Description
Presented at the fifth international conference on irrigation and drainage, Irrigation and drainage for food, energy and the environment on November 3-6, 2009 in Salt Lake City, Utah.