EMERGING MODERNIZATION PROCEDURES AND DESIGN STANDARDS
Herv Plusquellec
FAO 2002 Bangkok, Thailand
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iii HOW DESIGN, MANAGEMENT AND POLICY AFFECT THE PERFORMANCE OF IRRIGATION PROJECTS
EMERGING MODERNIZATION PROCEDURES AND DESIGN STANDARDS
Herv Plusquellec
FAO 2002 Bangkok, Thailand
AN ADVOCACY DOCUMENT FOR ALL STAKEHOLDERS: IRRIGATION AGENCIES, FINANCING INSTITUTIONS, USER ASSOCIATIONS, PLANNERS, DESIGNERS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS
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ISBN 974-680-215-1 RAP 2002/20
FAO, March 2002 All rights reserved, No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Applications for such permission with a statement of the purpose and extent of the reproduction, should be addressed to the Meetings and Publication Office, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Maliwan Mansion, 39 Phra Athit Road, Bangkok 10200, Thailand The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. v CONTENTS PREFACE 1 PART I: AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE 13 I. THE CAUSES OF POOR PERFORMANCE OF IRRIGATION PROJECTS: AN UNFINISHED DEBATE 13 Perceived deficiencies in technical design and management 14 Administrative and behavioural reasons 17 Criticism of engineers 17 Criticism of development banks and donor agencies 19 The slow recognition of design as a main reason of the poor performance of irrigation systems 21 The dawn of a new approach to irrigation design and management 24 II. PERFORMANCE OF IRRIGATION SYSTEMS 27 III. A REVIEW OF THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS 31 1. The World Bank 31 The lack of an irrigation policy paper 31 Pressure to lend 32 Use of overoptimistic assumptions during design and appraisal 34 2. The Asian Development Bank 34 3. The FAO Cooperative Programme guidelines 35 Identification and preparation of irrigation projects 35 Updating of the 1984 irrigation guidelines (1996) 37 IV. TECHNICAL VERSUS MANAGERIAL CHANGES 40 V. TECHNOLOGY VERSUS INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS: USER PARTICIPATION 45 From social to business associations 45 Impact of irrigation management transfer on the performance of irrigation projects 49 VI. IMPROVED IRRIGATION IN THE CONTEXT OF WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 52
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PART II: CHANGING APPROACHES TO THE DESIGN OF IRRIGATION PROJECTS 55
VII. IRRIGATION DESIGN CONCEPTS IN SELECTED COUNTRIES 55
A. Traditional irrigation systems 55 B. Country experience 56 1. India 56 2. Pakistan 58 3. Egypt: the Nile valley system 62 4. Sudan: the Gezira project 63 5. China 66 6. North African countries 68 7. Iran 70 8. Malaysia 72 9. Indonesia 73 10. United States of America 74
C. Use of Bureau of Reclamation design standards in developing countries 75 D. Cross country transfer of technology 78 India: transfer of rotational distribution from northwest India to the southern states 79 Transfer of rotational irrigation from India to Thailand and Nepal80 Indonesia: transfer of technology to user-managed systems 81 E. Conclusions 82
VIII. THE FORCES OF CHANGE 87 Response from farmers 89 Response from technology 90 Response from agricultural research 91 Response from the governments 92
IX. THE EXPLOSIVE EXPLOITATION OF GROUNDWATER RESOURCES 92
X. THE PLANNING PROCESS: A GLOBAL GAME PLAN 95 Definition of modern design 95 Principles of modern design 96
vii Proper objective 97 Water delivery 98 Configuration 99 Water control strategy 99 Guiding principles for selecting a control strategy and equipment 103 Modernization of existing schemes 109 Simulation of canal response for different scenarios 109 Centralized automatic control systems 110
XI. PARAMETERS INFLUENCING THE PLANNING AND DESIGN OF IRRIGATION PROJECTS 111 Water resources 112 Groundwater resources 112 Silt load 114 Rainfall 115 Soil conditions 115 Crop diversification 116 Existing infrastructure 117 Land tenure and consolidation 118 Management and technical capability: the field reality 120 Economics and maintenance costs 120 Institutional setup 121 Operational capabilities of irrigation agencies and user associations 122 Pricing and water allocation strategy 123 Capacity of the construction industry 123
XII. THE CHALLENGE OF MODERNIZATION: OPTIONS AND PROCEDURES 124 Infrastructure versus management inputs 124 Stepwise versus full-fledged modernization 125 The role of water users associations in the modernization process 127 Financing of rehabilitation programmes: a few examples 127 Specific design issues 131 Hierarchy of canals 131 Control of seepage losses 133
XIII. A PROCESS FOR REVISING DESIGN PROCEDURES AND STANDARDS 135 Assess needs for change: the use of internal indicators 135 Development of new design procedures 138 Revision of design standards 139
viii Strategies for dissemination 140 XIV. CONCLUSION: THE NEED FOR COUNTRY IRRIGATION POLICIES 141
REFERENCES 145
ANNEXES 149 Annex 1: Planning a large irrigation project in the 1950-70 period 149 Annex 2: Abstracts from the FAO Guidelines for Planning Irrigation and Drainage Investment Projects 151 Annex 3: Conventional terms of reference for consulting services 153 Annex 4: Irrigation policy: modernization of water resources in Brazil 154
FIGURES Figure 1: A multi-tier user organization/agency of a surface irrigation system 49 Figure 2: Alternative configurations of canal automated systems 101 Figure 3: Complexity of different control strategies at design, construction and operation stages 103 Figure 4: Options for ease of operation and higher levels of service105 Figure 5: Flow rate fluctuations through weir and orifice control structures 107 Figure 6: Combination of check and turnout structures 108 Figure 7: Land consolidation in an interventionist agricultural economy 119 Figure 8: A land consolidation model in a liberal agricultural economy 119 Figure 9: An irrigation project with a well-established hierarchy of canals 131 Figure 10: A typical irrigation system with a loose hierarchy of canals and a high number of direct outlets 132 Figure 11: Typical configuration of an irrigation system in Mid and South China 133
PHOTOGRAPHS *
Photo 1: Dominican Republic I Photo 2: Viet Nam, Dau Tieng Project I
* All photographs by Herv Plusquellec unless specified otherwise.
ix Photo 3: Viet Nam, Dau Tieng Project II Photo 4: Pakistan, SWABI Project in North West Frontier Province II Photo 5: Argentina II Photo 6: Nepal, Sunsari-Morang Project III Photo 7: Iran, Guilan Project III Photo 8: Iran, Guilan Project III Photo 9: Malaysia, Kemubu Project IV Photo 10: India, Majalgaon Project IV Photo 11: Iran, Guilan Project IV Photo 12: France V Photo 13: Philippines V Photo 14: Japan, farm layout before land consolidation V Photo 15: Japan, farm layout after land consolidation V Photo 16: Pakistan VI Photo 17: USA, Salt River Project, SCADA VI Photo 18: Spain, Cabral Project, SCADA VII Photo 19: Morocco, Haouz Project (Socit du Canal de Provence) VII Photo 20: Mexico, Rio Fuerte Project VIII Cover : Vietnam, Dau Tieng Project Vietnam, Dau Tieng Project (Arjen During) Internal Cover : Alberta, Canada (Irrigation Secretariat, Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development)
1 PREFACE Irrigation is in a quiet crisis. Despite undeniable past successes in contributing to food production, irrigation expansion has dramatically lost momentum since the 1980s due to a considerable slowdown in new investment, losses of irrigated areas due to water logging, salinization, aquifer over-drafting and urban encroachment in some countries. However, irrigated agriculture still remains essential for future food security. The reduction of investments in the irrigation sector is not consistent with the identified needs for future food security, as indicated by numerous model studies on projections of food demand and supply. The increasing disinterest of donor agencies and governments in irrigated agriculture may have dramatic consequences in the coming years if the situation is not reversed soon. One of the factors that have contributed to this disinterest is the relatively poor performance of large-scale canal irrigation projects. These systems are the most difficult to manage and have yielded the lowest returns compared to their expected potential. The paper emphasizes that performance of irrigation projects is determined by a combination of physical, institutional and policy factors. It focuses however on the importance of design and technology that is often denied or not recognized by decision-makers and others involved in the development of large-scale irrigation. This document is rather an advocacy, not a design manual, for irrigation projects. However, it presents some important suggestions for the revision of the planning process of irrigation projects and of operational procedures which have an impact on the selection and design of water control structures. The paper touches the issue of projects with conjunctive use of canal and groundwater; but does not address the design issues of projects making use of groundwater only. The technical discussion on the design is limited to the structures found in irrigation projects, which determine water operation and distribution. It therefore excludes drops, escapes and communication structures.
2 This publication is divided into three main parts. The first part reviews the various causes of performance of irrigation and drainage projects below their expected potential as suggested by many irrigation analysts over the last four decades. This part concludes that the gap between potential and actual outcome is strongly related to over-optimistic assumptions on hydraulic performance at planning stage and in a number of cases to faulty and unrealistic designs. High overall efficiency can only been reached in well-operated irrigation systems, which require well-designed and constructed systems.
The second part describes the conventional design concepts and operational procedures of irrigation projects used in the countries with large irrigated areas. It then discusses the operational problems of the design standards used in some countries or resulting from inadequate transfer of technology.
The third part reviews various factors that should be considered in the selection of an overall irrigation and water control strategy. The final chapter proposes a process whereby agencies responsible for irrigation would review existing design procedures and standards in view of existing and future requirements in terms of service and performance. Agencies would have to assess the needs for change and the development of new design standards and procedures. The chapter concludes with a strategy for the revision and dissemination of revised guidelines.
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This publication, its analyses and considerations, are global in scope, although naturally Asian irrigation, its history and characteristics as well as transfers of technology to and within the region are extensively covered. We believe that the publication and its recommendations are particularly relevant to Asia. For this reason, the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific has undertaken to commission and publish this work.
Present developments in the irrigation sector in Asia are dominated to a large extent by Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) and
3 more recently Irrigation Management Transfer (IMT) reforms, which often have the stated objectives of providing sustainable and adequate financing for operation and maintenance of irrigation and drainage services and of facilitating investment in the required rehabilitation or upgrading of irrigation systems. Overall reform of water resource management often encompasses these reforms; it typically includes demand management to encourage efficient water allocation and imposes new externalities on irrigation systems in terms of environmental, economic and financial performance. Water pricing is often a pivotal feature of these reforms, at the intersection of internal considerations of efficiency, fiscal or financial sustainability of the irrigation systems and external water allocation and environmental considerations.
Lending for irrigation has progressively changed over time from project-specific investments to sector loans or projects that are national or regional in scope and support the objectives of reform, participation and capacity building. These projects often combine low cost rehabilitation projects and management reforms with attention to improved O&M and user participation. In Asia, where the older public schemes have reached the age of 30-40 years in most countries, the issue of rehabilitation is becoming increasingly important. The content and orientation of rehabilitation in a context of PIM/IMT will therefore be critical.
The limited success of the previous wave of PIM reforms in Asia has led some analysts to the conclusion that these reforms had been incomplete and that it was necessary to deepen the institutional reforms to ensure that they were successful. It has also led to an interest in importing to Asia reform models from other regions, particularly Latin America, which are estimated to be more successful.
While the merit of these recommendations is not denied, there is a risk that seeking remedies only in the institutional sphere to the problems faced by past institutional reforms will lead to a continua- tion of the lack of attention to design and operation problems that plague many large-scale irrigation systems in the region. This failure
4 to address a significant cause of the low performance of the systems has certainly contributed to frustrating the expectations raised by sectoral reforms. The particular features of the irrigation systems in the region are such that the introduction of new concepts of service and accountability actually represents a greater challenge than in other regions.
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The level of chaos (difference between stated policies and actual policies) and of anarchy (subversion of policies) in the formal irrigation systems of the region, which comprise the great majority of irrigated areas with the exception of certain countries (Afghanistan, Nepal, Lao PDR), is often rather high. While lack of discipline and institutional issues contribute greatly to this situation, many of the problems can be traced to: problems in initial design; export of design concepts outside of their area of validity; difficulty in controlling and operating the systems; layouts with confused hierarchies; serious flaws in operation strategies; inconsistencies between operating rules at various levels and between operating rules and farmers requirements; changes in farmers requirements not reflected by changes in system policies; poor quality of the water delivery service to farms; and lack of flexibility at all levels.
As a result, the actual water management of the systems is usually quite different from the stated or intended water management. It seems that, generally, establishing any type of improved management system will require substantial efforts to restore water control but also probably improve water measurement throughout the irrigation systems. One can also reasonably assert that a condition for a management system to work would be that stated operation policies and distribution rules become the same as or close to actual operation and distribution, and that these be consistent with farmers requirements. IMT should provide the opportunity to achieve this. A review of past and present IMT or PIM programmes in the region suggests however that they usually fall short in two crucial areas: the decision-making process leading to the decision on system operation
5 strategies and service and performance objectives, and a proper attention to design and other technical issues.
In theory, rehabilitation provides an opportunity to take into account the management patterns of operators and irrigators. In practice, however, rehabilitation simply re-establishes the physical configuration of the original system. Low cost rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructure, in some cases an investment to catch up on years of differed maintenance, cannot correct deficiencies of the original design. The issue is whether basic flaws or constraints can be addressed with a light rehabilitation programme and whether not doing so hampers IMT/PIM or jeopardizes the success of reform in terms of sustainability of institutions and financial sustainability.
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The notions of water delivery service and of generalized service- orientation of institutions in the irrigation sector, whether river basin agencies, reformed irrigation agencies, irrigation service providers or water users associations, have become central in new concepts and definitions of PIM and IMT. Literature on the evaluation of the impact of ongoing participatory irrigation management and irrigation management transfer programmes in terms of water service delivery, agricultural productivity and agricultural performance indicates however that, particularly in Asia, improved service is a problem area.
The general impression is that after turnover, services have substantially improved in regard to timeliness, reliability and equity. Increases in irrigated area and crop intensity are mentioned in many instances. Flexibility is not explicitly investigated but some results in terms of timeliness and adequacy are registered. Improvements in water use efficiency are more uncertain and their impact are typically not noticeable in terms of agricultural performance, change in irrigated area, crop patterns, cropping intensity or yields; PIM has neither improved nor interfered with agricultural productivity.
6 The future of farming is however seen to depend on crop diversification and a more commercial orientation. Diversification makes irrigation management more complex. The necessity of reengineering irrigation, i.e. of taking a fresh look at key processes and how they can best be carried out, and of considering both hardware and software elements is emphasized as irrigation becomes more commercial, but this is in apparent sharp contrast with actual design processes and their outcomes.
In Asia, the most common tool for planning rehabilitation or improvement works is the walk-through. PRA mapping and transects of land tenure, farming systems and ecosystems are also common. A diagnosis of operational procedures is usually not performed, physical works are rarely related to service or performance goals and expectations are low. The focus on upgrading is generally on reliability and equity, which are admittedly frequently the first issues to be addressed, but there is generally no vision of future requirements or discussion of flexibility.
PIM has generally led to modest efforts by farmers to improve management efficiency and responsiveness. Significant expenditures loom in the future unless the observed under-investment in operation and maintenance is halted. New programmes therefore emphasize gradual ongoing infrastructure improvements, with the objective to improve performance and ensure financial viability and physical sustainability of irrigation.
In summary, recent efforts in the region to improve the performance of irrigation systems have been dominated to a large extent by social and institutional aspects but results have been somewhat disappointing.
Other regions have often adopted a radically different approach. In contrast with this model, IMT in other regions has often taken a very different shape, with a deliberate effort to change the control logic of the systems from the top down and the transfer of large units of the systems to large water users associations. To a large extent,
7 engineering and institutional innovations have been introduced in an integrated and mutually reinforcing manner.
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Interactions between institutional, managerial and physical structures are increasingly debated. The prevailing view in recent years that, in irrigation management, there are no technical problems, only institutional and financial problems, is being challenged.
There is an emerging understanding that physical and institutional reforms of the irrigation sector should be combined, and that irrigation management transfer is not about transferring operation functions only but also governance to the irrigation users and a combination of the two at different levels. Rehabilitation is not enough in many cases and, whether institutions determine the technology or vice-versa, it is now acknowledged that technical aspects deserve more attention. For some, in order to improve irrigation performance, one must focus on management processes, irrespective of the institutional setup. Others, including this paper, argue that many problems are due to faulty design and operational procedures, which must be corrected. Physical features are also seen to possibly limit the scope of water sector reform and irrigation management transfer through lack of control and reliability to guarantee water allocations, poor performance or interfaces between levels that do not allow service agreements, volumetric charges or other water pricing systems to be established.
The recent debates at the International E-mail Conference on Irrigation Management Transfer organized by FAO and the Interna- tional Network on Participatory Irrigation Management (July- October 2001) are an illustration of this new understanding. In their concluding statement, the conference organizers stated that IMT does indeed create an important opportunity to adopt needed technical, managerial and financial modernization. Modernization which is custom-designed to fit local needs and circumstances must be an essential part of IMT programmes in many places if irrigation systems and irrigated agriculture are to be sustainable. Even though
8 many modernization activities may happen after formal transfer, this should NOT be seen as an indication that somehow modernization is less important or is not an essential part of IMT.
It is estimated that the existing infrastructure may have an impact on the range of institutional options for reform: topics for research on IMT identified at the conference included the relation between infrastructure and institutional options, water scheduling and IMT and volumetric water delivery. It was also noted that increasingly, the emphasis in the design of irrigation organizations is turning towards the introduction, primarily through contracts, of professional management expertise in combination with new forms of accountability and transparency towards users, and, perhaps, more flexibility in delivery.
The performance or condition of many systems is a serious constraint to the desirability of transfer for users or sustainability if the level of agricultural performance cannot generate sufficient revenues for the users to pay their expected contributions to operation and maintenance of the schemes. The sustainability of the new water users associations also depends on their capacity to provide an adequate water delivery service, control and allocate water, and provide an improved service to enable gains in agricultural productivity. This is essential for the farmers to pay for the water and for the associations to be financially viable.
Water rights and the necessity to satisfy different water uses with the same primary infrastructure will also become a major issue, together with obligations related to disposal and quality of effluents and other environmental requirements. Future requirements of water resource management, water scarcity, environment and agriculture will call for radical changes in management and technology as well as in the quality of water delivery service required by the users.
Rehabilitation, understood as reconstructing infrastructure as it was originally, is thus often not a desirable option. Improvements in infrastructure must be geared towards progressively and constantly adapting the systems to changes in demand. However, IMT pro-
9 grammes, in practice, are still often just a part of major rehabilitation projects and a focus on maintenance issues has probably led to neglecting issues related to the operation of irrigation systems. Participation of users in decisions about system operations and water scheduling should therefore be one of the main features of IMT. But this participation will be very limited in scope if there is only partial transfer or if IMT does not transfer governance over the entire system, as a single unit of management.
The objective of technology design should be to provide infrastructure that enables provision of an agreed level of service. This includes enabling implementation of particular distribution schedules as required by users for their agricultural operations. This general service orientation called for in the sector will often require a departure from established standard design procedures, a major retraining effort for engineers and managers as well as the provision of water users associations with competent advisory and consulting services.
Some of the issues that need to be addressed in the sphere of design and planning of irrigation systems are: can one design systems taking into account human and institutional aspects and what would the repercussion be on the type of technology? How does one produce simple, transparent design and operational procedures? Does the knowledge exist on how to design and implement service-oriented water control and management? What are the tools and processes for decision-making in the level of service, in operational rules, in planning and design of rehabilitation works and how are the users involved? How is the decision on service related to financial decisions service fees or farmers contributions to operation, maintenance or physical works? How is it related to plans to upgrade management capacity?
Farmers service requirements are often met from other sources than the intended delivery of the main surface systems. Farmers have responded to economic changes, poor or inadequate service or insufficient flows for intensive irrigation and tried to achieve flexibility, reliability and volumes required for the adoption of
10 modern cultivation practices or for freedom in cropping strategies through illegal water trading, tampering with control structures, tapping additional resources, pumping from canals, drains, borrow pits etc. The explosion of groundwater irrigation is largely a response by farmers to the lack of flexibility and the unreliability of the canal systems. Managers also try to rectify management capacity and design shortcomings through recycling and conjunctive use.
This is inevitable. Farmers subvert water distribution rules which define patterns that do not match their feasible and desired goals. Making water delivery match goals is important. Responding to change requires adapting water distribution rules. Adoption of new on-farm technology requires improved operation of the main and conveyance systems. Inconsistent rules will also lead to inefficient and inequitable water distribution. The users, on the other hand, must accept the limitations on use imposed by water availability and the features of the system.
These considerations call for a greater attention to an analysis of operational rules at all levels in the system and particularly to their articulation at the interface between the future irrigation service providers and water users associations, to the necessity of improving operations in the upper levels if the water users associations are to be in a position to develop applicable rules and procedures, and to the necessity of incorporating at all levels the farmers production objectives.
The question whether the technical/hydraulic dimension of irrigation can be brought under the control of agents focused on non-technical user-derived objectives is central as this would characterize a service-oriented management. The case for reassessing the design standards, configuration and operational procedures at the moment of transfer as a result of a review or resetting of both internal objectives in terms of service with the water users and external objectives with water resource institutions therefore seems to be compelling.
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11 Design processes have been a problem in the past. This paper shows that administrative and behavioural reasons such as lack of experience, accountability and feedback from operation of designers and lack of accountability of operators and managers to the users are partly to blame. IMT can correct the root cause of institutional, administrative and behavioural problems but institutional measures cannot correct existing infrastructure.
Modernization of an irrigation system is defined as the act of upgrading or improving the system capacity to enable it to respond appropriately to the water service demands of the current times, keeping in perspective future needs, or as a process of technical and managerial upgrading (as opposed to mere rehabilitation) of irrigation schemes with the objective to improve resource utilization (labour, water, economics, environment) and water delivery service to farms. This involves institutional, organizational and technological changes and implies changes at all operational levels of irrigation schemes from water supply and conveyance to the farm level. The objective is to improve irrigation services to farmers and improvement in canal operation will generally be a critical first step in the process. In the context of IMT, modernization is related to the process of transformation from supply-driven to service-oriented water delivery and to changes in governance of the systems for goal setting, which includes the decision on the service.
Modern design processes select the configuration and physical components in light of a well-defined, realistic operational plan based on the service concept and use of advanced hydraulic engineering, agronomy and social concepts to arrive at the most simple and workable solution. The most important issue is the system ability to achieve a specific level of operational performance at all levels within the system. A proper operational plan is the instrument that combines the various perspectives and reconciles expectations between users, project manager, field operators and the country policy objectives.
The second step is the decisions about water delivery, i.e. the flexibility (frequency, rate and duration) at all levels. Flexibility
12 distinguishes and characterizes classes of service quality from rotation to on-demand and is most closely related to improvements in agricultural performance, crop diversification etc. Service agreements together with strategic management are increasingly adopted to encapsulate the iterative decision process on level of service and associated financial decisions, accountability, monitoring and evaluation as well as plans to upgrade management and infrastructure.
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This publication is intended to be of interest to all stakeholders of the irrigation sector: irrigation agencies, financing institutions, water users associations, planners, designers, training and research institutions. It is hoped that it will stimulate and bring a useful contribution to the debate on irrigation sector reform and modernization and to the success of efforts to improve the performance of irrigation and to provide a better service to the farmers, by increasing the awareness of the critical importance of proper modernization procedures and design criteria.
Bangkok, August 2002 THIERRY FACON Water Management Officer FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
13 PART I: AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE I. THE CAUSES OF THE POOR PERFORMANCE OF IRRIGATION PROJECTS: AN UNFINISHED DEBATE Irrigation systems in many parts of the world are known to be performing well below their potential. (ICID past president) Most analytical reports on the irrigation and drainage sector start with a laudatory statement on the contribution of irrigation and drainage to world food security during the last three decades and an observation on the declining growth of irrigated lands worldwide. 1 These are followed by a discussion on the projected contribution of irrigation to meeting the food and fibre needs of the world population by 2025. Next is the observation that the overall performance of irrigation and drainage investments has too often fallen short of the expectations of planners, governments and financing institutions alike (FAO). The consensus between irrigation analysts ends at this point. Most recent reports differ on the causes of the poor performance of irrigation projects. The focus may reflect the main interest or, in some cases, the bias or ideology of the individual author or of the agency. This report moves straightforward to an
1 Worldwide 267 million hectares were irrigated in 1997, or about 18 percent of cultivated lands. In the 1970s, the area of irrigated land expanded faster than 2 percent per year. This rate slowed down to about 1.8 percent in the 1980s and has now fallen to about 1.4 percent per year. FAO estimates that the rate of expansion will continue to drop to less than 1 percent in the next decade. There are, however, large regional variations in the rates of expansion of irrigated lands. Out of the worldwide increase of 18 million ha during the five-year period 1990-95, about 13.5 million (75 percent) were in Asia. Irrigated areas in India alone increased by 8 million ha during that period, at a rate of 3.5 percent per year. China showed an increase of 1.8 million ha during the same period. A large part of the increase in Asian countries during the last decade is due to the explosive use of groundwater. An unsolved question is whether some areas served by the existing surface irrigation systems have been counted twice.
14 historical review of the causes of the poor performance of the irrigation systems that have been identified in many reports since the great expansion of irrigation in developing countries in the 1960s and 1970s.
This report first presents the reasons of the poor performance that are rooted in the perceived weaknesses of design and management concepts of irrigation projects. It then presents the administrative and behavioural reasons through a review of the critics made by some analysts against other groups, such as design engineers and financial institutions.
Perceived deficiencies in technical design and management
A forty-year-old report of the former Office National des Irrigations in Morocco noted that the question of how to make the most rational use of large investments in the construction of dams and large irrigation projects was a matter of great concern worldwide: It became evident during the 1950s that even with the installation of an expensive irrigation infrastructure, water use was below the expected level. This is attributed to the need for a programme of land consolidation in conjunction with the irrigation investment. At that time, irrigation infrastructure built by the governments consisted only of primary and secondary canals, with a few farm outlets. Farmers were then expected to bring water to their own plots by building tertiary canals and ditches. This type of investment without on-farm development was the model for irrigation development in a number of countries in the 1960s. While this model promoted the rapid growth of irrigation, it was obviously inadequate in the countries with smallholders, who could not organize themselves for the financing and implementation of on-farm works and adopt modern irrigation water delivery. Farmers were obliged to continue with century-old methods of cultivation and irrigation fostering mediocre crop yields. This cause of poor performance was partly corrected by the systematic construction of the tertiary system by the irrigation agencies with, in some cases, the financial or labour participation of the farmers. This practice is now well accepted by national governments and donor agencies. A few countries, such as
15 Morocco and Thailand, decided in the 1960s and 1970s to proceed with a consolidation programme of the irrigable lands before undertaking the construction of the tertiary system and on-farm works. Some form of land consolidation is essential for optimal use of water in projects where excessive land fragmentation prevails.
Extension of the construction of the irrigation systems down to the tertiary systems was not enough, however, to push the performance of irrigation systems to their expected level. Since the most apparent problems of water management are wastage of water below the farm outlets, the common response in the 1970s was to promote on-farm development, including introduction of modern water application methods and precise land levelling. Another response at that time was to promote the creation of water user groups at the level of tertiary canals. External assistance supported these approaches in countries such as Pakistan, Egypt and the Philippines. This response addressed only part of the problem, since no efforts were made to improve management at the higher level. A third technical response to the disappointing performance of schemes consisted in refining measuring techniques. Since it was widely accepted that water measurement is essential to effective water management, many donor-supported projects finance the installation of measuring devices at each branching point of irrigation systems. However, water measurement in irrigation systems should be adapted to the actual field conditions to be effective. The conditions in irrigation systems are very different from flow measurements in hydrology and hydraulics research. Repetitive use of conventional measuring devices requires training and dedication of operators and does not prevent malfunctioning of control structures. These and other developments in the technical hardware contributed little, however, to solving the problems encountered in irrigation schemes. In the 1970s certain leading professionals started to pay attention to what they described as the software of irrigation systems.
Conventional engineering solutions failed to solve the problem of irrigation performance and this progressively led to a new way of thinking in the 1980s which is still strongly entrenched among the irrigation community. Widespread wisdom has it that the poor
16 performance of irrigation systems is due predominantly to management. A keynote speaker at an ICID congress in 1992 said: There is now a wide recognition that deficiencies in management and related institutional problems, rather than the technology of irrigation, were the chief constraints of poor performance of irrigation systems. 2 This statement was cited and hardened by the author of an article on the problems of irrigation in developing countries, which observed: In the developing countries, the heads of the agencies concerned are usually engineers, but they often lack the knowledge of critically important non-technical factors such as the social structure of the farmers to be benefited, economic constraints at local and national levels, and environmental issues (Kirpich). A discussant of that article went even further by stating that the technical solutions to the irrigation and drainage projects were trivial when compared to political, institutional and cultural problems. He therefore recommended that degrees for professional engineering include courses in anthropology, business development and economics. The support given to the creation of the International Irrigation Management Institute in 1984 was based on the emerging consensus among irrigation professionals that most solutions were to be found in the field of management. The focus of IIMI has continuously been on management, and irrigation technology received a very low level of attention since the elevation of IIMI activities to those of IWMI.
Admittedly, there are important management-related and institutional deficiencies in irrigation, such as conflicts between farmers and irrigation agencies, poor cost recovery of investments and recurrent costs, lack of coordination between agriculture and irrigation agencies, and lack of farmer participation in design and management. However, the advocates of the key role of management in irrigation
2 C. Burt (1999) strongly disagrees with this statement and comments that such statements are common in part because traditional civil engineers have botched so many irrigation project designs and modernization efforts. The result is now worldwide programmes which are promoting the development of water user associations that ignore the relationship between technical and institutional worlds.
17 performance have yet to fully explore the technical deficiencies in the design of irrigation projects. These technical deficiencies will be discussed in Part II of this document.
Administrative and behavioural reasons
Once the technical solutions to the poor performance of irrigation projects were apparently exhausted, some analysts started looking at the professional competence and capability of other experts to achieve high irrigation performance. Engineers were the first obvious target of these critics. However, irrigation agencies and donor organizations were also strongly criticized.
Criticism of engineers
Box 1: Not by engineers alone
For all its impressive engineering, modern water development has adhered to a fairly simple formula: estimate the demand for water and then built new supply projects to meet it. It is an approach that ignores concern about human equity, the health of ecosystems, other species and the welfare of future generations. In a world of resource abundance, it may have served humanity adequately. In the new world of scarcity, it is fuelling conflict and degradation. Policymakers have vastly underestimated the influence of water scarcity on economics progress, food security, and regional peace and stability. Many have yet to realize that water problems can no longer be fixed by engineers alone. (Postel)
Social scientists have generally been in the frontline of criticism against engineers. Diemer (1996) states that irrigation engineers know little about the actual principles of water distribution in schemes in developing countries. They often assume that, in their schemes, which are mostly gravity-irrigated, there is no better way of distributing water than according to the rules they had in mind when they designed and built the irrigation systems. The design procedure focuses on crop and construction issues with the aim of reducing expenditure on construction, management and maintenance. The engineers usually base their design solely on physical data. The only social components likely to be considered are demographic
18 information (such as labour force and land tenure) and the potential economic and financial yield of the scheme and plots. Empirical data on the diversity in dynamics of farms, group of irrigators, organizational patterns and local political structures are rarely available.
The revised FAO guidelines on the preparation of irrigation projects support these views: Building ownership and commitment through participation has often been difficult to achieve in the past. The conventional sequence of identification/preparation carried out against tight deadlines by external planning teams has seldom allowed time for genuine participation either by government staff or farmers. On implementation, government engineers, for their part, have usually seen irrigation only from an engineering rather than a farming or social perspective. They have been reluctant to adopt participatory approaches with farmers, mainly because of a misplaced belief that farmers are unable to understand or make any contribution to technical matters, or because of concern that participation might delay implementation or result in design changes that compromise the quality of the final product.
According to Diemer, the institutional contexts of scheme development and scheme management do not encourage irrigation engineers to acquire or disseminate knowledge on actual distribution practices either. Foreign engineers are usually contracted by donor agencies to produce designs for new schemes or to supervise construction. They are rarely involved in the management of their schemes and so cannot incorporate feedback on the distribution practices into their design methods and their assumptions about management. This lack of feedback has led to many schemes deteriorating quickly and needing rehabilitation after only a few years. In theory, such rehabilitation provides an opportunity to take into account the management patterns of operators and irrigators. In practice, rehabilitation simply re-establishes the physical configuration of the original system.
Engineers contracted to produce a feasibility report will hesitate to describe a proposal as unfeasible because they risk losing their
19 contracts, either for the design and implementation of the proposal or for the assessment of new proposals. Helweg goes as far as accusing the consulting firms from developed countries of wasting millions of dollars because they lack cultural literacy.
The professional context explains why design irrigation engineers know little about actual distribution processes. It is sufficient and even more beneficial to them to accept current assumptions about the cultivator and his crops, to see farmers as a group and to accept the need for central management of the schemes, because these assumptions fit the goals of the donor agency and the recipient government. The designers interest lies in maintaining the status quo.
Engineers from government agencies have also been the targets of the critics: because the funding of most irrigation agencies is dependent on budget allocations and not on their performance in water delivery, most national engineers have little incentives to wrangle with farmers, colleagues and politicians to improve water delivery. Operation usually deviates from the assumptions in design. Political patronage and corruption are endemic in many schemes because they form part of the national political landscape. Maintaining the status quo is also the interest of national engineers. (Diemer)
Criticism of financial institutions
For a deeper understanding of technical assistance in irrigation one needs to look beyond the engineers to the donor agencies that manage the public development funds and to the national departments of planning, agriculture or water that set objectives for agricultural development. Together, these institutions define the terms of reference that the irrigation engineers are contracted to implement. Almost invariably, these bureaucracies are the initiators of the large schemes. After conclusive feasibility studies, calculations of the possible internal rates of return of various design options, and negotiations on funding, the donor agency allocates the millions of dollars requested.
20 Some critics suggest that financial institutions should review their lending policies and priorities: Most of the financial institutions tend to give priority to hardware development probably because software development is more difficult to plan and implement. They argue that software development is essential and should receive higher priority. This view is supported by the statement, similar to the one from ICID quoted earlier, that most irrigation projects fail to realize their targets not because of engineering shortcomings but rather due to the local organizations shortcomings (Anukul- armphai) 3 .
Nijman has studied the links between donor agencies, national governments and irrigation agencies and their connections with their environments, with the aim of identifying the causes of the annual loss of million of dollars in the irrigation sector. Several points stand out:
i) The first is that development banks and other donor agencies have so much public capital at their disposal that is earmarked for investment in developing countries that their officers have difficulty finding sufficient outlets and are under constant pressure to maximize loans and grants. This pressure often adversely affects the quality of the investment decisions. Real-life feasibility and functionality of the investments, as opposed to the feasibility and functionality assumed in the design reports, are not assessed. Performance of the agency and of similar schemes is ignored.
ii) Investment appraisal techniques such as the economic rate of return, cost-benefit analysis and related sensitivity analysis did not
3 This view, expressed by a high-level expert well known in Southeast Asia, have been diametrically opposed by Professor V. Anbumozhi from the Institute of Environmental Studies, University of Tokyo, in his intervention during the PIM Electronic Conference: In the rehabilitation/modernization programmes, it is very common to find that major emphasis has been placed on water users. The importance of engineering aspects is overlooked or minimized. There are several reasons for that, one of which is the donor- driven approach, in which software components are emphasized and hardware components are underestimated.
21 render any of the cases (studied by Nijman) unfeasible, as these studies were done after the political decision had been taken to construct a scheme at a certain site. The studies were used to justify the subsidies for irrigation, not to improve economic decision- making.
iii) The fact that development banks are under pressure to transfer public funds to developing countries, plus the fact that much irrigation investment is politically motivated, have instilled an attitude of rent-seeking in the national irrigation agencies. (Diemer)
The performance of international research and donor organizations is criticized in even stronger terms: A number of international organizations sponsored regional task forces and technical assistance committees...They, however, did not even try to address long-term social and planning issues, which could have provided comprehensive solutions to some of the [water management] problems. On balance, none of the international organizations made a decisive impact on water management in the water-short areas of the world (Tibor). This rather pessimistic statement lacks fairness, as it does not recognize the contribution of these organizations to the promotion of user participation in irrigation management and of the service concept in the definition of modernization since the mid 1990s.
The slow recognition of design as a main reason of the poor performance of irrigation systems
Few writers have challenged the widespread view that managerial and institutional deficiencies, not the technology of irrigation, are the main causes of poor performance of irrigation projects. However, a few authors have consistently alerted the irrigation community to the importance of technology in the performance of irrigation projects:
i) The question of whether irrigation performance can be improved solely through improved management or whether physical facilities need to be upgraded as well was raised in a World Bank technical paper fifteen years ago (Plusquellec 1985). That paper was cautious
22 enough to state that the different approaches to design of irrigation projects have different managerial and financial requirements and should not be used indiscriminately. It examined the design and management of water distribution at farm level and the relation of the main system to the tertiary system. Finally it concluded that management alone may not substantially improve irrigation performance, unless combined with physical improvements, some at a modest cost.
ii) An audio-visual training programme on how to improve the operation of canal irrigation systems was produced by the external training department of the World Bank in 1988. It stated that the planning, design and construction process must produce a system and conditions capable of accommodating effective management practices. Although significant results were achieved through improved system management in several pilot projects in the 1980s, the programme concluded that changes in physical infrastructure were often needed to push the performance of these systems to a higher level.
iii) Examples of unrealistic designs and operational procedures were discussed in detail in a World Bank technical paper (Plusquellec et al. 1994). Many designs are difficult to manage under real field conditions. Many failures and problems are caused by a design approach that pays insufficient attention to operational aspects.
iv) The ICID publication on automation of canal irrigation systems states that one of the main factors contributing to poor performance is lack of effective water control (Goussard). Without further elaboration on that issue, that publication moves to the discussion of the problems of canal operation and presents a state-of-the-art review of the concepts and technologies applicable to automatic operation of canal irrigation systems above farm level.
The author of an IWMI publication on the dilemmas of irrigation systems design (Horst 1998) raises rather unusual and provocative questions: Is management really the crux of irrigation problems? ... Do we need to apply cosmetic surgery by only trying to improve the
23 management environment without considering the technology? Is it not time to examine the root of the problem: the design of irrigation systems?
Horst recognizes the link between design and management by raising the question of whether it would be possible to design irrigation systems taking into account human and institutional aspects and, if so, what the repercussion on the type of technology would be. He raises some valid questions about complicated technologies and operational procedures, and advocates the simplification of design and operation. He further states that the underlying reasons for writing his book were the combination of denial of the importance of technology vis--vis management, increasing indifference to system design and lack of transparency of technology and operational procedures.
Despite the evidence of the negative effect of inappropriate design technology on irrigation performance, it is still puzzling that not much attention has been given to that aspect by policymakers and donors, and even by research institutions. The International Programme for Technological Research on Irrigation and Drainage was created at the initiative of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage to specifically address the technical aspects of irrigation research and development. Modernization was one of the themes identified as a major gap in irrigation research in developing countries. However, that theme did not really attract the interest of donors. That the international research institutes involved in irrigation research do not attach more importance to the issue of technology and design of irrigation projects is a matter of concern. The 1998 SWIM paper prepared jointly by IWMI and IRRI staff discusses five main strategies or options for increasing the effective use of irrigation water in rice irrigation systems. That otherwise excellent paper is weak in discussing the rehabilitation and modernization of irrigation projects. It refers to an evaluation of paddy irrigation systems in Asia (Rice) by the Operations Evaluation Department (OED) of the World Bank and cites its questionable conclusion that poor operation and management have a negligible impact on irrigated crop production. It fails, however, to report the
24 main conclusion of the OED study, which was that faulty designs were the main causes of performance far below expected targets.
It is also a matter of concern that, until recently, the importance of appropriate and necessary technology was largely left out of the discussion in the intensive campaign for the transfer of irrigation management to user associations under the World Bank initiative called the International Network for Participatory Irrigation Management.
The dawn of a new approach to irrigation design and management
The historical background discussed above is rather pessimistic, and may leave not much hope that a new approach to irrigation management is going to be adopted worldwide soon. However, the efforts deployed during the last few years by highly motivated individuals from international organizations are encouraging:
i) In the 1990s, the Information Techniques for Irrigation Systems (ITIS) of IIMI together with FAO and national research institutions organized a number of international meetings in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Malaysia, Morocco and India to exchange experiences on the application of information techniques in irrigation systems and on practical improvements for manual operation.
ii) The FAO Office for Asia and the Pacific organized an expert consultation on Modernization of irrigation systems past experiences and future options in 1996 with the aims to examine the various aspects of modernization and to provide a framework for assessing the need and possibility for adopting the measures required for modernization. This consultation led to the adoption of a multi- disciplinary definition of modernization. There was also a consensus on a number of conclusions including: a) the lack of an appropriate knowledge base to provide adequate forecast of the impact of specific modernization steps; b) the need for essential institutional and policy changes, such as accountability of providers of water services, enabling legislation and enforcement capability; c) the need
25 to expand training from policymakers to farmers; and d) the development of upgraded design and procedure manuals.
iii) In 1994, the World Bank published a technical paper entitled Modern water control in irrigation: concepts, issues and applications to stimulate debate among professionals and to increase awareness of the potential of modern technologies for water control and sustainable agriculture. The authors argued that modern design was a thought process which started with the definition of a proper operational plan based on the concept of service.
iv) In response to the need to document the impact of modernization on the performance of irrigation projects, in 1996 the World Bank financed a comparative study of 16 projects. A new method of rapid assessment based on a well-structured questionnaire was developed and used for that study, which evaluates both the input/output external indicators and internal indicators that reflect the mechanisms of operation and management. That study was seminal for the series of training courses on irrigation modernization currently carried out by FAO in Asian countries (Thailand, Iran, Viet Nam).
The above studies and international events remain the initiatives of a few individual experts or staff members (which may last only as long as the staff members remain in place) rather than the result of a policy shared at the highest decision level of their organizations. The need to improve the performance of irrigation projects through a re- visioning of management and design is not given a high priority on the agendas of international forums on water and supporting organizations, such as the World Water Council and the Global Water Partnership. The low profile of irrigation in the debates of the World Water Forum in The Hague in March 2000 contrasting with the fierce debates about water supply and privatization is disturbing. The background paper A vision of water for food and rural development presented at the Hague water forum is a comprehensive document dealing with the food demand and the growth in water supply for irrigation and rural development over the next 25 years. The proposed comprehensive strategy to realize the vision includes actions for the development of institutions and
26 human resources and for private-sector development, investment in infrastructure and investment policies. However, the paper is very brief on the deficiencies of existing systems and it fails to present the magnitude of the investments required for rehabilitating and improving the existing irrigation infrastructure. The paper rightly states that the technology to supply crops with an optimal amount of water is already available in drip and sprinkler systems but concedes that there is little chance that all the gravity areas will be converted to more efficient pressure techniques. 4 The proposed strategy to realize the vision of water for food suggests direct investments to increase water productivity in a number of areas, including the modernization of irrigation and drainage systems, particularly in water-scarce areas, and the dry-season irrigation schemes in Southeast Asia. This seems to ignore the deficient performance of irrigation projects in the humid tropics during the wet season. Overall, the recommendations of the specialized FAO agency at the Water and Sustainable Development International conference in Paris in March 1998 have not been well echoed in the Hague forum, a highly visible international event.
Unfortunately, few large-scale irrigation systems provide on-demand irrigation service to farmers, which is a precondition for efficient water use. There is an urgent need to modernize and upgrade the water control system in most large irrigation schemes by introducing modern management principles, such as volumetric water charges, in order to facilitate crop diversification. Application of new technology generally requires a conducive environment, including knowledge, finance and markets, and needs to be inserted in adequate policies that lift the constraints of agriculture (H. Wolter).
It is encouraging that the topic of modernization was given full recognition at the electronic conference organized by INPIM and
4 The Vision paper suggests that making available at low cost and workable in the gravity systems the networks of sensors, processors and controllers connected to computers controlling water flows and nutrient supplies in drip and sprinkler systems responding to real time crop requirements can considerably increase water productivity.
27 FAO in September 2001 5 . Recognizing the role of the users in the modernization process and the importance of modernization for the sustainability of water user associations is a major step forward.
Considerable efforts have been made by lending agencies to revise their strategy for the water sector and to encourage governments to reform legislation and the role of agencies. These efforts at the global water level are now followed by work to define a new irrigation strategy and to identify the actions needed to implement it. The India Irrigation Sector Review in 1998 is a major initiative of the World Bank in that direction. In a preface to this review, the Indian ministry of Water Resources emphasizes that what is needed is a total revolution in irrigated agriculture, with more focus on the improve- ment of the performance of existing facilities and provision of a client-focused irrigation service. It supports the recommendations of: launching planned programmes, linked with irrigation management transfer to water user associations and participation in decisions and investment costs by these associations, to rehabilitate and then progressively modernize the irrigation systems and forming water user associations at the minor and distribution levels and federating them to provide advice on water management at higher hydraulic levels.
These recommendations encompass the most important elements of the new strategy, which will be developed in this paper: the need to shift toward a service-oriented mode of operation and to involve the users in the modernization of the irrigation systems.
II. PERFORMANCE OF IRRIGATION SYSTEMS
Most research studies on performance of irrigation have aimed to monitor the performance over time, for example to determine the impact of a management change, or to analyse the performance of
5 Documents and proceedings can be consulted at the following URL: http://www.FAO.org/ag/agl/aglw/waterinstitutions/toconf.stm
28 comparable projects. These evaluations mostly focus on an analysis of inputs and outputs of irrigation projects (water, land, labour, value of production, cost of operation and maintenance). These indicators are often referred to as external indicators. These indicators in general do not provide significant information when comparing projects. Obviously projects producing fruit and vegetables have a better productivity than single-crop rice projects. In this chapter, we refer to the performance of irrigation projects compared to the values expected at appraisal or feasibility stage. In Chapter 13, we will define and discuss the use of internal indicators as a tool for the diagnosis of irrigation projects.
The World Bank, as other donor agencies, evaluates the performance of all its operations at the end of the implementation phase, shortly after final disbursements. These evaluations undertaken by its independent Operations Evaluation Department compare outcome then with expectations at appraisal.
Out of the 430 irrigation projects that have been approved by the World Bank since 1950, 313 have been the subject of a post- evaluation. About two thirds of the evaluated projects have had a satisfactory outcome, which is better than the average for all Bank- supported agricultural projects, but slightly worse than the figure for all Bank projects. However, since the late 1980s, the Bank projects are rated for not only their outcome but also their sustainability and institutional development. About 35 percent of the irrigation projects were rated sustainable and about 35 percent would have a satisfactory institutional development impact. These results cast serious doubt about the long-term performance of irrigation projects.
Completion of a project is an opportune time to assess the extent to which operations achieve their stated objectives and to draw valuable lessons for the future. However, conclusions about the technical and economic efficiency of irrigation projects are still speculative at the time when the Bank makes its final disbursements. Impact evaluations are done for a small proportion of operations at full development about five years after completion to determine project impact and sustainability. Impact evaluations are particularly
29 appropriate for irrigation projects whose benefits are long to mature. In 1987, an assessment study of the performance of large-scale gravity irrigation projects was carried out in six countries in different climatic and social environments. An important lesson of that study was the need for more realistic assumptions in the adoption of design standards, especially irrigation efficiency, which in turn affect the cropping intensity, the overall productivity of the project and its economic viability. The main cause for the lower-than-expected performance in economic terms was related to the frequent overoptimistic assumptions regarding efficiency, and the often overlooked impact of poor physical performance in terms of water distribution and concurrent poor construction standards on agricultural productivity (Plusquellec 1990).
The findings of the above study were confirmed by a formal review of 21 evaluations of irrigation projects carried out up to 1990. The review showed that the performance of irrigation projects in economic terms had been less than satisfactory at full development than at either appraisal or completion of their investment phase. For the 21 projects the average outcomes were 17.7 percent at appraisal, 14.8 percent at project completion and only 9.3 percent at impact evaluation. However, their social impact had been substantial and their contribution to food security and poverty alleviation was not in doubt.
Overall efficiency values used for Bank-supported projects in India during the peak lending period 1975-95 were systematically above 50 percent. Most of these projects were rated unsatisfactory at completion when OED started to attach more importance to the links between physical and economic performance of irrigation projects.
Another OED study carried out in 1997 examined the impact of investments in six gravity irrigation schemes in Southeast Asia (Rice). The estimates of economic rates of return not only fell short of appraisal projections by substantial margins, but were all below 8 percent. In one case, the economic rate of return was even negative because the project could not supply half of its design command area. The study stated that the dominant paradigm for government-
30 operated gravity-fed irrigation schemes in the humid tropics was to ascribe the low economic return of irrigation projects to poor operation and maintenance and inadequate farmer organizations. Findings from this 1997 review contradicted this model. The reasons identified for the performance gaps were falling paddy prices, over- optimism about the crop area to be served and projects design faults, including the choice of unsuitable technology.
Box 2: The results of a performance assessment study in six countries
The study covered six countries, three in arid and semi-arid zones, Mexico, Morocco and Sudan, and three in tropical zones, Colombia, the Philippines and Thailand. (The Bank did not finance the projects in Colombia and Sudan.)
Water use efficiencies: Overall project efficiency was re-estimated at or below 40 percent in all cases, with the exception of the Gezira project in Sudan and the gravity and sprinkler projects in Morocco. These values are between 50 and 85 percent of appraisal estimates. For example, the overall efficiency used during the appraisal of the Lampao project in Thailand was 58 percent for paddy (and 51 percent for other crops) and is now estimated at 28 percent. The high operational performance of the Gezira project in Sudan is due to the specific nature of the soils and the innovative design of the minor night-storage canals. The relatively high performance of the project in Morocco is due to the sophisticated water control. (None of these projects had facilities for significant reuse of drained or groundwater.)
Cropping intensity: In all the projects, with one exception in Mexico, the actual cropping intensity was lower than expected at appraisal. Actual cropping intensity was substantially lower at impact evaluation than was estimated at project completion for full development.
Economic rates of return: The economic rates of return were recalculated at impact evaluation for eight projects. The rates were about the same at appraisal for the two sprinkler projects in Morocco, but less than the overoptimistic projections re-estimated at completion. The lower viability of the other projects was adversely affected by lower cropping intensities than expected at completion, lower production and lower prices.
Contrary to well-entrenched ideas, actual low-price commodities were not the key factor driving the economic rates of return to low levels. For one of the projects, substituting the inflated rice prices at
31 appraisal for the actual prices at completion lifted the re-estimated rate of return by only one point. Another fact which depressed the economic rate of return of these projects was that diversification out of paddy failed to occur at any scheme. Even if the 1980 projections of the price of rice had been realized, a combination of lower-than- expected production and lack of diversification would nevertheless have undermined the economic viability of the investments. That study, which was the more perspicacious of the OED studies on irrigation, was completed when lending for the irrigation sector fell to its lowest historical level. Its findings are still overlooked in the policy discussions on the water and irrigation sectors.
III. A REVIEW OF THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
The objective of this chapter is to discuss the validity of the criticisms of the international organizations in their support of irrigation development. This chapter reviews the policies and procedures of lending agencies that may affect the performance of irrigation projects. Since the FAO Cooperative Programme (FAO/CP) assists the governments in the preparation of most agricultural projects financed by the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and other donor agencies, the FAO/CP guidelines are also examined.
1. The World Bank
The lack of an irrigation policy paper: The World Bank has not issued any paper on irrigation policy during its thirty years of lending for that sector, although irrigation has accounted for about 10 percent of its total lending. 6
7
6 Lending for irrigation by the World Bank became significant in the 1960s and rose dramatically to over 250 projects in the 1970s and 1980s. Average annual lending more than trebled in the 1970-80s compared to the 1960s. Since then lending for irrigation has fallen considerably. During the five- year period FY1995-99, the World Bank had only 39 projects for irrigation
32 During the period of expansion of irrigation, between 1970 and the early 1980s, the Central Department of the World Bank stressed mostly the importance of drainage and greater cost recovery. Cost recovery was particularly salient for the Bank. Policy discussions on cost recovery dominated the debate on irrigation during that period. In 1993, the World Bank published a policy paper on water resources management. The issue of irrigation water pricing generated consid- erable debate during the review process of the paper. The paper advocates a comprehensive approach to water resources, decentral- ization, stakeholder participation and environmental protection. However, a water policy paper is not a substitute for an irrigation paper, which should provide sector-specific guidance on diagnosing and improving the performance of irrigation projects. The only reference to modern irrigation systems in the water policy paper is made for the objective of pursuing pricing policies that encourage conservation and efficient use of water.
As advocated in this paper, there is a strong need to move from a broad water strategy to the specifics of an irrigation strategy and to adopt a long-term perspective for the improvement and sustainability of irrigated agriculture. Some countries such as India and Brazil, which have developed an irrigation policy with the collaboration of the World Bank, are showing the lead in the right direction.
Pressure to lend: The donor agencies are frequently criticized for their pressure to lend. That issue is frequently addressed within these organizations and strongly rejected by their high-level management.
with an annual average lending reaching US$750 million because of a few large-size operations in China, India and Mexico. Lending in the last three years has fallen to about US$300 million. 7 The 1993 OED review explained this deficiency by the resistance from Operations Department which saw an irrigation policy paper as an attempt by economists (from the Central Projects Department) to interfere with the freedom of engineers to do their jobs. The reviewers pointed out that irrigation is the most variegated and site-specific sub-sector of agriculture. Therefore they argued there are, by nature, few generalizations that apply to irrigation as a whole. Irrigation requires maximum ingenuity to solve the specific problems of specific sites (OED).
33 However, any task manager and member of a preparation or appraisal mission is aware of the consequences of a negative evaluation. The efforts of all the members of the mission naturally concur to make the project attractive.
The Bank evaluates the viability of its supported projects in terms of technical, economic, financial and environmental viability. The key parameter of these evaluations has consistently been the estimation of the project economic rate of return, which should exceed the opportunity cost. As mentioned in Chapter 2, a PhD thesis found that the investment appraisal techniques did not render any of the case studied unfeasible, as the studies were done after the political decision had been taken to construct a scheme at a certain site. This strong criticism deserves some comments. On the one hand, the projects examined by the Bank and not submitted to its board for approval, whatever the reasons, are not entered in Bank statistics. It is therefore impossible to determine the proportion of projects that have been rejected because they were not justified economically. On the other hand, senior Bank staff and consulting firms are familiar with the sensitivity of rate of return calculation. They have gained the expertise needed for exceeding the rate-of-return threshold value by manipulating the key estimated parameters which are used for its calculation, within reasonable limits. This has always been well known but very few designers or Bank staff members have ever pleaded guilty until recently 8 . The Thai government rejected the Irrigation XIII project after its appraisal by the Bank because of overproduction of rice and sharply declining world prices in the early 1980s. If approved, this marginally justified project would have been rated unsatisfactory at completion. Most of the projects that are dropped during preparation are discarded because of political or other government considerations.
8 The South Asia area manager of a consulting firm wrote: It is a scourge of irrigation projects in Asia that the original cost-benefit estimates are seldom honest, water never reaches much of the area notified to be irrigated, crop productivity increase is less than expected, and environmental and social damage is far more than expected.
34 Use of overoptimistic assumptions during design and appraisal: The use of overoptimistic assumptions during project design and evaluation was noted in Chapter 1. This point has been well empha- sized in some country irrigation studies. For example, the India irrigation sector review in 1998 stated that there was a tendency to overstate water availability through the analysis procedures used because of social pressures to maximize area coverage and because irrigation efficiency was systematically overestimated. The same India review stated that dependability of water was based on averages rather than on statistical analysis of demand, which would better show the peak demand in dry years, a point which will be examined further in this paper.
2. The Asian Development Bank
In 1998, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) published a working paper The Bank Policy on Water after intensive consultation with other policy stakeholders, including member countries, the private sector, NGOs and other external support agencies. 9 These consultations result in the formulation of principles of effective water policy, which includes the delegation of water services to autonomous and accountable public, private or cooperative agencies providing measured water services to their customers for an appropriate fee. The ADB paper identifies the main challenges to meet these objectives as: i) how to increase investments in new water delivery systems that will effectively meet customer demand; ii) how to upgrade and manage existing systems to reduce demand and run more efficiently; and iii) how to reduce water pollution through recycling. The consultations pointed out the need for higher efficiency in irrigation requiring policies and legal provisions on water rights. The paper states that successful modernization of
9 Almost 20 percent of past ADB lending has been invested in water-related projects, of which about half for irrigation. The water-sector share of ADB lending has, however, declined substantially over the past 15 years from more than 30 percent of total lending in the early 1980s to an average of 15 percent in the 1990s. The volume of lending for the water sector has even declined in real terms.
35 irrigation systems will generally require viable cycles of investment, operation and management by autonomous and accountable service agencies, with user participation. Explicitly, the ADB water policy recognizes: the need to shift toward a service-oriented mode of operation of irrigation systems; the importance of modernization of irrigation systems for the successful implementation of the global water policy; and the importance to involve the users in the modernization process.
3. The FAO Cooperative Programme guidelinesIdentification and preparation of irrigation projects (1984)
Like other financing institutions, the World Bank requires that feasibility studies for conventional specific projects be completed before appraisal. National or international consulting firms common- ly assist borrowers in the preparation of projects. Although this phase in the planning process is in principle the responsibility of the borrower, the FAO Cooperative Programme was created in 1967 to provide assistance to borrowers where national capacity was inadequate. In 1984, this FAO division prepared a paper on the Identification and preparation of irrigation projects to provide guidance to its staff and that of consulting firms.
The document provided general guidance on the different activities for the comparison of various options, such as: review of available database; assessment of topography, soils and land capability; estimates of irrigation water requirements; assessment of available water resources; and preliminary cost-benefit analysis
The document also provided guidance for the preparation of the engineering studies necessary for the planning of the preferred option before the appraisal of the project. The objective was to provide the necessary technical information to produce preliminary designs upon which estimates of quantities and cost estimates, and ultimately the economic analysis, could be based.
36 Remarkably, the document did not provide any specific guidance on the technical aspects of project preparation, with the exception of the estimates of irrigation water requirements for the proposed cropping patterns. The document suggested specifically to use an 80-percent probability of excess effective rainfall in the determination of project water requirements and to convert from net to gross water requirements on the basis of empirical local data for efficiency of the types of irrigation systems under consideration or from the FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper No 24. The last revision (1992) of the FAO document on Crop water requirements provides values of conveyance, field canal distribution (Ed) and field application (Ea) efficiencies based on a 1974 survey of ICID and U.S. sources with the remark that these values are applicable to well-designed schemes in operation for some years.
The overall project efficiencies of projects with rotational supply and surface or sprinkler application methods, using ICID value ranges, do not exceed 38 percent for surface application methods and 43 percent for sprinkler. 10
Table 1 Overall efficiency rates based on the ICID survey Management and communication Furrow irrigation Ea = 57 Basin and level border Ea = 58 Sprinkler
Ea = 67 Rice
Ea = 32 Adequate Ed = 65 37 38 43 21 Sufficient Ed = 55 31 32 37 18 Insufficient Ed = 40 23 23 27 13
10 Using the values of field application efficiency from the U.S. Soil Conservation, the overall efficiency rates range from 39 to 52 percent for basin irrigation and adequate management, and from 30 to 38 percent for sufficient management and furrow irrigation. These overall efficiency rates are slightly above those obtained with the Ea ICID values. However, they are lower than the ones used in feasibility studies.
37 These overall efficiencies are of the same order as the values estimated at the impact evaluation of irrigation projects and confirm the over-optimism of the values adopted during the planning of irrigation projects. The FAO document, particularly its last revision, should have called the attention of the users of these guidelines to the importance of realistic estimates of the overall efficiency. As indicated in Chapter 1, the gap between appraisal estimates and actual efficiency rates can reach about 40 percent.
Why are planners and designers of irrigation projects from govern- ment agencies and financing institutions so optimistic about the hydraulic performance of irrigation projects during the planning process? A participant, from a consulting firm, to a World Bank irrigation seminar in the 1980s answered that question in blunt terms: If we were realistic, all of us would be out of business. Low efficiency reduces the irrigable areas and/or the cropping patterns and affects negatively the economic viability of the project. It is very intriguing that the over-optimism of consulting firms was neither raised as an issue during the preparation phase of irrigation projects with FAO/CP assistance or during the appraisal by the financing agencies. It is acknowledged here that water lost in a surface irrigation project can be re-used beneficially through recirculation or further downstream. This question of project versus basin efficiency is further discussed in Chapter 6.
The efficiencies assumed during the planning process could be obtained if a number of conditions were met. Designs have to be not only technically sound but also realistic when taking into consideration social and institutional aspects and practical considerations such as access-road conditions, night-shift work and motivation of low-pay staff members, which affect the efficiency of water delivery.
Updating of the 1984 FAO irrigation guidelines (1996)
The 1996 document entitled Guidelines for planning irrigation and drainage investment projects prepared by the FAO Investment Centre focuses on new types of thinking and approaches to the
38 planning process of irrigation as crystallized in the 1993 World Bank policy paper Water resources management and in the findings of a 1992 Portfolio Management Task Force of the World Bank. That task force concluded that the main problems that constrain the performance of investment projects in various sectors are inadequate consideration of institutional constraints and poor planning of implementation, and a lack of commitment to the success of the projects by the government and users. The 1996 FAO guidelines assume that water policy reviews indicate that irrigation is a justifiable option within the context of the overall water resource strategy of a country. The guidelines therefore discuss issues specific to the implementation ability of the irrigation sector: the participation of all stakeholders in the planning and implementation process, to create a sense of ownership and of commitment to the project; the creation of water user associations and the transfer of operation and maintenance responsibility; the possible role of NGOs in participatory development; and the issue of fiscal sustainability, including contribution to capital costs.
The technical deficiencies of irrigation projects and the alternative options to improve design and operation were discussed in sundry workshops, conferences and seminars in the 1980s and 1990s. However, these aspects were deliberately not covered when updating the 1984 FAO paper, because they were available in a number of FAO, World Bank and other papers, conference proceedings and miscellaneous publications. Most of the purely technical content of the 1984 documents reflecting the conventional approach to project planning was repeated where appropriate.
The only additions to the 1984 version on aspects of water management and system operation were limited to short discussions of the planning process and choice of technology and to the questions to be addressed in a typical project document. The
39 complete text of the FAO guidelines on water management aspects is reproduced in annex. 11
The section on the choice of technology is a brief reference to a long and passionate debate within the World Bank on competing design visions which was oversimplified in the 1994 review of the Bank experience in irrigation by presenting a polarization of the bank engineers into two camps.
One subgroup sees the problem largely as one of the hydraulic instability of extensively gated, manually operated systems and sees the solution as being the modernization of these systems with automatic downstream control structures and feedback mechanisms to achieve hydraulic stability. The other subgroup of design engineers has accepted the reality of farmer damage in the wet season and gone to the cruder and more robust structured design, giving up the possibility of just-on-time on demand delivery of water to crops in the hope of preserving the civil works.
The conclusion of the World Bank review was that there was inconclusive evidence to favour one camp or the other. The discussion on technology was closed by stating that it was beyond the reviews scope to compare and assess the merits of the crop- based or water-based systems. The FAO document states that the discussion need not be continued since it is well covered elsewhere. Alluding to the issue does not provide much guidance to the users of the guidelines.
In summary, both the 1984 and 1996 FAO guidelines for preparation of irrigation projects as well as the World Bank instructions are still driven by the concern of banking institutions. The objective of the engineering studies is to obtain a cost estimate with plus or minus 15-percent accuracy. The changes in project design to improve
11 The additions to the 1984 guidelines on water management and system operation are nothing but the comments made by the World Bank (the author of this paper) on a draft of the revised guidelines, with the expect- ations that these comments would be considerably developed by FAO.
40 implementation ability through the devolution of operation and maintenance responsibilities to the users was driven by the recognition that the challenges of operating and maintaining the irrigation infrastructure are often beyond the financial capacity of public-sector institutions.
Not much progress has been made in official thinking about the challenge of closing the gap between the expected and actual outcome of irrigation projects, about improving service to the users, increasing food production and preserving the environment within the constraints of decreasing water resource allocation for irrigation.
Lending for irrigation has progressively changed over time from project-specific investments to sector loans or national/regional projects supporting the objectives of participation and capacity building. These projects often are a mix of low-cost rehabilitation endeavours and management reforms with attention to improved operation and maintenance, and user participation. Low-cost rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructure, in some cases an investment to catch up with years of differed maintenance, cannot correct the deficiencies of the original design, if the causes of such deficiencies are not identified through an in-depth diagnosis of the current system.
IV. TECHNICAL VERSUS MANAGERIAL CHANGES
The idea that the performance of irrigation can be improved by managerial changes was and is still widely spread within the irrigation community. Indeed there are some examples of improved system performance achieved through operational changes supported by effective communication between the agency and the farmers. One of these is the Lower Talavera irrigation system in the Philippines. The research programme carried out by the Rice International Research Institute (IRRI) and the National Irrigation Agency (NIA) developed a rotational water supply schedule which produced dramatic results. Operation of the system was simply converted from continuous supply to a supply by turns between the
41 upper and lower sections of the lateral canals. Water efficiency and productivity were enhanced because of reduced runoff from the head-end areas and increased yields of tail-end farms. This change in operation was indeed rather crude.
Much more complex was the change made in the Dantiwada project in Gujarat, India, where the operation of the main canal system was upgraded to near downstream control through frequent communications between gatekeepers of cross regulators 12 . It is important to emphasize that this change was achieved through intensive training of the field staff: this unique case might not pass the test of time because of the intensive management and dedication required.
Malano correctly argues that one level of service can be provided with several types of flow control and, conversely, one type of flow control can be used to provide different levels of service. For example, the same water-control technology is used in Mexico to provide water on prearranged demand and in Thailand and the Philippines on the basis of centralized scheduling. The provision of a higher level of service with a given type of flow control requires additional staffing with greater skills and proficiency for planning and executing the system operations. However, the number of staff members needed to operate a system under, say, manual upstream control can be substantially reduced if the same level of service is provided by an automatic system. In most modern irrigation projects in Morocco, where operating on arranged demand would be feasible, water distribution is decided by the irrigation agency, including flow rate, duration and frequency. A local attempt by an innovative water- master in the Doukkala project confirms, if need be, the feasibility of operating these systems on arranged demand.
12 The 46km-long Dantiwada main canal is equipped with eight gated cross regulators. Gatekeepers are instructed to maintain constant water levels upstream of the cross regulators, the normal practice in upstream controlled systems. However, they also communicate with the staff of the upstream cross regulator to modify the incoming flow up to the diversion point, as in a downstream-controlled system.
42 The trade-off between flow control technology and management has implications on the operational efficiency of the system. It is easy to supply water on demand with a manually operated upstream- controlled system by continuously operating the system largely in excess of the actual demand. Such an operation results in significant wastage of water when demand is low, for instance at night. Thus, the Grand Valley water user association in Colorado provides water on demand with upstream control. The district operates the canals at high flow rate. However, there is a large percentage of spillback to the river. The Seyhan project in Turkey, with abundant water resources, is operated with minimum adjustments for limited demand at night. This mode of operation is known in Pakistan as operation by refusal.
There are unfortunately many unsuccessful examples of schemes throughout Asia where operational changes attempted with the support of research programmes have failed (for example, the introduction of a rigid water distribution pattern in the Nong Wai project in Thailand). The question is whether the practices introduced through pilot projects will continue once these projects end. The more equitable new water-saving distribution strategy is often discontinued because big landowners at the head of the systems exercise their political power to restore their privileges or because the farmers downstream are not consulted.
Focus on managerial changes was the basis of the Bank-supported National Water Management project in India in the mid 1980s. The most important element was the preparation of an operational plan. On the basis of water availability, system characteristics and agricultural options, the plan was expected to define how the system would be operated with respect to the timing and quantity of water deliveries. Only low-cost improvements to the infrastructure needed to support the improved operational plan were supported by the project. The results fell short of appraisal estimates. The completion report concluded that projects of this type which not only involve technical changes but also have significant social aspects require a high level of farmer participation in irrigation management to be successful. It also stated that introduction of such concepts will
43 require in turn the use of more advanced technologies in irrigation management, which are currently available in India and abroad.
In the same way, examples abound where technological changes alone have not yielded the expected benefits because of a lack of training capabilities during design, construction and operation of the scheme. One such example is the Sidorejo project in Indonesia (Box 3), which was implemented without the full commitment of the irrigation agency.
Box 3: The Sidorejo irrigation project in Indonesia
In the mid 1980s, the Indonesia irrigation agency (DGWRD) selected the Sidorejo irrigation project, a subsystem of the Kedung-Ombo multipurpose project, to test modern canal control techniques and determine whether they were applicable to other irrigation systems in Indonesia. The 13km- long main canal was designed for downstream control and the secondary canals for upstream control, with the use of automatic float-operated gates for the entire system. The concept was similar to the one used in some projects in North Africa. However, it differed in the control structures for the distribution system, by using small-size float-operated gates, which could be easily tampered with, instead of the more robust static structures such as the diagonal or long-crested weirs used in North Africa.
This modern pilot project has not been successful for a number of reasons. The quality of construction was poor. Several sections of the lined main canals failed, so that the main canal could not be operated under downstream control. Installation of hydro-mechanical equipment was faulty. Precise vertical settings were needed. The agency was not really aware of the need for high standards of construction for modern-design systems. Local operation and maintenance personnel were not trained for the operation of a system unknown in Indonesia and they went on using national standards.
Sustainable improved performance in irrigation is obtained when combining physical, managerial and institutional changes. The case of the State of Victoria in Australia where the reform process combined all these changes is described in Box 4.
.
44 Box 4. The technical and political reform process in the State of Victoria, Australia
Irrigation enterprises with low profitability, aging infrastructure, large public debt, and environmental degradation through salinity and water- logging were the situation in the State of Victoria, Australia, in the 1980s. Operation of the complex irrigation channel systems was inflexible and highly reactive. Operation of the irrigation systems was driven from the head works down. Renewing infrastructure provided the opportunity to redesign the system to create much more effective water-delivery systems. The first step taken was to fundamentally change the approach to managing the irrigation systems with the objectives of reducing the costs of delivering services and of building a base with new technology to allow more sophisticated water services and tariff arrangements. Instead of replacing the infrastructure as it existed, careful analysis of the system revealed opportunities to create better, more effective irrigation systems. The roster system requiring the irrigators to take water on a fixed schedule was converted into a water-on-order system allowing the farmers to better meet the needs of their crops, make more efficient use of water and reduce pumping costs. A telemetry system combined with SCADA provided real operations of flows and water levels.
The new system was a significant step in the development of irrigation in Victoria. It allowed leasing of water rights, diversion licenses, and sale entitlements between farmers with certain conditions. The shortfall of revenues was considerably reduced. (Langford)
The Office du Niger in Mali, which was often referred to as an example of a fiscally burdened organization, is now a success story for Africa and other regions (Box 5). In both cases, the restructuring of the agencies was combined with a modernization plan of the scheme to improve the flexibility and reliability of water delivery
There is a need to revise the strategy for irrigated agriculture and to address the poor management practices of the large canal irrigation systems through a rethinking of irrigation policy, formulation and technical design of projects, as illustrated by the two successful examples.
45 Box 5: Restructuring of the Office du Niger, Mali, West Africa
The Office du Niger in Mali was known for many years as an example of an irrigation system with a heavy financial burden. It is now seen as a success story. The Office du Niger was created in the early 1930s to reduce the dependence of France on cotton imported from the British colonies. The project was managed by a parastatal organization, following the model of the Gezira project in Sudan. The 25 000 resettled farmers were seen as agricultural workers. In the 1950s cultivation of cotton was abandoned because of rapid development of water-logging conditions, a major contrast with the heavy soils of the Gezira project, which are highly suitable for cotton cultivation. The restructuring of the Office du Niger focused on both institutional and technical aspects. The paddy processing and commercialization functions of the Office du Niger were progressively privatized. The activities of the Office are now concentrated around its essential functions of water services, planning and maintenance.
The physical upgrading consists in modern water control of the main conveyance and distribution network and precise levelling of paddy lands. The improved water delivery and land levelling make the adoption of transplanting and highyield varieties possible, with an increase of paddy yields of 1.5 to 6 tons per hectare.
The technical and institutional restructuring of the Office du Niger makes it possible for the agronomic and economic performances of the project to skyrocket, responding to the need for financial balance and to market opportunities in a context of liberalization and privatization. (Couture)
V. TECHNOLOGY VERSUS INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS: USER PARTICIPATION
From social to business associations
By the mid 1970s some irrigation researchers from non- governmental organizations, such as the Ford Foundation, and others argued that sustainable irrigation systems required the active participation of the users. By the 1980s several countries started to implement irrigation management transfer programmes whereby irrigators were encouraged to participate in operation and main- tenance. Some of these programmes consisted in the creation of pilot user associations spread over a number of irrigation schemes to test
46 the feasibility of involving the farmers in operation and maintenance activities (Maharashtra State in India). Other programmes consisted in a large-scale transfer of the lower level, such as in Pakistan, the Philippines or Indonesia. In Pakistan, over 17 000 associations have been created at the watercourse level, but very few are still active after completion of the lining programme 13 . In 1987, the Indonesian government decided that all irrigation systems of less than 500 hectares would be transferred to water user associations by the year 2003, with priority given to the systems of less than 150 hectares. The objective of these countrywide programmes was to involve the farmers directly in maintenance activities of the lower level of the irrigation systems, and in some cases to assist the government agencies in collecting irrigation service fees. Management transfer involved only a partial devolution of responsibilities. The government retained some control over operation and maintenance plans and continued to contribute to the financing of operation and maintenance activities. The number of farmers and the areas covered by each association (from 200 to 500 hectares) were usually small.
The approach to irrigation management transfer took a different orientation in the late 1980s with the implementation of the transfer programme in Mexico. In the first phase, the user associations in that country took over the financial and managerial responsibilities for operating the systems below the main canals. In the second phase of the process, still ongoing, the responsibilities of operation and maintenance of the main systems have been handed over to limited- responsibility societies. The average size of the 406 associations created in Mexico by the end of 1999 was about 7 000 hectares, with some reaching 30 000 hectares. The same approach was later successfully adopted in Turkey, where the irrigation agency transferred the management of about 1.6 million hectares 14 . This leap
13 A new programme involving reforms of provincial irrigation departments, creation of area water boards at command level and farmers organizations at distributary or minor canal level is now under implementation in Pakistan with the joint support of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. 14 About 1.1 million hectares was transferred during a three-year accelerated programme between 1994 and 1996. The average size of the 222
47 in scale and rate of transfer has stimulated some other countries to shift to accelerated programmes, for example the State of Andhra Pradesh in India, which created over 10 000 associations in July- August 1997.
A key difference exists between the approach adopted in the 1970s- 1980s, mostly in Asian countries, and the one developed in Mexico and Turkey. In these two countries, the programmes aimed to involve farmers in representative governance and not to maximize direct user farmer participation in operation and maintenance. The associations created in these two countries have similar designs, responsibilities and functions to those of the existing associations in the United States, Spain and some Latin America countries such as Chile, Peru and Colombia. The Asian and Mexican models are sometimes referred to as social and business associations respectively (Facon). The creation of social water user associations has tended to follow a gradual approach experimenting with pilot associations.
The business-prone associations are responsible for water distribution, fee collection, maintenance, conflict resolution, and representation of farmers with discussions with public agencies. To fulfil these functions, these associations are legal entities that can enter into contracts. They have the power to enforce rules and regulations. The farmers are not directly involved in the management of their systems. These associations hire professional staff for the actual management. The members of these associations through their elected boards define the rules and regulations to be followed by the hired employees.
The social associations are seldom self-sustaining. The concept of business-type associations is rejected by the irrigation bureaucratic establishment or not applicable because of the perceived incapacity of farmers to manage large systems. A multi-tiered organization is now emerging as a possible solution for the management of large- scale irrigation schemes with a large number of small farmers. This
associations, created as of the end of December 1997, was 5 300 hectares, but some were exceeding 20 000 hectares.
48 model consisting in multi-level organizations is consistent with the definition of modern irrigation. A modern irrigation system consists of several subsystems or levels with clearly defined interfaces where water is controlled and measured. The strict application of that model with a formal independent organization at each level could result in an excessive number of layers of management and formal farmer organizations. For example, the proposed organizational structure of the Mahakali project in Western Nepal would include a central coordinating committee at the project level, eight coordinating committees at area level, forty user associations at the block level, 1405 tertiary committees and nearly 10 000 water user groups at the outlet level. It would be not only time consuming but even counterproductive to organize so many associations and groups at each level.
In practice, some levels of management can be combined within one organization, while maintaining the modern concept of service from the higher to the lower level. In addition, the responsibilities transferred to each user organization could be either governance or management functions, or a combination of the two. For example, the higher-level user organizations could be involved in major decision processes, such as rules and regulations, the annual maintenance work programme, revision of the water charge structure, the annual budget and the timing of the irrigation season, the day-to-day management of the main system being the responsibility of an irrigation agency or company. Operation and maintenance of the two middle levels of a system could be transferred to water user organizations. This model can be applied in a pragmatic way depending on the size of the scheme and configuration of the irrigation system, the capability of the farmers and the willingness of the irrigation agencies to accept fundamental changes in their roles.
49
Figure 1 A multi-tiered user organization/agency of a surface irrigation scheme Note: Each user organization may have either governance and management functions or both
Impact of irrigation management transfer over performance of irrigation projects
A number of specialists thought that taking irrigation and drainage system management out of the direct governmental sphere would inevitably lead to improvements in the sustainability of irrigation and drainage systems and in agricultural production. The philosophy was that users were more likely to operate systems effectively and according to their requirements and also pay for the operation if they were also the owners. The dominant perception was that public irrigation management organizations lacked the incentives and responsiveness to enhance performance whereas water users had a direct interest in cost efficiency, profitability and proper physical condition of the irrigation facilities.
However, despite the widespread adoption of management transfer programmes, there is still little information about their impact on the agricultural performance of irrigation systems. A review of PIM impact studies in 1997 noted that the impact is typically not
50 noticeable in terms of agricultural performance. In Sri Lanka there has been no detectable change in irrigated area, crop patterns, cropping intensity or yields. PIM has neither improved nor interfered with agricultural productivity (Vermillion).
Another review of experiences in irrigation management transfer in selected countries in Asia revealed that the main impact has been a gradual decline in government financing of the operation and maintenance of irrigation systems, whereas water user groups are making a modest contribution towards maintenance. The analysis also shows that there has been a modest improvement in the irrigation service following transfer. The review concludes: the evidence of the impact of IMT on systems operations is not conclusive but seems to suggest that it has not resulted in a deterioration of systems operations nor in a decline in agricultural performance (Samad).
The general impression of an international workshop in Cali, Colombia, in 1996 organized to examine the impact of irrigation management transfer (IMT) in selected countries was that after turnover, services were substantially improved in terms of timeliness, reliability and equity in four countries (Mexico, Turkey, Colombia and Taiwan). By contrast, the social water user associations that were developed for the purpose of providing cheap labour for maintenance and collecting water fees were consistently found weak or paper associations. The business-type water user associations that hired staff to distribute water and ran the distribution system similar to a business operation were often very strong.
Two papers on Mexico irrigation presented at the ICID Congress in Granada, Spain, in 1997 illustrate the inconclusive evidence of the impact of irrigation management transfer on the performance of irrigation projects. Johnson noted that the water user associations have proven capable of managing irrigation systems and in the process have reduced annual government subsidies for irrigation water by more than US$200 million. Maintenance activities by the user associations have stopped the deterioration of the infrastructure.
51 However, Johnson concluded on a pessimistic projection by stating that In Mexico with relatively good irrigation under the irrigation agency, it is unlikely that IMT alone would result in dramatic increases in production. A second paper presented by specialists from the Mexican irrigation agency noted that the agricultural productivity of 38 irrigation districts transferred in 1994 had dramatically increased. The average crop yield increased by 39 percent from 7.9 to 11 ton/ha and the water productivity by 62 percent from 750 to 1220 kg/1000 m 3 between 1989 and 1996. Wheat yield increased by 41 percent after the transfer. This paper, however, noted that this increase was the result of the transfer programme and two complementary programmes: a rehabilitation, modernization and on-farm improvement programme coupled with the modernization and improved techniques of on-farm irrigation.
Some projects claim a substantial increase in cropping intensity and crop yields, but these projects were performing at a very low level before the transfer. The transfer of management to user associations may have contributed to reducing the chaos in water distribution and the level of inequity between head- and tail-enders. The impact is less evident in projects that were previously managed by irrigation agencies according to well-established rules. These agencies have transferred their practices to the associations. For example, the user associations have adopted the mode of water delivery on pre- arranged demand used in most Latin American countries after transfer. Some improvement in the service provided, such as reducing the time lag between demand and actual delivery could be made through technological changes such as an improved communi- cations system, computers and operational procedures.
In conclusion of this chapter on user participation, this paper argues that: Simply rearranging the deck chairs is not likely to achieve significant improvements in irrigated agricultural productivity and will not meet the broader objectives of integrated water resource management (Malano);
52 Small and social associations or water groups responsible for operation and maintenance at the tertiary level have little potential for improvement; Most institutional improvements cannot be fully implemented without the right physical environment; Physical and institutional improvements in irrigation are not isolated actions but are self-supportive; Any strategy for improving performance of the irrigation sector should consider the relationship between the design of user associations and their functions and the strategy for a higher level of service.
The rapid devolution of management to business-minded associ- ations adopted by some countries is likely to be a better strategy than the formation of social associations. However, it requires a high level of commitment by the political authorities and the government agencies and by the farmers, a massive mobilization effort by the government to convince the farmers to take over and to organize the associations and a massive training programme in a number of water management, accounting and operational issues. This does not imply that formation of small groups of users is a bad strategy. These small groups are needed to organize water distribution at the lowest level in irrigated areas where small farms dominate. However, if these water groups are nested in a multi-tiered organization up to the main system or project level, they can participate in important decisions on activities affecting their lives. This is the basis of the emerging new concept where new concepts of user participation and modernization of the systems are converging.
VI. IMPROVED IRRIGATION IN THE CONTEXT OF WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
In recent years there has been a growing interest, particularly among IWMI researchers, in improving the understanding of the concepts of efficiency, water loss and agricultural water use. Although only a part of the water diverted to an irrigation system is effectively used
53 by the crops, typically less than 50 percent, the remaining water either drains to the river system or seeps into the ground. In both cases it can be used downstream for another purpose or pumped for irrigation, very much increasing the overall efficiency at the project and at the basin levels. Drainage water that flows back into a stream or to subsurface areas is not lost or wasted in physical terms. The distinction between field efficiency, project efficiency and river basin efficiency is very important. Improving irrigation efficiency to increase cropping intensity or expand irrigable land might deprive another irrigation system or another use downstream, such as navigation, water supply or environmental flows to control marine intrusion in deltaic areas. These issues have led to an ongoing discussion on whether efficiency improvements can produce any water that can be reallocated to other users. For example, some California planners dismiss the potential for water use efficiency improvements in that state because, they argue, such improvements will not produce much real water.
This discussion should however not be an excuse for not improving irrigation systems.
The main cause of water-logging and salinization, requiring expensive drainage works, is excessive irrigation. Improving water application can substantially reduce the hazard of salinization as well as the cost of drainage. Increasing irrigation efficiency can have a significant effect in reducing the load of salts that must be removed from the soil annually (Hillel). Drainage water gets polluted by removing salts from the soil, as well as by fertilizers and pesticides.
Inefficiency at irrigation-project level increases pumping costs in projects that depend on lift from a river, such as many projects in Romania pumping from the Danube River or the very large Kashi project in Uzbekistan.
Inefficiency makes uneconomic a number of investments in irrigation because it reduces the areas that can be irrigated and the expected benefits. Inefficiency also depresses crop yields, particularly in the tail end of irrigation projects, because of changes
54 in irrigation scheduling such as increased intervals of irrigation, to compensate for the rapid depletion of water resources.
Inefficiency increases non-beneficial losses by increasing evaporation and transpiration from soil and free water surfaces. This is the case, for example, in the Tarim basin in China where inefficient irrigation has caused large waterlogged and saline areas surrounding the lower areas of surface irrigation projects. It has been claimed that the overall efficiency of the Nile system in Egypt may be as high as 90 percent, counting part of the water flows released to the sea as requirements for environmental purposes. However, it is not known how much water is lost through unproductive evaporation from fallow and wet lands throughout the valley and the delta.
Efficiency improvements also produce other benefits, including improvements in human health, more reliable in-stream flows, ecosystem and habitat restoration, reductions in the cost of treating drinking water, less environmental contamination by agricultural chemicals, and reductions in the economic cost of multiple unnecessary withdrawals of water (Gleick).
It would be a mistake to leave the impression that improving the efficiency of irrigation systems is not an issue because the lost water can be re-circulated or used further downstream. It would also be incorrect to suggest that the highest efficiency should be obtained in all circumstances, especially where there is a high potential for groundwater reuse.
55 PART II: CHANGING APPROACHES TO THE DESIGN OF IRRIGATION PROJECTS The time for grand vision and flowery rhetoric has passed. The challenges ahead require sharper focus, real commitment, and concrete action. VII. IRRIGATION DESIGN CONCEPTS IN SELECTED COUNTRIES This chapter presents the salient features of the design, management and performance of irrigation systems in key countries. Obviously it is not an exhaustive presentation. The objective is to highlight the large differences regarding designs and management of systems caused by the climatic differences and the economic, political and social relations in the different countries. The second part of the chapter discusses the problems with the transfer of technology from one region to another one with different social environment. A. Traditional irrigation systems Traditional irrigation is rooted far back in history. Although traditional irrigation schemes now represent a small percentage of the 265 million hectares under irrigation worldwide, they still play an important role in most developing countries such as Nepal, Indonesia, Morocco, Peru or the Philippines. Century-old schemes in Spain have been the models for the development of irrigation in the New World and have attracted the attention of engineers from colonial powers in the 19 th century at the onset of irrigation develop- ment in the Indus basin and elsewhere. Traditional schemes are relatively small in scale, from a few tens to a few hundreds of hectares. However, some traditional schemes reach a few thousand hectares, such as the Maujis Chautra project (10 000 ha) in Nepal and the Khanabad project covering more than 30 000 ha in Afghanistan. These schemes have been built and maintained by local communities with little or no government support. Local customs
56 regarding water allocation and distribution in these systems have evolved over time and are well adapted to local and ecological conditions. Although the term local customs may be interpreted as the opposite of scientific, the rules of water distribution can in fact be very sophisticated. Their complexity increases with the degree of water scarcity. By contrast, the infrastructure for water allocation is rather simple and all the users can understand their operation. The most frequently found water control structure in traditional irrigation is the flow divider to allocate water proportionally to fixed water allocation ratios related either to water rights or to the irrigated areas. The most famous traditional irrigation scheme is the 16 000 ha Valencia project in Spain, known for its oldest water tribunal. Complex operational procedures of this project prescribe different rules for three levels of water availability.
The cohesion and social bounds among members of local communities are the main reasons for the success and sustainability of traditional schemes which have been under existence for hundred of years. These social bounds do not usually exist in rural areas where settlers of various ethnic groups move shortly after the development of irrigation systems. Extending the finding of social research studies on traditional irrigation systems to the large-scale systems built in the last decades should be done with great caution. Self-enforcement of the rules is much weaker in these projects. For example, stealing water from the distribution canals in the Indus basin is common practice since water is perceived by the farmers as belonging to the government. By contrast, rules are strictly enforced once the water is diverted to the lower level managed by the users.
B. Country experience
1. INDIA
The large irrigation systems built in northern India in the 1800s were designed for drought protection to avoid famine. The objective was to distribute irrigation water to the maximum number of farmers. The design capacity of canals was as low as 0.25 litre/second/hectare or
57 three times less than the irrigation requirements of intensive irrigation.
Agro-climatic and socioeconomic conditions in India vary widely depending on geographic location, and irrigation systems have evolved reflecting this diversity.
There are several models of distribution of water below field outlets in surface irrigation systems: i) the warabundi system of Northwest India (Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh), ii) the shejpali and block systems (Maharashtra and Gujarat) and iii) the localized system used in the southern states.
Under the warabundi system the available water is allocated to all farmers within a block, irrespective of their crops and location of their holdings, under a rigid weekly scheduling. The share of water is proportional to the holding area in the outlet command and allocated in terms of time interval as a fraction of the total hours of the week. Advocates of warabundi claim that this system is highly equitable. This would be right if the seepage losses in the field channels of the block were negligible. Seepage losses of unlined channels may represent 40 percent of the diverted flows.
Under the shejpali system, the government enters into some sort of agreement with the farmers for supplying water to them. The farmers file applications and the government issues permits for the supply of water and the two constitute the agreement. The water is distributed according to a predetermined date in each rotation. A preliminary programme is drawn every year depending on the availability of water. Farmers submit applications for supply of water indicating the crops they wish to grow and the areas under them. Water is then apportioned on the basis of the crops and the overall demand. A schedule fixing the turns of supplying farmers in the sanctioned areas is prepared for each rotation. The irrigation interval depends on the rate of water consumption by the crops. The schedule is notified in advance and every farmer of the command area has prior information about his turn of supply. The system is called rigid shejpali if the duration of supplying water in the various fields along with the date
58 is also recorded on the permits issued to the farmers for sanctioned areas. Application of the shejpali system is based on a high intensity of adjustable gates and their frequent resetting. The objective of matching supply with demand is rarely met because of the difficulty of operating manually adjustable gates.
Under the block system, a long-term arrangement for supply of water is done particularly for perennial crops, but irrigation from season to season proceeds through shejpali. The blocks are sanctioned for six to twelve years. (Mandavia)
The advantages and disadvantages of the different designs used in India have been the subject of several research studies, which led to intense debate. There is, however, wide recognition that, overall, the performance of surface irrigation in India needs considerable improvement. Bhavanishankar states: The reliability and predict- ability of water supplies is not assured in most of the schemes. Conflicts are common in most of the systems, leading to vandalism and disruption of the physical facilities and degradation of the system. The present method of delivering the water as per the demand of the powerful group among the farmers is often arbitrary and wasteful with considerable inequity in distribution.
The unreliability and/or rigidity of water distribution from the surface irrigation systems in India as well as the under-sizing of the canals to deliver water for intensive irrigation have contributed to the uncontrolled development of groundwater during the last decades.
2. PAKISTAN
Of the 16.2 million hectares irrigated in Pakistan in the early 1990s, about 93 percent are under the command of the Indus River Irrigation System. This system, the largest in the world, encompasses three storage reservoirs, 19 barrages or head works, 12 link canals, 43 command areas and 107 000 watercourses, each one serving an area of about 250 to 700 acres. Water to the watercourse is diverted from the distributary and minor canals through ungated structures known as mogha. The design is similar to the one used in northwest
59 India. With the exception of the link and main canals, the system was designed to operate at or near full supply. The mogha is designed to allow for a constant discharge. Within the watercourse command, farmers receive water proportionally to their landholding. The entire discharge to the watercourse is given to one farmer for a specified period on a seven-day rotation.
The canal system was designed as a run-of-the-river project to maximize the cropped area, with minimum water consumption, and simple operation and administration. Canals were intended to provide equitable distribution, with no interference by the canal establishment 15 .
Extensive performance studies by IWMI and others have demonstrated that water distribution, contrary to the stated objectives, is not equitable. The greatest inequity is between watercourses. Some head mogha draw two or three times their allocated shares while tail mogha may only receive half or less. The main causes of inequity are the opposition of the farmers to the abolition of the privileged water allocations granted during the colonial period, the tampering of the mogha structures and installation of illegal outlets, as well as changes in water profile due to siltation 16 and lack of maintenance. The overall efficiency of canal
15 Field reality differs considerably from this idealistic equity objective. Abundant literature has documented the policy of the colonial state which tended to allocate privileged and customary rights to local elites as compensation for governing their local communities in line with the interests of the colonial state or other services rendered. After Independence, the strict application of an equitable and proportional water allocation was strongly opposed by both the civil authorities and the farmers when the irrigation departments tried to formalize an equitable policy. For example, water allowances at the distributary canal head of the Lower Chenab Command range from .19 to .32 l/s/ha with an average of .24 l/s/ha. Water allowances at the outlets within the same command range from .13 to .84 l/s/ha.
16 As a result of lack of maintenance (weed and silt cleaning), the higher water levels in the upper reaches of the systems cause higher than foreseen
60 systems serving individual command areas is below 40 percent. Losses contribute to groundwater recharge.
Groundwater use has been a main factor in the intensification of irrigated agriculture in Pakistan during the last two decades. Groundwater not only supplies additional water but provides the flexibility to match water supplies with the crop demands. The originally expected cropping intensity has increased on average from 120 to over 160 percent in some areas of Punjab. The overexploitation of groundwater is discussed in Chapter 9.
Irrigation systems were initially developed without provision for drainage. Irrigation without drainage in an environment like the Indus basin inevitably leads to the rising of water tables and salinity. About 30 percent of the Indus command area is currently waterlogged and about 14 percent severely or moderately salt- affected. (World Bank 1994)
The basic design concept in northwest India and in the Indus basin was to provide equitable distribution of water with minimum interference and low-cost operation by limited staff and means of communication. Distributary and minor canals were operated in on/off rotation from continuously running main systems. Ungated outlets discharge water from these canals into the watercourses from where farmers get their water shares under the warabundi system. This system was expected to be effective and equitable but it was not related to crop water requirements. It is up to the farmers to arrange their cropping pattern and watering to suit the delivery of water at a fixed flow and predetermined time. For the reasons given above, there is great inequity in actual withdrawals between head and tail watercourses.
Groundwater development has obviously contributed to the reliability and flexibility of water allocation in the Indus basin. A valid question is whether the development of groundwater has
discharges through the outlets in these reaches, resulting in less water being available downstream.
61 improved the equity of distribution. Few research studies have been made on the performance of conjunctive use of water in the Indus basin. It is assumed that the equity between the mid and upper sections of command areas has improved. However inequity may have increased for the lower sections because of the poor quality of groundwater and the lower density of wells.
Box 6: By refusal water control strategy application in Pakistan
The Lower Swat Canal in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan was modernized in the 1980s to meet future crop and salt leaching requirements. The modernization objectives consisted in the rising of the water delivery capacity from .36 to .78 l/s/ha (and up to 1.34 l/s/ha to provide operational flexibility) and the provision of facilities to gradually transform the operation into a modern demand-based irrigation scheduling. The canals are run at full supply, except in February when river discharge is low, and in December, when there is hardly any need for water. The majority of the watercourses can now get nearly three times as much water as was used before modernization. The pre-project situation of a water-scarce system has been converted into a near ideal agricultural system in which a farmer can grow anything he wants and water has become abundant to the extent that night irrigation can be abandoned for months every year. Since the drainage water effluent returns to the Kabul River and ultimately is available for use in the Indus system in Punjab and Sindh provinces, the irrigation department considers this is as no problem at all. (Communication of van Hanselma)
The same strategy is now adopted for the Chasma Right Bank Canal (CRBC), construction of which started in the late 1970s and is not yet completed. The CRBC design reflects much of the old design tradition in terms of control structures. In 1989, IWMI was contracted to help define a flexible management approach for irrigation operations responding to crop requirements (the so-called crop-based irrigation operation). Despite intensive research on simulation of the hydraulic conditions of the main canal, the study failed to define and implement any practical operational procedures, given the difficulty and frequency of gate settings. The actual operation and water delivery reflects the practices found in the Lower Swat Canal system. Farmers manage their irrigation on personal agreements. They frequently refuse water by partially or fully closing their outlets. The refused water drains to the Indus River flowing at a short distance from the main canal.
62 Use of untreated wastewater is a usual practice around most cities in Pakistan and many other countries. Wastewater is valued by the farmers not only because of its nutrient content, but also for its reliability of supply, which makes cultivation of vegetables, the most common crop in Punjab, possible.
Adoption of modern design approaches was attempted in the North- West Frontier Province, Pakistan, which benefits from relatively abundant water resources. The higher capacity of the canals, without enough consideration of variable flow conditions and risk of siltation, has resulted in the adoption of a control by refusal. This ad-hoc strategy consists in operating the main and secondary canals at or near full supply and letting the farmers and operators release the excess water directly from the canals to the drainage systems.
3. EGYPT: the Nile Valley system
Irrigation was practised throughout the Nile Valley from the earliest times. Until the mid 19 th century, this was realized by natural inundation from flood waters. The system has been converted from flood to perennial irrigation following the construction of the Aswan dam and delta barrages. Of the 3.3 million hectares irrigated in Egypt, nearly 95 percent are supplied from the Nile irrigation system. Barrages on the Nile divert water to the main canals. Main canals supply branch and sub-branch canals, which provide water to private farm watercourses, called meskas. Flows released in the main canals are based on crop water requirements and expected distribution and farm losses. The branch canals are operated on rotation based on the requirements of the dominant crop. During a typical 12-day rotation, branch canals receive water during 4 days and are off during 8 days. A unique feature of the Nile system is that most branch canals and meskas are below ground level. Farmers used to lift water from the meskas through animal-driven pumps. Irrigation was mostly practised during daytime. The relatively low flow of individual pumps ensured a high level of equity of water allocation between head- and tail-enders and avoided over-watering of the cultivated lands, by contrast with gravity systems. The situation changed dramatically with rapid replacement of traditional pumps by
63 individually owned diesel pumps or electric pumps since the 1970s, creating large inequities of water extraction along meskas and social inequities between tail- and head-enders. Tail farmers responded by looking for other sources of water, mainly by pumping from the drain system. The Nile system is similar in its architecture and operation by rotation to the Indus system. However it differs in four key aspects: the releases from the Nile to the canal system are based on irrigation requirements; the watercourses are below ground level, forcing the farmers to pump; the farmers are free to irrigate at any time when their branch canal is on; and the design capacity of the canals is about three times higher.
The Ministry of Irrigation is now implementing a modernization irrigation project to reduce the inequity and the re-use of poor-quality water in the Nile delta following the adoption of diesel pumps. The objective of the modernization is to create night storage in the secondary canals and to replace individual lift pumps by a common lift pump serving a raised meska. This plan is based on the adoption of a rotational distribution of water by the farmers organized for this purpose in water associations at the meska-pump level. This is a unique case of modernization in which farmers have to accept the conversion from a free-demand (when their canals are on) to a rotational system requiring coordination and discipline.
4. SUDAN: the Gezira project
The Gezira project lies between the Blue and White Nile rivers south of Khartoum. The Sennar diversion dam built in 1925 and the multipurpose Roseires dam completed in 1966 regulate the flow of the Blue Nile. The Gezira scheme was designed in the 1920s after prolonged experiments had been carried out at pilot scale. It was designed with the main objective of producing cotton, a single cash crop. Other crops are grown to provide food for the farmers and to help in the maintenance of soil fertility. Cotton, wheat, groundnut
64 and sorghum are now cultivated in a four-crop rotation including fallow. The farmers do not own the land. The scheme is divided between 102 000 tenants with an average of about 8 hectares.
The irrigation system was laid out to suit the size of tenancy and crop rotation. The flat and featureless topography was favourable to the adoption of a regular gridiron layout. The basic unit is a group of four adjacent fields of 90 feddans. One crop is grown on each strip following the four-crop rotation system. Each block is divided into 18 tenant fields of 2.2 hectares each.
The irrigation system comprises twin main canals running from head works at the Sennar dam with a combined capacity of 354 m 3 /s, a network of 2 300 kilometres of branch and main canals, and about 1 500 minor canals with a total length of over 8 000 kilometres. All canals are divided into reaches by cross regulators which are the control points for the off-taking canals.
The minor, branch and main canals are designed as regime conveyance channels. The minor canals are also designed for storing water flowing continuously from the main canals at night.
Operation of the scheme is centrally controlled: the management is divided between the Ministry of Irrigation (MOI), which is responsible for the irrigation network, and the Sudan Gezira Board (SGB), which is responsible for agricultural operation and for determining the irrigation water requirements. The water orders (or indents) are passed to the MOI engineers, summed out throughout the system up to the head works at the Sennar dam.
Water flows from the main to the minor canals are controlled by movable weirs, which provide accurate and easy water measure- ments, but have the serious disadvantage to be highly sensitive to upstream variations of water level.
The Gezira scheme is not a sophisticated one by present-day standards. It was designed before the development of modern technologies of canal water control. The design, however, took the
65 best advantage of some favourable and unique features of Gezira: the flat topography and the adopted tenancy system, i.e. the absence of constraints imposed by small, fragmented, field plots found in many developing countries. The adoption of the night storage system resolved the issue of night irrigation found in many schemes. It provides a remarkable solution to the complex problem of adjusting water releases at the head works and at critical points of the system to the demand without excessive losses. A negative characteristic of the minor canals, which was probably overlooked, is their ability to trap the silt released into the system.
For about forty years, the Gezira scheme was operated satisfactorily on the basis of the original design and operational concept. The management of the Gezira scheme ran into problems in the early 1970s shortly after the scheme reached its present extension. The steady deterioration of trade in Sudan led to shortages of financial resources. Funds became insufficient to finance the high recurrent operation and maintenance costs and to replace machinery and equipment. For lack of financial resources, MOI was not able to cope with the removal of silt and clearance of weed. The situation was worsened by the breakdown of the telephone system, which was a vital tool for communication between SGB and MOI for the water indent process. All these factors resulted in inadequate use of the system. The degree of siltation in some minor canals is such that precious little water reaches the tail blocks and some areas are out of production. The tenants lost confidence in the untimely operation of the system and, to some extent, took over the management of the minor canals. The original night storage system gave way to continuous irrigation water delivery to the fields. By adopting unattended continuous irrigation, the tenants have reduced irrigation labour costs. They also appreciate the flexibility of the new de-facto on-demand system since they took control of the opening of the field outlets. The departure from the originally planned method of irrigation has given rise to a new management and water application. The intention of MOI is to re-establish the night storage system, which was based on a strict discipline of water scheduling. An informal management offset the decline in the performance of the official system. However, the unique design of the system played a
66 major role in maintaining irrigation service in the 1980s and in the adoption of a new informal management system. The minor canals playing the role of terminal reservoirs are the key features of that transformation. It is now demonstrated that water delivery in the Gezira scheme can be based on either rigid or highly flexible scheduling, as long as the indenting ensures adequate refilling of the minor canals. In other words, the design was able to adjust to a major departure from the original management thanks to the flexibility in operation provided by the design of the minor canals. The main drawbacks of this unique feature are its silt-trapping efficiency and high health hazards during manual weed clearance.
The suggestion made by a foreign consultant to narrow the minor canals to reduce weed and silt clearance would not totally solve the problem of siltation and weed infestation, although it would eliminate the buffer storage in the minor canals, a critical feature of the design of the Gezira scheme. It would also considerably increase the complexity of operation.
5. CHINA
China has very detailed standards and regulations for the design of large water structures. Typical structures are found in most provinces. Irrigation projects belong to the category of manually operated gated systems. Some gates built in concrete in the 1960s are very difficult to handle. Many systems in China are operated during periods of about 20 days each totalling about 80-100 days per year, generally at or close to full supply. Water is released after a long consultation between the local authorities and farmer groups. The design is very basic but management relies on the active participation of users or local communities at all levels. This strongly advocated approach for improving irrigation performance has rarely succeeded in other countries.
A characteristic feature of the configuration of irrigation systems in mid and southern China is the number of large, medium and small reservoirs, which form an integral part of the systems. Large reservoirs created by the construction of large dams are connected to
67 medium reservoirs and to hundreds of thousands of village reservoirs and ponds. For example, the Pi-Shi-hang Irrigation districts, which serve 680 000 hectares in Henan province, consist of a network of canals connected to five large reservoirs, 24 medium-sized reservoirs with a total active capacity of 420 million m 3 , 113 small reservoirs with an active capacity of 205 million m 3 and 210 000 storage ponds. The reliability and flexibility of water delivery of these systems are very high.
China has developed a water-saving technique for irrigating paddy fields consisting in alternating wetting with shallow water and drying periods. This method is now applied on about 3.5 million hectares out of the 21.3 million hectares of irrigated paddy fields in China. It not only saves a considerable volume of water but also leads to higher yields of rice. Application of this method requires a high level of management at both on-farm and off-farm levels.
A singular feature of irrigation in China is found in its management as a result of a series of reforms that took place in the water management sector during the last decades. The authority for owning and managing irrigation projects is determined according to investment. Large irrigation districts are usually managed by organizations at various levels such as prefecture, county, township and village. In the 1980s, the government launched the production contract responsibility systems in the rural areas to support individual initiatives. The government also changed irrigation management from centralized control to contract management in order to facilitate decentralization. The contracting organization may be a company, a farmers group, a joint household or an individual. The contractors have the right to operate and manage the irrigation facilities and should take full responsibility for profits and losses. As a result of the contract management, the management organization is optimized; especially, the workers income is closely related to their performances of the contracted targets. China is now experimenting with several models of contract management, particularly in Shandong province. China is clearly a country where management improvement has been a substitute for a very basic water control infrastructure.
68 6. NORTH AFRICAN COUNTRIES
Development of modern irrigation in the three North African countries (Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco) started in the late 1930s, more than fifty years later than in South Asia and Egypt, accelerating only after World War II to reach peak development after Independence. This late development was possibly the reason for the fundamentally different approaches to the planning of irrigation projects in that region. According to verbal sources, the low level of education of the rural population stimulated the colonial government agencies to design irrigation projects which met the dual objective of being operated with minimum intervention of operators and simple operational procedures and being flexible enough to meet the irrigation requirements.
An intensive research programme with the support of the private industry led to the development of hydro-mechanical equipment to automatically control upstream or downstream water levels and water flows as well as fixed static structures such as flow limiters and long-crested weirs, known also as duckbill weirs. These weirs provide nearly stable water levels in canals. The concept of canals operated by downstream and upstream control and the combination of these techniques were refined over the years. The use of these innovative designs became standard practice for irrigation projects in these three countries and in most Mediterranean countries. It was later extended to other regions but generally on a project, case-by- case basis.
The canals are designed to be able to answer irrigation requirements during peak demand for the cropping pattern adopted at design stage. However, the specific design capacity is multiplied by a factor of up to 50 percent from the main system to the tertiary canals to provide some flexibility in order to accommodate variations in demand and deviations from the project cropping pattern. For example, the design capacities of the Doukkala project in Morocco increases from 0.65 l/s/ha for the main canal to 1 l/s/ha at the tertiary level.
69 Most of the main canals are concrete-lined and the secondary and tertiary canals consist of prefabricated canaletti (flumes) using the most advanced pre-stressing concrete techniques. The concrete lining of main canals is about 30 percent thicker than the lining of canals of similar sizes in other countries.
As a result of the high standards of design and construction, and the small variations in water levels, the life of the irrigation systems is remarkably better in these three North Africa countries than in some other regions. Some projects built in the 1950s are still under operation. The first rehabilitation projects in Morocco were related to undersized projects built before World War II, which became incompatible with the intensification of irrigated agriculture.
Another feature of irrigation in Morocco is the systematic consolida- tion of irrigable lands before the installation of the infrastructure. Before project, irrigable lands are highly fragmented and boundaries of individual plots are randomly organized. The model adopted by the Moroccan administration in the 1960s, after testing different models, is based on the same principle as the model used in Gezira in Sudan. The objective was to facilitate the adoption of modern irrigation scheduling and mechanized farming practices in a context of smallholdings. Geometric blocks of 30 hectares were divided into four to six crop strips of equal width and the farm holdings were arranged with boundaries parallel to the other direction. Permanent quaternary canals were associated with a farm road and farm ditch. The number of farm plots was reduced about five times in some projects.
To be successful this model requires the strict discipline of the farmers in respecting the government-imposed cropping patterns and joint organization of agricultural works within each crop strip. The farmers progressively deviated from the imposed cropping. How- ever, the most serious deviation from the original plan was in on- farm water management. The quaternary canals owned collectively by the farmers of a block were not maintained, and land levelling
70 badly degraded, eliminating the possibility to adopt furrow irrigation or border irrigation. The farmers came back to the century-old inefficient irrigation method of small basins.
Although there are some variations between regions, water distribution in Morocco is largely decided by the irrigation agencies (ORMVA). The basic principle of water distribution is that each farmer receives a predetermined volume of water per irrigation turn. ORMVA decide on the implementation of the irrigation turn, its duration, and the volumes per hectare for the various crops, depending on the availability of water in the storage reservoirs. Farmers can decide whether to take water during a turn or to reduce the duration. They sign a note of acceptance, which specifies the date, time, duration discharge and total volume delivered which will be used for assessing the water charges. Although the system has the capacity to be operated on prearranged demand and to provide the flexibility required to meet the farmers needs, it is essentially a centralized system. This mode of operation was justified when rain- fed farmers were converted into irrigators a few decades ago. It does not respond to the needs of modern agriculture in Morocco.
Irrigation in the North African countries is not performing at the expected level, although the level of technology of the delivery system is of the highest standards. The main reason may be found in the poor on-farm use of water, which is related to the outdated delivery procedure and land consolidation model.
7. IRAN
Iran is an interesting example of a country without national design standards. Two basically different approaches to irrigation planning are found in that country. In the Khuzistan province in the south, old design standards of the Bureau of Reclamation have been used for the design of the Dez multipurpose project and adopted for all irrigation projects in that region. In the northern provinces, the most frequent design standards are those introduced for the design of the Isfahan and Guilan projects by a French consulting firm with long experience in North Africa. The two design standards used in the
71 northern and southern parts of Iran belong to the category of fully gated systems. The design objective in both cases is to distribute water according to requests of individuals or group of farmers with flexible scheduling. However, they differ by the control function. All gates in the south are manually operated whereas the northern systems benefit from a high degree of hydraulic automation, which simplifies their operation. Box 7 provides a detailed discussion of the Guilan project, which is a unique success story of transfer of technology from an arid region to the paddy systems with humid climate along the Caspian Sea.
Box 7: The Guilan project
Most parts of Iran have an arid or semi-arid climate. However, Northern Iran between the Caspian Sea and the Elburz mountains is reminiscent of the mid-south region of China, with skilfully terraced paddy fields bestrewn with plastic-covered nurseries. As in China, the traditional irrigation systems comprise many small reservoirs. The 142 000-ha rice- predominant Guilan project was built in the 1960s. The irrigation infrastructure is typical of those found in North Africa with a network of concrete canaletti supplied by canals equipped with long-crested weirs, automatic hydraulically operated gates and modular distributors. This unusual combination of East Asia farming practices with Western technology is unexpected in the Middle East. The high level of performance of that project is little known among the irrigation community, possibly because of the lack of external financial assistance. A rapid assessment of the project in 1995 concluded that the project is performing as expected at design stage, after nearly 30 years of operation. The volume of water diverted for the irrigation of the command area compares well with the one calculated at the feasibility stage. The low level of vandalism and tampering with control structures is an indication of the high level of satisfaction of the farmers. Three factors can explain the harmony between actual and expected results: the calculations of the water requirements at farm level were supported by detailed tests to determine the evapotranspiration and, more important, the percolation losses; the water control system is user-friendly, reliable and does not require frequent adjustments of gate openings by operators; and the rainfall pattern during the growing season is relatively uniform, without high intensity precipitation and excessive drought spells.
The Guilan project contradicts the paradigm that a design consisting in reticulated fully gated canals is not suitable for irrigation projects
72 in the humid tropics. It also contradicts the well-accepted paradigm that the irrigation technology of arid and semi-arid countries is not suitable for humid tropics.
8. MALAYSIA
Malaysia is another example of a country without national design standards. Foreign consultants have introduced three different design standards that reflect their own experience, as illustrated by the examples of the Muda, Kemubu and Kriang-Kerian schemes.
The Muda scheme: This 98 000-ha scheme, designed by a British firm, accounts for 40 percent of the national rice production and is critical to the rice policy of Malaysia. The main infrastructure is comprised of two storage reservoirs connected by a tunnel, a diversion dam further downstream, and two main canals. At the time of construction, a remote monitoring system was installed to provide the operating engineers with real time information on reservoirs and canal water levels and on rainfall in the catchment area between the storage and diversion dams to predict the unregulated flow. Cross regulators on the main canals are equipped with overshot motorized gates. Furthermore, pumping facilities and tidal gates were installed to recapture the drained water in the lower part of the scheme. The combination of these devices with remote monitoring has contributed to the efficient operation of the main system. Service to rice growers was irregular, however, because of the difficulty of managing the delivery system equipped with manual gates. To achieve the better control over volumes of water and timing required for new techniques of direct seeding, the farmers install their own pumps to lift water from public canals and drains.
The Kemubu scheme: This low-lift pumping scheme, designed by French consultants, adopted downstream control for the main canal and the pumping station and upstream control for the secondary
73 system equipped with long-crested weirs and modular distributors. 17
As in the Muda scheme, the operational problem is the difficulty of controlling flows in the minor system and meeting the requirements of increasingly diversified cropping. Different control structures were later adopted for an extension of the scheme, consisting of adjustable flow-dividing structures.
The Kriang-Kerian scheme: That scheme was developed using the old standards of the Bureau of Reclamation, mainly the use of constant head orifice. These are discussed in the next section. This project is now under modernization through low-cost automation.
9. INDONESIA
Irrigation in Indonesia, particularly on Bali and Java islands, has been practised for the cultivation of rice since ancient times. The old and non-technical systems represent a large part of the six million hectares currently irrigated. Design of the systems built during the colonial period and soon after Independence was rustic. Individual control structures were improved over time, but not enough consideration was given to the functioning of the entire system. To improve measurement and control of flows diverted from one parent canal to the next-level canal, an adjustable weir gate, known as Rominj gate, was developed in the 1950s. This gate is a precise measuring device but has the disadvantage to be sensitive to the variations of water level in the parent canal, which are frequent in run-of-the-river projects. Indonesia design standards were improved in the 1980s by foreign consultants. One of the proposed innovations was to replace the flashboards of check structures by conventional sliding gates. The main reason for this change was that flashboards were risky and difficult to handle.
17 For a long time, the Kemubu scheme suffered from poor functioning of the pumping plant, for reasons not well identified, which affected the operation of the main canal under downstream control.
74 The result of these two independent local improvements is a combination of hydraulic structures, the worst solution for the operation of a canal system. The sensitivity and hydraulic stability of structures are discussed in several books and design manuals (Horst, Ankum). The Rominj gate was again unsuccessfully introduced in the design of the Mae Khlong project in Thailand.
10. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Application of modern technologies in water projects in the United States attracted the attention of many foreign visitors, as is the case in other developed countries (drip irrigation and wastewater use in Israel, Canal de Provence in France). The most comprehensive application of automation through central supervisory control is found in the control system of the Central Arizona project, which delivers water to urban, agricultural and industrial water users in central and southern Arizona. This system includes a large number of in-line pumping plants. The first effort to develop devices for local automatic control of canal systems in the United States dates back to the mid 1950s and was faced with the problem of instability in case of large flow changes.
Less well known is that many of the canal irrigation systems in the United States are far from having been modernized. Almost all control on irrigation canals is upstream control. Some systems still operate on rigid rotation schedules. In California, it is unusual to operate on pure demand. Water delivery to users is usually arranged. The average advance time for request is 26 hours for the 60 irrigation districts surveyed by Burt. Almost none of these districts have downstream control. Farmers, however, enjoy flexibility in flow rates. The flexibility in delivery can be offered because of excellent communications, high mobility of staff, high density of turnouts and judicious use of proper equipment such as weirs, regulating reservoirs and recirculation of excess water through interceptors and numerous applications of remote monitoring through SCADA. There is almost always measurement of flow rates at all turnouts.
75 In the Grand Valley district in Colorado, water is delivered on demand with a crude upstream control and few regulators. The system is operated at high flows with a large proportion of flow back to the river.
Burt has identified some aspects of the social and legal environment in the United States that have a bearing on the success and failure of irrigation projects, such as: The projects benefit from water rights and have the ability to enforce water rights and rules; Projects have excellent legislation for the formation of water user associations. Most of these associations are operated as businesses with professional management staff responsible to the elected boards of directors; Most consultants in modernization are private local consultants who must live with the results of their work; news on bad projects travel fast; Good living conditions (health, education) in rural areas; and There is excellent infrastructure for spare parts and new equipment.
This environment is not found in many developing countries, where modernization of irrigation projects is therefore more difficult to undertake and sustain.
C. USE OF OLD U.S. BUREAU OF RECLAMATION STANDARDS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Design standards for the projects supported by the Bureau of Reclamation in the Western States are the most detailed standards that can be found worldwide. They have been widely disseminated through technical assistance and consulting firms to a number of developing countries. In some of these countries, such as Thailand, the Philippines, Mexico and Turkey, U.S. Bureau standards have become de facto national standards for a few decades. In countries
76 without national standards, they were used for specific projects, such as the Kriang project in Malaysia or the San Lorenzo project in Peru.
The basic design consists of a reticulated network of canals equipped with manually operated structures. Cross regulators are equipped with one or more radial or flat gates which are hand-operated or motorized. In some cases, a small lateral weir section is provided for emergency purposes, not for normal operation. Typical off-takes are equipped with constant-head orifice gates designed to measure and control flows. That infrastructure is in theory compatible with different methods of water distribution: prearranged, rotational or centralized.
A large number of these projects have a low hydraulic, agronomic and economic performance, as demonstrated by a number of recent studies (FAO). The U.S. Bureau standards were acceptable for the specific conditions of some Western States: short rainy season, relatively large farms, good road network and communications, and highly dedicated and trained operating staff. Good quality of construction was also a condition of success. All these conditions were generally not present in the countries which adopted these standards. An exception is the arid north-western region of Mexico (states of Sonora and Sinaloa). As in the U.S. irrigation districts, water is distributed in Mexico on a prearranged basis whereas centralized distribution is the rule in East Asian countries.
Projects supported by other federal or state agencies in the United States are not necessarily applying the Bureau standards. A number of irrigation systems and large conveyance systems in the United States have been upgraded either at design stage or later through rehabilitation and improvement programmes. Automated data col- lection and control has become an integral part of most large water delivery systems and is becoming more prevalent on smaller projects as well. From its beginning with simple gate controllers, canal automation has evolved to include large supervisory control systems that oversee entire projects. The California Aqueduct and the Central Arizona project are operated under a central remote system. The Salt River project, which was under remote monitoring, has been
77 upgraded to remote control. As noted earlier, small-scale canal modernization projects are now widespread throughout the western United States. For example the gates of the composite check structures of the Dolores project have been automated. (Composite structures consist of a combination of one or two automated gates and long-crested weirs.) Several terminal reservoirs were built in the Coachella project, still operated for gravity application, to allow the farmers to convert from surface irrigation to low volume application methods. The Sevier River water user association in Central Utah has installed low-cost solar-powered automatic gates and SCADA. This user association has adopted the principles of gradual upgrading and retrofitting of existing infrastructure that are generally adopted for the modernization of irrigation systems in the western United States. None of these upgrading/modernization tools were applied in developing countries to improve the performance of gated projects. The 175-km-long main canal serving the 90 000 ha Phitsanulok project in Thailand is a case in point (Box 8).
Box 8: The Phitsanulok project in Thailand
The Phitsanulok main canal is equipped with 24 manually checked structures. It was designed and built without any provision for remote monitoring. Recent studies show large discrepancies between operating rules and actual operations. On average the levels upstream of check structures are about .7 metre below the target levels. Because of the variations in water level, flows diverted to secondary canals are poorly controlled. There is inequitable distribution at macro and micro scales. Constant-head orifices, of which there are more than 1100 at the field channel heads, are used neither for measurement of flow nor for fine adjustment to deliver a varying rate of discharge. The farmers have responded to the deficiencies in the operation of the gravity Phitsanulok irrigation systems by installing individual wells during the last decade. The average density of wells estimated by a survey in 1996 was nearly 20 wells per 100 ha. The development of groundwater has given farmers a greater level of control over their crop calendar. They do not have to wait for water to be available and they can plant their crops at times that seem best according to their own situation. Groundwater development was also observed in the Northern Chao Phraya and Mae Khlong projects in Thailand.
78 In 1991, the Bureau of Reclamation issued a manual on canal system automation. The preface of this manual points out that the earliest designs of canals were based on the maximum flow conditions (known as full supply). This design does not provide the requisite flexibility to operate a canal efficiently. The first canal automation was crude but it was immediately successful. Advances in the operation of canals through the use of automation have paralleled the development of the electronics industry.
This statement is of major relevance to the canal systems in developing countries designed for maximum flow conditions; they simply cannot work as designed. Unfortunately, the signal sent by the Bureau of Reclamation on the limitations of old designs was ignored by many design engineers. Institutional reforms alone, including participation irrigation management, will not change this situation.
D. CROSS-COUNTRY TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY
Transferring any technology from one environment to another should be approached with caution. Great caution is particularly needed in the irrigation sector where the site conditions are specific and the success of the transferred technology depends on physical, social and economic factors. Horst points out in his recent book that many donors stipulated that foreign consultants were to be involved in the planning, design and supervision of construction. These consultants came from different parts of the world with different irrigation technologies and traditions. Each of them was educated and experienced in one of the distinct irrigation schools. Owing to the weak position of the national irrigation departments in terms of experience in planning and design and the dominant role of the donor agencies, the consultants were able to decide on the technology to be adopted, that is to sell or impose their own technology. In other words, [it was] the country of origin of the consultants [that] determined the type of technology, and not the compatibility with the local physical and socioeconomic environment.
I Technical and managerial deficiencies in irrigation projects
Photo 1 Dominican Republic: A tampered gated check structure
Viet Nam. Dau Tieng Project
Photo 2 Canals designed for operation at full supply cannot deliver water to the lower level because of a lack of check structures
II
Photo 3 Farmers correct the design deficiencies by constructing bamboo weirs
Proportional division and structured design
Photo 4 Pakistan: SWABI Project in the North West Frontier Province. Use of flow dividers, a more transparent device for proportional flow strategy than the conventional outlets used in the Indus River Basin
Photo 5 Argentina: An adjustable flow divider providing some flexibility in apportioning flow in proportional systems
III Photo 6 Nepal: Sunsari-Morang Project. An example of transfer of the structured design in a humid tropic area resulting in some conflicts between farmers on when to close the irrigation season
Hydraulic automation: examples of long-crested weir type cross- regulators
Photo 7 Iran: Guilan Project. A typical long crested weir
Photo 8 Iran: Guilan Project. A double long-crested weir on the 100 m 3 /s capacity main canal
IV
Photo 9 Malaysia: Kemubu Project. A composite cross-regulator consisting of a gate and a weir
Photo 10 India: Majalgaon Project. A double weir on a distributary canal
Photo 11 Iran: Guilan Project. A cross regulator consisting of an automatic constant upstream level gate associated with a conventional sliding gate
V
Photo 12 France: A cross regulator consisting of two automatic constant level gates
Photo 13 Philippines: An example of low cost modification of a gated structure in a weir check structure
Land consolidation in Japan
Photo 14 Farm layout before land consolidation
Photo 15 Farm layout after land consolidation
VI Conjunctive use
Photo 16 Pakistan: Conjunctive use of ground and surface water using the same canal system
Remote monitoring and remote control
Photo 17 U.S.A. Coachella Valley Water District. SCADA
VII
Photo 18 Spain: Cabral Project, SCADA
Photo 19 Morocco: Haouz Project. Remote automatic control (dynamic regulation)
VIII
The active role of water users associations in the modernization of irrigation projects
Photo 20 Mexico: Rio Fuerte Project. First stage: Modernization of maintenance equipment and office technology
79 Horsts observation applies to a number of developing countries which do not have well-established practices of irrigation engineering. In countries with large development of irrigation, the state officials have often entrenched engineering practices. Foreign consultants may face strong resistance from local engineers, sometimes justified, to any proposed change in design of irrigation projects. Irrigation departments in India and Pakistan have rigidly adhered to their design standards for decades. It is only recently that some innovative departments have agreed to adopt new standards. Examples include a few projects in India (such as the Majalgaon project in the state of Maharashtra and the major Narmada project in Gujarat), and the high-level Pehur project and SWABI- SCARP in the North-West Frontier Province in Pakistan.
A number of lessons can be learnt from the examples of failed transfer of experience.
1. India: Transfer of rotational distribution from northwest India to the southern states
Despite the undoubted achievement of irrigation development in India and the success of the Green Revolution in that country, performance of irrigation projects, particularly in the southern states, was far below potential. A strong group of local engineers supported by financing agencies promoted the idea to transfer, with some adjustments, the design package of the northwest states to the southern states, which they considered as the best system in India. This idea materialized in the World Bank-supported National Water Management Project (NWMP) in 1985. The main objective of the project was to improve agricultural productivity through the provision of a more reliable, predictable and equitable irrigation service. The most important element in scheme improvement was the preparation of an operational plan. On the basis of water availability, system characteristics and agricultural options, the plan was expected to define how the system would be operated with respect to the timing and quantities of water deliveries. The project concept was to convert the demand-type systems into supply systems. To ensure equity in water distribution, the structured design, an adaptation of
80 the rigid rotational warabundi delivery combined with ungated canal technology, was developed for the project. The structuring level is the point downstream of which the canal system is ungated. This system was not tested in a pilot project in paddy-growing areas where field-to-field irrigation was traditionally practised. The system does not have the flexibility to adjust to the important variations in rainfall and soil conditions which prevail in southern India. In the warabundi states, soils are rather uniform and rainfall does not contribute much to the total water. More important, groundwater, which is a reliable and flexible supply, accounts for a large portion of the water resource, a critical difference for the farmers of southern India, where groundwater resources are not as rich and widely spread as in the alluvial northern plains.
The project was rated unsatisfactory at completion. During a seminar on modernization of irrigation systems in 1998, IWMI reported the failure of the concept of the structured design and equitable supply technology in the Bhadra scheme, which was part of the NWMP project: The provision of reliable and equitable supply was not achieved as expected at appraisal. The changes in cropping patterns and agricultural calendars stipulated in the operational plans had not been followed; the advancing of the kharif season could not be implemented (Sakthivadivel). Lessons from this project were taken into consideration in the formulation of a new generation of projects in India. The thrust is now on improving productivity through system improvement linked to turnover of management of the systems to user associations.
2. Transfer of rotational irrigation from India to Thailand and Nepal
Thailand. An attempt was made in the Nong Wai project in Northeast Thailand in the early 1980s to introduce the warabundi delivery system to irrigation projects in Southeast Asia. This ill- designed transfer of a rigid delivery system got dismal results because of its incompatibility with rice irrigation and the local culture of Thai farmers.
81 Nepal. Because of the difficulties in operating the Stage-I rehabilitation of the Sunsari-Morang project (58 000 hectares), which was designed as a fully gated, manually operated system, a structured design was adopted for the rehabilitation of Stage II: downstream of the off-takes of the sub-secondary canals, the system is ungated. Tertiary canals are supplied through concrete flow dividers and the watercourses through adjustable proportional modules, as used in northern India. The operation of the Stage II subsystem has been considerably simplified compared to Stage I. However, it has lost flexibility in meeting the variations in demand due to factors such as local variations in rainfall and excessively long staggering of rice cultivation. Towards the end of the growing season, some farmers still request irrigation water while others are ready to harvest. The lack of a drainage system and of operational flexibility in the structured design imposes severe operational constraints, which affect productivity. The duty limitations of the main system (0.7 l/s/ha) and the low flows of the Kosi River during the dry season make this run-of-the-river project very dependent still on monsoon rainfall.
This example from Nepal challenges the opinion shared by some irrigation professionals that farmers prefer proportional distribution. They certainly prefer equity over anarchy but they can also understand that equity and higher productivity can be achieved through improved water control and alternative operational procedures.
If the water user associations in Sunsari-Morang in Nepal were organized before the physical improvements, farmers would have been in a position to formulate their preferences for not freezing the infrastructure into an inflexible distribution system.
3. Transfer of technology to user-managed systems in Indonesia: a case of farmers rejection of inappropriate technology
Agro-socio-religious associations in Bali, called subaks, have developed a water division technology throughout the ages. The subak water division technology consisted of institutional
82 arrangements backed by temple priests and of weirs dividing flows into negotiated shares. These centuries-old subak systems were first disrupted by the arrival of the Green Revolution in the 1970s, which changed the agricultural practices required for cultivation of shorter maturing rice varieties and more dramatically by the government plan to modernize the subak systems with the assistance of a financing agency and foreign consultants. The modernization project attempted to introduce the technology and water distribution procedures which were the norms in the government-built and -managed irrigation projects in Java. The project consisted in the replacement of the dividing weirs existing at each bifurcation by adjustable structures to be set and reset on the basis of frequent calculations of the crop water requirements 18 . Gates were installed to regulate and measure flows. In general the subak members did not accept this technology. They handled the gates to accommodate the division of water according to their perceptions of water allocation and removed the gates to restore the former fixed-proportion division structures. Towards the end of the project, the state officials reluctantly accepted the subak technology and built new or improved existing proportional division structures.
Curiously neither the change of irrigation technology nor its social implications have been discussed in any of the design reports or even in the completion reports. The technology practised on Java was transferred to Bali with no concern for the opinions and perceptions of the subak members (Horst). This pure engineering approach is unthinkable today, given the emphasis now placed by financing institutions on a participatory approach in the design of irrigation projects.
E. CONCLUSIONS
Different strategies of water delivery and water control have been used for the development of canal irrigation schemes throughout the
18 Irrigation requirements for irrigation projects in Java are determined by application of the pasten system.
83 world. Obsolete designs can be found in both developed and developing countries. Many irrigation projects in the United States, Western European countries and Australia built decades ago are inefficient in terms of water and energy use and are in urgent need of modernization. Advanced concepts and electronic-based sophisti- cated technology have been used for nearly three decades and have been introduced in a number of developing countries such as India (Majalgaon, Narmada), Egypt (the Nile telemetry system), Morocco and Jordan (dynamic regulation). Hydraulic regulation has been used in most Mediterranean countries for about fifty years. Modernization of irrigation, as defined earlier, is not an issue limited to developed countries, as has been stated during some workshops.
The concepts used for the development of irrigation by colonial powers since the mid 1800s in India, Egypt and Sudan were well adapted to the conditions and to the objectives of irrigation in the past. Irrigation was extensive and the water resources were not regulated by large storage reservoirs. Conditions have changed with the intensification of irrigation due to the pressure on land related to the escalating demography and to the construction of regulating reservoirs. Relaxation of the discipline of the users required for an adequate operation of ungated systems in the Indo-Gangetic plain is often mentioned as the cause of poor performance. The diversion of larger volumes of water due to the construction of large dams has exacerbated the problem of siltation, particularly in the smaller canals, which in turn has contributed to the inequity of distribution since the flows diverted through the farm outlets are influenced by the upstream water level. The farmers responded to the economic changes by tapping additional water resources to overcome the limitations of the existing systems, which were undersized for intensive irrigation. Farmers captured more water from the canals by illegal means (Indus basin), replaced animal-driven pumps by motor pumps (Nile valley) and installed a dense system of shallow wells or deep tube wells. Groundwater accounts now for a large proportion of the water used for irrigation in the alluvial plains, which is a normal evolution of irrigation development. The unique feature of the Gezira scheme in Sudan, consisting of night storage in minor canals, makes possible to shift from a rigid delivery to an on-demand system, an
84 advantage greatly appreciated by the farmers of that scheme in the absence of groundwater or any other water resource, including drainage water in the area.
The design standards adopted in many developed and developing countries after the mid 1900s to deliver water according to crop demand were conceptually more advanced. However, most of them failed to meet that objective because of the deficiencies of the water control technology and complexity of the operational procedures. Managing an irrigation system equipped with manually operated gates at each branching point is a very complex task. In many cases, the systems were designed to be operated at full capacity without consideration for operation at less than full supply. Even with the best vigilance of the operators, operation of these systems is usually inefficient and/or costly in developed countries. Computer-assisted calculations of irrigation targets based on assessments of crop water requirements were developed for use in some countries where centralized scheduling is practised, such as Indonesia. The demands imposed on agency and irrigators to collect innumerable data, to calibrate devices and to control flows often prove beyond their capabilities and interests. Some information which is frequently lacking or inaccurate is data about seepage and percolation, return flows and spatially variable rainfall. Where the inability to take such factors into account renders irrigation targets unacceptably inaccu- rate, water is distributed based on qualitative judgments by field staff or through interference by farmers. This makes the water delivery system uncertain.
The use of technology with adjustable structures, which has been the norm during the three decades of intensive development of irrigation in developing countries from 1960 to 1990, has badly affected the performance of irrigated agriculture in many countries. It is now impeding the transfer of management to user associations.
With hindsight, the outcome appears to have been inevitable, raising questions about the realism of the foreign consultants plans and the Bank support to them. These experiences give the impression of donors and technical assistance teams using the (East Asia) region as
85 testing ground to try out new designs, with encouragement from agency headquarters, but without a realistic assessment of local management capacities of the incentives for irrigators (Rice). This paper argues that even the best qualified managers and operators would not be able to manage these systems to the highest standards over long periods without the assistance of modern communication systems and/or remote monitoring. The issue is in the deficiencies of the design that imposes very complex methods of operation, not in the organizational weaknesses of the irrigation agencies.
The farmers served by these low-performing manually controlled systems have reacted in different ways to be able to adopt modern cultivation practices and diversified cropping patterns: tampering with control structures, pumping from canals, drains, borrow pits and, more recently, tapping groundwater resources which provide the flexibility and reliability needed for modern irrigation at farm level. These responses from the farmers are inevitable and irrigation agencies are generally passive since they can do very little to stop them. However, it is not a proper use of limited water resources. It is an unacceptable situation with regard to the increasing competition for water and environmental considerations. In some countries, farmers use untreated water which is rich in nutrients and constitutes a reliable resource for yearly intensive cultivation of high-value crops in suburban areas (for example in Punjab, Pakistan).
The development of hydraulic automation in North African countries in the 1950s helped to a large extent the operation of canal irrigation systems by reducing the number of structures requiring readjust- ments and the frequency of resetting control structures. Automatic downstream control eliminates the need for complex calculations of water releases. It is therefore puzzling that these innovative design standards have not been adopted in other countries. The reasons for the slow adoption of these or any modern techniques are both administrative and behavioural: Lack of economic pressure on irrigation agencies; Lack of contractual motivation for consultants to introduce new concepts;
86 Resistance to change by irrigation managers, engineers and others; risk aversion and adherence to outdated designs; Lack of operational experience and service motivation by planners and irrigation departments; Lack of sufficient training at all levels, from the university to the field; Lack of evidence of the superiority of modern systems in terms of agricultural productivity; Failure of some pilot projects for technology transfer (Sidorejo in Indonesia, Cupatizio in Mexico) Use of economic tools during the preparation of projects focusing on cost comparisons of different equipment and overlooking the potential benefits to be expected from modernization.
Some transfer-of-technology projects have been unquestionable success stories, such as the Guilan project in Iran or the Muda project in Malaysia. Regrettably these projects have not attracted the attention of international research organizations.
Many transfer-of-technology experiments have failed because of inadequate attention to all the key factors that determine the selection of an appropriate irrigation strategy. For example, the transfer of a rigid method of water allocation from arid zones to rice projects is doomed to fail if the farmers have not been involved in the process which affects their cropping patterns and practices and if they do not perceive some improvement in the quality of service. Replacing fixed water-dividing structures in traditional run-of-the-river schemes without a regulation of the water resources is also doomed to be rejected by the farmers, as was the subak system in Bali.
Suitable water control technology is not enough, however, to achieve high agricultural productivity. It is assumed that the mediocre productivity of irrigated agriculture in Morocco, particularly for cereal crops, is mostly related to the centralized method of irrigation scheduling, with little participation of the irrigators, lack of maintenance of on-farm works, and constraints imposed by the land
87 consolidation model, possibly in combination with deficient use of non-water inputs. It would be useful to carry out an in-depth analysis of the performance of selected irrigation projects in that country to check the validity of the above assumption.
A last category of projects is those with faulty design, such as wrong selection and combination of control structures which amplify the fluctuations of hydraulic conditions in irrigation canals and those using unrealistically complex procedures to determine irrigation releases.
VIII. THE FORCES OF CHANGE
Irrigation has well served in the past in supporting the increase in food production, but it must evolve to adjust to the new economic environment (Gardner).
In the above chapter, it was noted that the farmers are responding to the changes affecting irrigation in their own environment by looking for more reliable and flexible water supply. Other fundamental and potentially far-reaching changes are challenging some of the basic premises supporting the use of irrigation, as least as traditionally practised. This chapter systematically explores these changes and their effects on the future of irrigation.
The key forces that are going to influence the role and performance of irrigation over the next decades are: Population growth, with an even faster growth of the urban population and the continuous prevalence of rural poverty in several regions; Competition over water supplies between agricultural and other uses (municipal, industrial, recreational, energy generation, and environmental uses) and the rising cost of developing new resources; Globalization of the economy resulting from international and regional agreements (GAAT, NAFTA, European Union) and
88 rapid advance of the information and communication technologies; General public awareness that the environment should be protected; Diminishing government implications due to changes in institutional policies; and Climatic changes such as a higher recurrence of drought years.
These changes have and will continue to have considerable consequences for irrigated agriculture. The demand for food from irrigated lands will increase, as demonstrated by all models of food- supply predictions. In high-income developing countries, changes in diet patterns from the increased urban population will shift demand for staple food towards processed food obtained predominantly from irrigated fruits and vegetables. For example in Taiwan, rice consumption has declined from 130 to 65 kilograms per capita over the last three decades. In some countries, the governments will gradually eliminate the protection of commodity prices to comply with international agreements. As a result of the globalization of the economy, irrigated agriculture will be driven by market forces and will have to compete on both international and national markets.
The forces of change have and will continue to have serious impact on water supply to irrigated agriculture. Given the increasing competition for water, supply to irrigation is going to decline in some countries. The excessive cost of developing new water resources and the reduction of subsidies to public irrigation systems will contribute to this decline.
Irrigated agriculture is gradually becoming more accountable for the environmental degradation, in particular the degradation of water quality through contamination by salt and agrochemicals. Stronger regulations are required, together with mechanisms to arbitrate conflicts between environmental and irrigation interests.
89 Response from farmers
In some countries, subsistence irrigation will continue to cover a large share of irrigated lands and provide staple food to poor farmers. However, the general trend towards the modernization and efficiency of irrigated agriculture will apply to small-farmer communities operating now at subsistence level. The objectives will be yield increases, reduction of water consumption and energy costs, and crop diversification.
In some countries irrigated agriculture will predominantly become an economic activity driven by market forces rather than a way of living supported by government subsidies. Increased economic efficiency will be a condition for farmer survival, implying continuous im- provement in technology, agricultural practices, farm management and marketing. Savings on water, labour and energy costs will in- creasingly become major considerations. Confronted with increasing costs of water supply, combined with reduced protection on agricul- tural prices, farmers will have to react by producing more with less water. They will shift to higher-value crops and crops consuming less water and they will adopt water conservation strategies to reduce water losses.
Farm structures will shift towards well-operated and well-financed units with strong integration in domestic and international marketing and processing industries. This trend took place in OECD countries during the last decades, where the people directly involved in farming activities now represents 3 to 5 percent of the total population. Small farms persist, however, in countries like Japan and Taiwan through weekend farming by aging farmers and highly subsidized agriculture. Irrigated agriculture is in the shrinking phase in some countries, as a result of urbanization and other factors. In Taiwan, irrigated lands decrease from 560 000 to 380 000 hectares over the last three decades.
Some irrigation projects with excessively high operating costs because of high lift pumping or adoption of extensive irrigation with high maintenance costs, which are not sustainable without govern-
90 ment subsidies, will have to be abandoned unless governments keep a policy of subsidizing irrigated agriculture.
Response from technology
Few industries produce the same product in the same way they did fifty years ago and irrigation should not be an exception. However, irrigation technologies have slowly evolved for centuries and age-old practices can still be observed in many rural areas. Significant changes took place in the late 1800s with the construction of large reservoirs providing regulated water to the users and the possibility to balance water supply and demand. A second wave in advance in irrigation technology was the development of more efficient application methods at farm level, including surface methods and pressurized systems. However, application of most of these techniques is still limited in most developing countries. The most striking change in irrigation in the large irrigated areas in Asia during the last two decades has been the phenomenal development of groundwater, which is discussed in Chapter 9.
Because of farm sizes, markets and other factors, farmers in developed countries have readily adopted advanced irrigation technology. This adoption has had a major effect on productivity. Labour, energy and costs of water have considerably influenced the adoption of technologies and the use of water for irrigation in the United States. Since 1968, the total irrigated acreage has increased by 37 percent, but the average water application has decreased by about 15 percent from 6 300 to 5 400 m 3 per hectare. Surface irrigation methods that were used on 90 percent of irrigated lands are still the most common methods of irrigation but are now used on only 55 percent of the lands. Sprinkler irrigation is now used on 41 percent of the lands. However, the traditional sprinkler methods, hand moved and solid set, are rapidly loosing ground in favour of centre pivot and linear move, which are now used on one quarter of irrigated lands in the United States.
91 Labour requirements for irrigation systems vary greatly. Automated systems, such as automated micro-irrigation and centre pivot, have relatively low labour requirements. The recent success of the low- energy precision application labelled LEPA is due to its combined low labour, low energy and water-saving advantages.
The slow adoption of new irrigation technology in developing countries is a perplexing issue. While there have been changes in irrigation technology in the United States, Australia and Western European countries for example, little of this development has affected irrigation in many developing countries. Some of the constraints are obviously the unavailability of capital, low costs of water and energy and pricing policies that fail to provide incentives to conserve water, and the absence or limitations of high-value crop markets and marketing facilities.
However, a main reason for the slow transfer is that the focus of attention in irrigation technology and research in developing countries has occurred at farm level, and not at the level of operation of the main and conveyance systems. Farmers will not invest in water-saving technologies if the service of water is not reliable and if the incentives for saving on water, energy and labour are not strong enough. Bottrall observed in 1979 that it is only if the main water distribution system is well operated that many other important management objectives can be satisfactorily realized, and it is only then that high returns can be obtained from agricultural extension advice and the increased application of other complementary inputs.
Response from agricultural research
The agricultural research centres deserve credit for their contribution to the achievements of the Green Revolution. The Irrigated Rice Research Institute estimates that their new rice varieties have increased water productivity threefold through increased yield and reduced crop duration. IRRI and CIMMYT are optimistic that they can develop high-yielding drought-tolerant varieties. However, development of reliable irrigation is crucial to realizing the benefits
92 of high-yielding modern varieties. Growing crops under a mild water deficit requires a high degree of water control and farmers confidence in the irrigation system (Molden).
Advances in genomics and genetics will certainly contribute to the challenge of food and water production but would have to be associated with improvement in water delivery.
Response from the governments
As a consequence of diminishing implication of governments in irrigation management, stakeholders and the private sector will take an increasing share of responsibilities at all stages of irrigated agriculture. The governments will support the establishment of new policies, legislation and institutions. The decisions about water allocation and planning will be gradually made at the river-basin level through a consensual process among users.
The governments will continue shifting from supporting the con- struction and rehabilitation of large irrigation infrastructure towards establishing new policies to support private-sector participation, water conservation and environmental protection.
The forces of change discussed in this section will force the irriga- tion engineers to design more efficient and responsive irrigation systems.
IX. THE EXPLOSIVE EXPLOITATION OF GROUNDWATER RESOURCES
The contribution of irrigated agriculture to food and fibre production has continued to increase despite the lower level of investments for developing new irrigable areas and the focus on rehabilitation of existing schemes. One of the reasons is the exceptional increase in groundwater development in recent decades. Declining extraction costs due to advances in technology and in many instances govern- ment subsidies for power and pump installation have encouraged
93 private investment in tube wells. Groundwater in India now supplies more than 50 percent of the irrigated area. Due to higher yields in groundwater-irrigated areas, groundwater is central to a significantly higher proportion of the total irrigated output. The significance of groundwater in the Indian economy is due to the fact that agricultural yields are generally higher by one third to one half in areas irrigated by groundwater than in areas irrigated from other sources. Groundwater offers greater control over the supply of water than do other sources of water. As a result groundwater irrigation encourages complementary investments in fertilizers, pesticides and high-yielding varieties, leading to higher yields (World Bank 1998). It is the reliability of groundwater that allows farmers to take the risk of investing in fertilizers, which substantially increase their crop productivity (Ahmad).
In Pakistan, groundwater development through private tube wells has grown exponentially, especially in Punjab. According to a 1991 survey, about 46 billion m 3 of groundwater are used for irrigation in the Indus basin, 85 percent of which comes from private tube wells. However, salinity continues to present a threat to the sustainability of agriculture because of the recycling of large quantities of poor- quality groundwater from the top of underlying aquifers.
Groundwater exploitation for irrigation is not limited to arid or semi- arid countries. The explosive use of diesel pumps in the Chao Phraya and Mae Khlong river basins in Thailand has responded to the increase demand for dry-season cultivation of high-value crops and the unreliable supply from the large gravity irrigation systems. Commenting on the changes that have affected the Phitsanulok project in Thailand, Manuddin pointed out the advantages of groundwater over canal water: With an average of one well for 5 hectares, virtually all the farmers now have access to groundwater. The development of groundwater has given farmers a high level of control over their crop calendar. They do not have to wait for the availability of canal water, and they can plant their crops at the time that seems the best according to their own situation. The benefits that the changes have brought to farmers include increased quantity of
94 water, increased reliability of water and freedom for the families to choose their own crop strategies. The rapid development of groundwater has recently been observed even in some projects that were designed to meet the full requirements needed for intensive irrigation and to provide reliable service. About 9 000 private deep wells have been installed in the 40-year-old Tadla project in Morocco during the last five years, i.e. nearly one well for 10 hectares. The main reason for this recent farmer initiative might be the higher frequency of dry years that affects annual water allocation and the constraints imposed by the current water allocation strategy.
Overexploitation and an associated decline in water quality have been occurring in many parts of the developing world, particularly in the arid and semi-arid regions. Water tables are falling at an alarming rate often 1 to 3 metres per year. These regions include some of the worlds main grain production areas such as the Punjab in India and the North China Plain. About two thirds of farmlands in North China are facing serious problems of groundwater exploitation (Shah).
Groundwater has played a critical role in food production by agriculture over recent decades. However, groundwater is a major emerging problem in many parts of the world. Some areas have reached the point where overexploitation is posing a major threat to the environment, health and food security. The potential of groundwater development for irrigation may be reached soon. Seckler pointed out that many of the most populous countries of the world have literally been having a free ride over the past two or three decades by depleting their groundwater resources and he concluded that the results could be catastrophic for these countries and, given their importance, for the world. The explosion of groundwater irrigation in some countries is a farmers response to the lack of flexibility and, in the worst cases, to the unreliability of the canal irrigation systems. Water recycling and the conjunctive use of groundwater are rarely considered in the original design of irrigation projects. They mostly happen as a desperate response from farmers who are unable to obtain their share of irrigation water from the canal or from system managers as a way to rectify problems
95 of management capacity and shortcomings of the original design (Bhuiyan).
These brief considerations on groundwater use in irrigation lead to the conclusion that there is an urgent need to improve the quality of service from water surface systems and for a well-thought conjunctive use of both surface and groundwater. The present passive attitude is no longer acceptable.
X. THE PLANNING PROCESS: A GLOBAL GAME PLAN
Definition of modern design
Several definitions of modern design have been proposed. The following definition was adopted during an FAO seminar on modernization held in Bangkok in 1996: Modernization is a process of improving resource (labour, water, economic and/or environmental) utilization by upgrading (as opposed to merely rehabilitating) the hardware and software in irrigation projects, while maintaining or improving water delivery service to farms.
Another definition was proposed during another FAO-supported workshop on the valorization of irrigation water in the large-scale irrigation schemes of North Africa in 1999: Modernization is a process of rehabilitation of irrigation systems during which substantial modifications of the concept and design are made to take into consideration the changes in techniques and technology and to adapt the irrigation systems to the future requirements of operation and maintenance. Delivery of water should be as flexible as possible, with demand irrigation being the ideal solution.
These two definitions slightly diverge on the technical aspects. The first one focuses on the shift from supply to service-oriented and the second one on future requirements of operation and maintenance. The first one suggests the use of advanced concepts of hydraulic engineering, the second of new techniques and technology, which may include modern equipment for remote control. The main
96 difference is that institutional and organizational changes, including more active farmer participation, are attached to the first definition. The principles attached to the 1996 definition have been elaborated in a number of publications. These principles are summarized in the next section.
Principles of modern design
The overriding principle of modern irrigation is that irrigation is a service to farmers which should be as convenient and efficient as possible. Farmers ultimately have to generate the benefits which keep the system functioning. Modern irrigation schemes can be conceived to consist of several subsystems or levels with clearly defined interface, where water is measured and controlled. Each level is as financially autonomous and hydraulically independent as possible. Each level is technically able to provide reliable and timely water delivery to the next lower level. At each level there are the proper types, number and configurations of gated turnouts, measuring devices, communications systems and other means to control flow rates and/or water levels as desired. Each level is responsive to the needs of its clients. Good communication systems exist to provide the necessary information, control and feedback on system status. Each level of delivery has confidence, based on enforceable rights, in the reliability, timeliness and equity of the water which will be supplied from the next higher level. Effective mechanisms for conflict resolution are in place. The hydraulic design of the water delivery system is created with a well-defined operational plan in mind. The operational plan is established with a clear understanding of the needs of the end users. The hydraulic design is robust, in the sense that it will function despite changing dimensions, siltation, and commu- nication breakdowns. Automatic devices are used where
97 appropriate to stabilize water levels in unsteady flow conditions. Motivated and trained operators are present at all levels of the system. They are not necessarily the farmers themselves but preferably hired staff. Instructions for individual operators are well understood and easy to implement. Maintenance is the obligation of each level. Maintenance plans are defined during design and are adequately funded and implemented. There is a clear recognition of the importance and require- ments of agriculture and of the existing farming systems. Engineers do not dictate terms of water delivery; rather agricultural and social requirements are understood at all levels and in all stages of the design and operation process.
A modern design is the result of a thought process that selects the configuration and physical components in light of a well-defined and realistic operational plan that is based on the service concept. A modern design is not defined by specific hardware components and control logic, but use of advanced concepts of hydraulic engineering, irrigation, agronomy and social science should be made to arrive at the most simple and workable solution.
The most important issue and the one that often receives superficial attention during project preparation and appraisal is the ability of the system to achieve a specific level of operational performance at all levels. A precondition for high performance is that the design must reflect the objectives and requirements of the future operation. As long as the design of irrigation systems is understood as a classical engineering task of designing structures, essential operational questions will not be addressed.
A proper operational plan is one that combines the various perspectives and helps reconcile conflicting expectations between the users, the project manager, the field operators and the countrys policy objectives. The two preliminary steps in the planning of
98 irrigation projects are the definition of objectives and the associated decision about water deliveries.
Project objective: A preliminary step in the planning of an irrigation project or its rehabilitation is the definition of project objectives that depend on the country policy for irrigated agriculture. The objective could be to maximize the value of production by unit of water or unit of land. Project designs vary whether the project objective is to develop export-oriented commercial farming or to support rural population, alleviate poverty in rural areas and limit rural migration to urban centres. The original design of a project may no longer be compatible with the forces of change, which are affecting irrigated agriculture in many countries.
Water delivery: The second step in the planning of an irrigation project is the decision about water delivery. This can be described as the frequency, rate and duration of water deliveries at all levels of an irrigation system. The various systems of water delivery are described in the literature (FAO, Clemmens): rotation, arranged schedule, limited rate demand and centralized scheduling. Most traditional delivery systems have no or little flexibility built into them. They do not attempt to match water deliveries to crop needs. The stated objective is to obtain equity through simplicity of design, although poor design, maintenance and operational problems may prevent from achieving the objective. Modern irrigation projects are designed with the stated objective to deliver water according to crop requirements. At a minimum, the frequency and sometimes the duration of irrigation should be adjustable.
As noted earlier, a water delivery schedule does not necessarily imply a specific design or technology. A fairly rigid schedule of water delivery to the farm turnouts may use modern irrigation hardware and computerized decision support systems to make the water delivery reliable and equitable. A primary advantage of using modern design and equipment is that the operators can choose the flexibility offered at various levels of the system. For example, the different methods of water distribution in modern irrigation systems in Morocco are variations of centralized scheduling (with the choice
99 given farmers on duration and timing), although the systems have the capability to be operated on an arranged schedule. The reverse is not possible. A project designed for rigid rotation through simple non- adjustable structures or for proportional distribution cannot be operated for flexible water distribution. The most important step in the design of an irrigation system is water control defined by three strongly related elements: the configuration of the distribution system, the control strategy and the hydraulic equipment.
Configuration: The configuration of an irrigation system is obviously determined by the relation of land and water resources, the topography and economic considerations. The design should incor- porate as much as possible features that facilitate operation and provide flexible irrigation service, such as buffer reservoirs and on- farm reservoirs and use of low-pressure pipes instead of canals for tertiary distribution. Buffer reservoirs are widely used in mid and south China, in what is known as the melon on the vine system. Buffer reservoirs can be located alongside main systems or at the interface between two levels of management, such as between main and secondary canals. The incorporation of reservoirs reduces to some extent the need for sophisticated water control methods of the main systems.
Water control strategy: The designer has the choice between many control strategies for the operation of the system: Upstream, downstream control or controlled volume Local versus remote monitoring and control Proportional versus adjustable control
The designer has also the choice between various configurations for the automation of the canal systems: Distributed control in which control is achieved through independent automatic units; Centralized control in which control is achieved through a master station; and
100 Supervisory control combining distributed automation under master supervisory control 19 . This configuration is known as SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition). These three systems are depicted in Figure 2 a, b and c showing the same canal system equipped with different types of control structures. The advantages and disadvantages of these different configurations are discussed in technical publications. Under distributed control, the system manager is not in a position to supervise or control the entire canal system. Centralized automatic control makes possible the use of highly efficient control logics but the operation depends on the reliability of a communication system. Under supervisory control, the central station makes decisions on the lower-level strategy based on the data received from the local controllers, also known as remote terminal units or programmable logics controllers. These local controllers make changes to the control devices according to the target instructions received from the master station, such as maintaining a target flow rate or water level. This system is less susceptible to communication system failure. The centralized and supervisory control methods can involve varying levels of participation of the master station personnel in making decisions from manual to computer-directed control, which uses specially developed computer programs using data from the entire canal systems and modelling studies. Computer-directed control is applicable to the most complex systems involving a number of canals, reservoirs, pumping and/or power stations.
19 Supervisory control is defined by the Bureau of Reclamation as the control of a system from a centralized (master station) over a communication system and using remote terminal units at the canal structure sites.
101
Figure 2 Alternative configurations of canal automated systems
102 The selection of water control strategies can have very different effects on day-to-day operations. Certain control strategies eliminate the need for advance scheduling of water deliveries, the need to know exactly the flows at various sections of the canals, the determination of lag time and the estimation of seepage and operational losses. This is the main advantage of the basic downstream control compared to the upstream supply-oriented control methods, which require elaborate and complex predictions of irrigation requirements. However, downstream control is not neces- sarily associated with demand delivery. It is essentially a control strategy often used to greatly simplify the operation of very long canal systems, which is very complex under upstream control. Demands from the next lower level of secondary canals can be either under rigid rotation or flexible.
A single strategy is rarely used for an entire irrigation system. Most projects combine two or more control strategies. A main canal can be under downstream control and the distribution system under upstream control; or the main canal can be under upstream control and the distribution under proportional control (structured design in Nepal). Many examples of combination of control strategies could be provided to illustrate the wide number of solutions. The Narmada system is designed for remote central control and the tertiary system for proportional control using the structured design standards. The King Abdullah canal in Jordan is operated by remote control under dynamic regulation although rigid rotation is used for the distribution of water from the pressurized pipe systems. The Coachella project in California is operated under upstream control with the assistance of a remote monitoring system. A large buffer reservoir at the end of the canal absorbs the daily differences between orders and deliveries. This reservoir supplies open pipelines which receive rigid deliveries during 24-hour periods. Farmers have built numerous reservoirs on their farms to increase the flexibility of irrigation required for the mix of on-farm irrigation systems most suitable to the variety of crops.
The selection of a control strategy has a major impact on several aspects of the future performance of an irrigation system: ease of
103 operation, ability to provide a high quality of customer service, and general efficiency. Projects designed for proportional division of water through rigid and passive structures are the easiest to design, construct and operate, but provide the least flexible service to the users. Manually operated gated systems are the most complex to operate to provide both quality of service and efficiency. Modern design makes possible to improve service and efficiency but requires more design skills and higher quality of construction and installation.
Figure 3 Complexity of different control strategies at design, construction and operation stages
Some guiding principles for selecting a control strategy and equipment
No control strategy and no equipment is ideal for all situations found in irrigation projects. Many physical and institutional factors have to be taken into consideration by the planners and designers. However, there are some general principles, which are summarized here: The delivery service should be as much as possible user- oriented. Reliability and equity of water delivery are the basic features of irrigation service. However, providing some form of flexibility in duration, flow and interval of irrigation should be considered during the planning stage.
104 Different control strategies could be combined within an irri- gation system. The degree of flexibility could differ from one level to another level of a canal system. A key objective should be the ease of operation not necessarily the simplicity of design or installation. This principle is widely applied by other industries. Automatic downstream control is well suited for long canals because it eliminates the need for advanced scheduling and a number of estimations. Use of downstream control for large canals does not mean on-demand delivery at farm level. Efforts to convert existing systems to downstream control through the use of control algorithms have generally failed. However, adoption of downstream control with the use of automatic float-gates has been successful in new projects. Manually operated gated systems are the most complex irrigation systems to operate with high efficiency and reliability. Using simple hydraulic principles and equipment could make operation simpler. Hydraulic automation requires a minimum of skills and training, compared to electronic-based automatic controllers. Proportional-division systems are the easiest to operate and design. Basically these systems provide no flexibility in water delivery. They cannot respond to agricultural changes. However, some improvements in the design of proportional dividers make it possible to easily adjust the sharing of incoming flow.
In summary, the selection of a control strategy is not limited to a simple choice between gated and ungated systems, as implied in the oversimplification of the 1994 World Bank irrigation review. There are a number of options available for each level of a canal system and they can be combined to define the most desirable global solution in order to provide ease of operation and a higher level of service. These options are summarized in Figure 4.
105
Figure 4 Options for ease of operation and a higher level of service
Control equipment: The last step is the selection of control equipment that fits with the selected control strategy. A number of publications provide detailed description of the equipment available to control flows in canal systems. The 1993 ICID publication on Automation of canal irrigation systems presents the salient features and fields of application of the various types of equipment which may be used, including: Passive regulators: long-crested weirs, flow dividers, level controllers; Conventional gates: leaf gates, drop-leaf and flap gates; Automatic controllers: electro-mechanical and electronic controllers; Self-operating gates for automatic level control: float- operated gates; Instrumentation: position, level and flow sensors; Means of communications: radio and cable methods; and Equipment for remote monitoring and control master stations.
A number of physical, social and institutional factors, which are discussed in Chapter 11, should be considered in the selection of control strategy and equipment. Questions such as the possibility of
106 crop diversification or conversion to crops with higher irrigation requirements, the risk of silting of canals operated under variable flows, the capabilities of the field staff to operate and maintain electronic equipment, the acceptance of the operating rules by the farmers and their understanding of how the structures function should all be considered. The answers to some of these questions are beyond the scope of responsibilities of a design engineer. However, it is his responsibility to select control structures that are robust, easy to operate and interact with the other structures in the vicinity to minimize the fluctuation of hydraulic conditions.
One of the most important points is the right selection of the combination of check structures and turnouts. Clustered structures react differently to fluctuations of upstream level and flows depend- ing on their characteristics. The sensitivity of these structures and the hydraulic flexibility of the different combinations of overshot and undershot gates are discussed in detail in several reference books (Ankum and Horst). Figure 5 shows the sensitivity of overshot and undershot hydraulic structures (weirs and orifices) and the effect of a twofold increase of the head on the flow rates.
The World Bank review of the Indonesian irrigation sub-sector (1990) rightly observed that very often the solution adopted has been sluice-gated controls along the parent canal combined with Rominj gated off-takes (overshot gates). Unfortunately this is the worst of all combinations from the hydraulic viewpoint since it is extremely unstable. Small deviations have a proportionally great effect. The negative effect on the operational stability of a system was overlooked when selecting the Rominj gate, which has excellent metering potential when considered in isolation. Figure 2 shows the best and the worst combinations of hydraulic devices to minimize the fluctuation in water levels and diverted flows.
The constant-head orifice gate, found in many schemes throughout the world, is a flow-control and -measuring structure which is particularly difficult to operate. Very few field operators and gate- keepers are familiar with the functions of the two gates. In practice,
107 these devices are rarely used for water measurement despite their good capability in laboratory conditions.
Figure 5 Flow rate fluctuations through weir and orifice control structures Note: When the relative head doubles, the relative flow rate increases by 180 percent over a weir and only by 40 percent through an orifice
Detailed design and construction drawings are the last steps in the design of irrigation projects. The design process moves from art to conventional structural engineering, which is the domain of civil and mechanical engineers. The emphasis is on the dimensioning of the structures and reinforcements and the mechanical and structural integrity analyses. Manuals and guidelines are widely used during this phase.
The configuration of an irrigation system and the selection of control strategies are the design steps that require the most imagination.
108 Although there are economic considerations to select among various options, there are no design manuals that can be applied as in structural engineering. The selection of the control equipment requires up-to-date skills to keep up with the developing technology. The principles of hydraulic regulation, including passive and reactive regulators, although developed half a century ago, have not widely been used outside the Mediterranean countries, because of a lack of awareness of these techniques and in many cases resistance and aversion to innovation. Computer-assisted operation and telecom- munications entered the irrigation sector about two decades ago and have been used to improve the performance of old systems under manual operation.
Figure 6 Combination of check and turnout structures
109 Modernization of existing schemes
Modernization of irrigation schemes raises major challenges for designers and policymakers. How much of the existing infrastructure can be saved? Which level of investments can be supported by the users? How much can be achieved by substituting hydraulic infra- structure by management inputs? The first step in this modernization is an in-depth diagnosis of the present performance of the system. The objective of this diagnosis is to identify the changes that have taken place since its original design, and the deficiencies in design and management. The diagnosis should determine the best ap- proaches to solving the problems and if changes in water deliveries and system control strategy are desirable or necessary. The rapid appraisal process presented in Chapter 13 proves to be a very successful diagnosis tool.
After the diagnosis of an existing scheme is complete, a master plan needs to be developed. The master plan needs to define short-term and long-term improvements. A list of priorities must be developed based on realistic financing availability. Of major importance is the choice of the configuration of the automation system between distributed, centralized and supervisory control.
Changes or improvements in control strategy are difficult to test in real conditions without disrupting the operation of canals. The development of digital computers and advances in numerical methods in recent years has gradually helped to solve this problem. Flow simulation models in recent years have made possible to develop and test various control strategies (Mutua). Two approaches have been adopted to make use of these new tools.
Simulation of canal response for different scenarios: This approach has been used in recent years by IIMI and other researchers to simulate different operational scenarios for improving the operation of complex canal systems, for example the Chasma Right Bank canal in Pakistan, affected by high silt content, and the Gal Oya canal in Sri Lanka, which has a large number of gated cross regulators. The complex operational rules derived from these studies
110 have not been fully adopted by the agencies responsible for the operation of these canal systems. A simulation study of the Pyramid Hill No 1 canal in Victoria State in Australia concludes: Opera- tional scenarios to improve manual operation yielded only marginal improvements in the operational performance, thus reinforcing the view that significant gains in the quality of operation cannot be attained under manual operation.
The studies show that canal operation can be considerably improved by adopting the SCADA model because of the advantages of real- time information on water levels and flow rates and the possibility to respond to fluctuations more accurately and timely.
Centralized automatic control systems: A number of problems have been reported with centralized automatic control making use of control logics. Although a number of different control algorithms and automatic devices have been used, the desired results have not always been attained. Balogum states that some projects have failed and even led to unstable control because of the failure to take into account the dynamic properties of canal systems. Some specialists do not recommend to use these models for real-time control but to use them for defining operational procedures. Several efforts were made in Alberta, Canada, to achieve downstream control; but to date none has been satisfactory due to control algorithm limitations (Ring). As stated earlier, this method should be used for the most complex systems because of the complexity of design and equipment and the skill level required which is not always available in either developed or developing countries.
An emerging approach to the modernization of existing systems is the basic low-cost, incremental SCADA model. This model is commonly adopted by the irrigation districts in the United States for the modernization of old manually gated systems. Based on financing availability, four or five sites are equipped every year. For example, the proposed SCADA system for the Yuma irrigation district serving about 4 500 hectares provides for the automation of 20 sites, including the head of main canal, laterals, waste way and
111 supply wells, which have been given five levels of priority. The total cost estimate is about US$350 000.
Box 9: Turlok irrigation district, California: the modernization process
The 62 500-ha Turlok project serves 6 500 customers in the San Joaquim Valley. The Irrigation District owns and manages more than 400 kilometres of canals. Most of the land is flood irrigated. The district is progressively modernizing the infrastructure through the construction of long-crested weirs and installation of supervisory control.
As discussed earlier, some developing countries have adopted or developed modern design standards, but very few have converted from conventional to modern design standards for the modernization of existing schemes. One remarkable exception is the modernization of the irrigation system in the Nile River delta, which is at the cutting edge of the technology by attempting to solve the problem of night storage within the secondary canals, a solution imposed by the constraints on land availability for the creation of farm reservoirs. Another example is the modernization of irrigation in the Jordan Valley, where the originally manually operated main canal has been converted to dynamic regulation and the canal distribution to pipelines. In Asia, modern designs are being used for the construc- tion of the High-level Pehur canal in Pakistan, for the Narmada main canal and for the GAB project in Turkey. After a long period of failed attempts to install automated systems, Taiwan has now suc- cessfully placed most of its large irrigation districts under basic SCADA control. Malaysia has commissioned a study on Moderni- zation of irrigation water management systems in granary areas of Peninsular Malaysia. The 20-year-old remote monitoring system of the MUDA project has been recently converted to a SCADA system.
XI. PARAMETERS INFLUENCING PLANNING AND DESIGN OF IRRIGATION PROJECTS
The design of a project configuration and the selection of an irrigation strategy and of control equipment to meet that strategy depend on a number of physical, social, managerial and economic
112 considerations. Not all of these are of equal importance in different projects, but all should be considered during the planning stage.
Water resources
Water resources and their variability are the critical elements in the determination of the irrigable areas. Studies on the balance of water supply and demand form the main part of the conventional feasibility studies of irrigation projects. Simulation model programming tech- niques have made it possible to examine various alternative solutions for different cropping patterns and seasonal or multi-year storage considerations.
The less reliable the water supply, the less feasible it is to adopt a water control strategy to meet precise crop irrigation requirements. There is little need for precise flow and water-level control. It is for this very reason that most traditional run-of-the-river projects have a proportional control strategy. The main objective is the equitable distribution of diverted natural flows that respond rapidly to the local variations of rainfall. The adoption of another strategy is doomed to fail. A case in point is the modernization of the subak projects in Bali, Indonesia. Farmers or groups of farmers can, however, improve the dependability of available water by constructing farm reservoirs, as was done in China before the construction of large reservoirs, or by tapping groundwater.
Groundwater resources
The development of groundwater in surface irrigation projects is a relatively recent phenomenon. The original objective may have been the mobilization of additional water resources, particularly in projects where canal systems were designed for extensive irrigation. However, the prevailing incentive for farmers to develop groundwater may now be the flexibility and reliability of that resource. Groundwater now accounts for about 40 percent or more of the total irrigation resources available in some originally water- surface projects. The contribution of groundwater has changed the overall game plan. Irrigation strategies adopted in the past to support
113 a drought protection policy should be reassessed. In some cases, use of groundwater can be limited to drought years, if the canal capa- cities and surface resources can meet the requirements in normal years (United States). In other cases, such as in the Indus basin in Pakistan, conjunctive use is needed year round to satisfy the intensification of irrigation. The poor quality of irrigation service in the middle and lower sections of these systems frequently requires the use of groundwater for precise irrigation for high-value crops, and even for pre-germination rice-seeding techniques.
The two positive and obvious effects of groundwater exploitation that have led to its rapid development are that it is an easy means to get access to a huge extra resource and, when developed privately, it provides the ideal flexible water delivery service. At the same time, these developments have had negative side effects that have important consequences for the future planning of irrigation development: The development and use of groundwater as an additional source of irrigation water has often served to indemnify the irrigation agencies responsible for canals systems from bad or poor water deliveries, effectively taking away the incentives and need to improve their systems and service; The exploitation of groundwater has often escaped the regulation measures of allocation and scheduling, thus facilitating its overexploitation. This situation requires an integrated approach in the planning and design of future irrigation developments.
How the integrated management of both ground and surface water resources can best be integrated in the design of the delivery and conveyance system still remains a challenge. The recent increased attention paid to integrated management of surface and ground water at the river basin level has also brought about new concepts of irrigation management. The aquifer can be regarded as a reservoir that can be refilled with surface water. Some imaginative solutions could also be developed to improve the performance of the old- fashioned surface systems designed for protective irrigation. These
114 systems could deliver multiple services ranging from a basic proportional delivery to a highly flexible demand delivery, for example if operated under the refusal operation mode. In surface projects designed for meeting full crop requirements, groundwater could be saved for dry years if the farmers are satisfied with the quality of service and particularly the flexibility offered by the surface system.
The strategy to be adopted for conjunctive use of surface and ground water strongly depends on the quality of groundwater. If ground- water is brackish or saline, one way is to alternate its application with application of surface water of better quality; another way is to blend good-quality water with brackish water in order to extend the water supply, gaining quantity at the expense of quality (Hillel). The choice depends on the tolerance of crops to brackish water, the degree of salinity of groundwater and the type of soil. The cyclic strategy allows the soil to be flushed from time to time.
Hillel points out the great importance of the frequency of irrigation in salinity management. If irrigation is applied frequently, the con- centration of salts in the soil solution is maintained at a level close to that of the applied water, and the progressive build up of salinity is prevented, which points to the need for modern irrigation at farm level.
Silt load
The problems and challenges associated with silt-laden water in irrigation are frequently poorly understood, and underestimated, by irrigation specialists. There is an inherent conflict between flexible delivery operation and maintenance costs of schemes with a high sediment load. Flexible delivery results in unsteady flow conditions and occasionally low flow velocities, thus increasing the risk of siltation of canals. Unstable channels put enormous strains on main- tenance and undermine the operation of canals. The problem of silt management was underestimated in designing the Chasma Right Bank canal in Pakistan, possibly because of optimistic assumptions on the silt trap effect of the upstream reservoir. As indicated earlier,
115 considerable studies using computer simulation models were later carried out by IWMI to determine how to manage silt and operation of this canal at less than full supply. Techniques and management procedures to reduce substantially the silt load should be developed.
Rainfall
The variability and intensity of rainfall require flexibility in the operation of irrigation systems to achieve overall efficiency. The system should be able to respond quickly to a sudden fall in demand of irrigation water. Operation of irrigation schemes in arid regions is usually easier because smaller variations in demand require fewer provisions to regulate unsteady flows. In humid areas, the system should be able to satisfy the total evapotranspiration requirements in case of dry spells during the wet season.
It is still normal practice to use the concept of excess probability of rainfall in the calculations of crop requirements, as recommended in FAO Paper No 24. A more realistic method would be to use the actual data rainfall for each 10-day period of the entire period. The conventional method has the disadvantage of smoothing out the deficits of water during the drought periods. Irrigation departments in China use the more precise method of actual rainfall for each period. The capacity of computer modelling is no longer an obstacle to the wide adoption of that method.
The underestimation of water deficits due to the use of rainfall probability for the calculations of canal capacity contributes to the discontent of farmers in humid areas, as they try desperately to save their crops during dry spells.
Soil conditions
Differences in soil conditions influence on-farm irrigation require- ments. Crop evapotranspiration is equal in well-managed fields on sandy and clay soils. There are major differences between these soils, however, with regard to optimum frequency flow rate and duration. Sandy and clay soils have different holding capacities and water
116 intake rates. Coarse soils have a low water-holding capacity and a high intake rate. Fine soils have a high water-holding capacity and a low intake rate. Sandy soils must be irrigated frequently. No single irrigation schedule (rate, duration and interval) is optimal for all soil types. Recognition of the importance of customizing water deliveries to different soil types is a main reason why modern irrigation schemes provide as much flexibility in water delivery as possible, rather than forcing the users to adapt to a rotation with a specific flow rate, duration and frequency.
Crop diversification
There are inherent differences among crops in relation to needs for water at particular growth stages, root depths, optimal frequency of irrigation, and drought resistance. For example, grain crops are very sensitive to water stress during the critical periods of pollination and milking of grains. Vegetables are particularly sensitive to water stress because of shallow root zones. Water supply must be very reliable to meet the quality requirements of high-value markets.
Rice cultivation has particular water requirements: high flow rates are required during land preparation. Low design capacity of canals increases the time of land preparation and imposes its staggering over too long a period to benefit from the optimal use of rainfall. During the growth period, most farmers prefer the traditional method of continuous supply of water, which enables them to maintain the desired level in the paddy fields to reduce weed problems. Attempts to introduce rotational irrigation in rice schemes have failed in many countries, such as Thailand and the southern states of India, because of farmer resistance. By contrast, water-saving irrigation (WSI) techniques are practised in many projects in Southern China where distribution of water from terminal reservoirs is fairly reliable. WSI techniques involve maintaining a very thin water layer in the field and alternate wetting and drying. Bhuiyan observes that WSI techniques as those applied in China, however, require a high degree of management control and infrastructure at both the farm and system levels. For much of developing Asia, management capacity to implement such strategy does not exist. More supervision and labour
117 are required. Adoption may also be hampered by farmers concern about not having access to water when they need it because of lack of reliability in the system water supply performance.
The very high capacity of irrigation canals for paddy irrigation in Western Africa, over 3 l/s/ha in some cases, where high yields are obtained, contrasts with the limited flows used for the design of projects in South Asia for instance, the Sunsari-Morang project in Nepal, where main canals were designed on the basis of Indian standards. At the end of the growing season, conflicts arise between farmers who still require irrigation water and those who are ready to harvest. There is no management solution to this situation in a struc- ture design scheme in the absence of drains. Undersized capacity of canals imposes the staggering of cultivation over too long a period. It is not only a question of management capacity as argued by Bhuyian.
Existing infrastructure
To a large extent, the layout, original design criteria and standards used for an irrigation project limit the options for its rehabilitation and modernization. The slope of the main canals, if too steep (over 15/20 cm per kilometre), determines whether or not operation can be converted from upstream to downstream control. The relative design capacity also is a major constraint, unless remodelling of the canals is found to be economically viable. In extensive irrigation projects with the objective of spreading water thinly, the design capacity decreases from upstream to downstream since only seepage losses are considered. In responsive irrigation projects, the design capacity increases when moving downstream to accommodate the need for flexibility.
Considerable imagination is required of the designers to modernize the existing infrastructure of irrigation projects since in most cases there are severe constraints. Construction of collectors and buffer reservoirs, conversion to pressurized systems and modifications of cross regulators are some of the tools available for the modernization of the configuration and control technology.
118 Land tenure and consolidation
Modern principles of irrigation scheduling and water application methods require specific arrangements of farm boundaries. Ideally plots have to be arranged within a geometric grid, with the proper choice for their orientation and slope for the application of surface irrigation methods. Since the 1960s, the policy of the Ministry of Agriculture in Morocco has been to systematically consolidate irri- gable lands before the construction of any modern irrigation system. Design of the distribution system layout and of the blocks within which consolidated plots will be arranged is the first step in the design process. Ideally each plot should have a direct outlet from/to the irrigation and drainage system.
Basically, two land consolidation models have been tested and later adopted in a few developing countries. These two models reflect two different ideologies of irrigated agriculture: planned economy or liberalism. Under the former model, the irrigation blocks are divided into equal crop strips, crossing the farm boundaries, for semi- collective farming activities. Governments largely impose the crop- ping pattern. This model is used, for example, in the Gezira project in Sudan, in most of the modern systems in Morocco and in some smallholder systems in Zimbabwe. Irrigation in principle should be organized by crop and not by farm. Under the latter model, the farm plots are arranged so that each farm has individual access to the tertiary canal. Distribution of water is organized by turns of individual farms, not by crop strips.
119
Figure 7 Land consolidation model in an interventionist agricultural economy Note: Each crop has an individual turnout
Figure 8 A land consolidation model in a liberal agricultural economy Note: Each farm has one or more individual turnout
120 Management and technical capability: the field reality
The operational performance of irrigation systems is influenced by the capacity of the management agency to apply the operational rules defined by the designer. Central scheduling used in most Asian countries is apparently simple since there is no need for farmer input. However, increasingly complicated operational procedures have been developed to determine the irrigation requirements as accurate- ly as possible. Voluminous operation manuals have been compiled in which lengthy stepwise procedures are given to arrive at operational schedules. Horst observed that these procedures require an enor- mous amount of data collection and processing. Shortage of staff, in combination with little contact or feedback from the field and in- sufficient or unreliable water measurements because of malfunction- ing structures, often results in a situation in which the administrative activities remain largely paper exercises with little relevance outside the office.
The difficulty of managing manually operated, fully gated irrigation systems has already been discussed. If the strategy of water delivery is to closely follow the irrigation requirements, frequent adjustments of control structures are necessary. Horst again cautions about that design: When combined with hydraulically unstable canal systems with structures cumbersome to operate, the often poorly trained field staff are confronted with an operational task which is effectively impossible.
Friendly user design is a concern that seems not to have permeated the irrigation industry, as it has the car or computer industry. In the irrigation sector, designers have rarely operated the systems they have designed. They have not confronted the operational reality at field level, the poorly trained operators, the poor road communi- cations, and the harsh and changing climatic conditions.
Economics and maintenance costs
The IPTRID issue paper entitled Realizing the value of irrigation system maintenance provides innovative thinking on the conse-
121 quences of neglect of maintenance and the issue of low investment cost and high maintenance costs versus higher capital cost and less maintenance: Conventional economics, using a high discount rate for future costs and benefits, fails to show the importance of maintenance in sustaining the life of a system and the livelihood of farmers. Since costs and benefits occurring in the future are highly discounted, little benefit is apparently to be derived from extending the life of a new project beyond 10-15 years. The result of this thinking is that a project with a low initial cost, which deteriorates quickly and is dependent for continued survival on timely and properly funded maintenance, is preferred to one that is constructed to need less maintenance because it appears cheaper. Yet for a farmer and also for a nation it is important that a scheme endures.
Designs for low maintenance giving easier and less costly manage- ment, reduced maintenance, lower service fees and greater effective life need to be given more importance during project preparation. In the future, systems will be operated and maintained by farmers. Engineers and planners need robust information on the links between design, maintenance spending, performance, whole life cost and sustainability.
The above considerations are particularly applicable to the lining of irrigation canals, which often deteriorates very quickly because of the poor quality of construction of rigid canals.
Institutional setup
Management of a relatively large system is generally divided between various units. The locations of the interfaces between these levels have a great influence on the way the system is operated and its hydraulic performance. In many cases, the irrigable area is divided in geographic areas from upstream to downstream and includes both the main and the distribution systems (Thailand). That approach has many disadvantages since there is not a single unit responsible for the main system, which forms a continuous hydraulic unit. If management of the main system has to be divided between units, the interface should be located at hydraulic breakdowns such
122 as reservoirs. This principle is widely used in South China, where the provincial, counties and village water bureaus share the responsi- bilities of management.
Modern irrigation systems consist of several levels, with clearly defined interfaces. Each level is responsible to provide any agreed service to the next lower level. The trend is to transfer the management of large sections of irrigation systems to large user associations, such as in Turkey and Mexico. Precise, yet user- friendly, control of flows and measurement of volumes at the interfaces between management levels are needed.
Operational capability of irrigation agencies and user associations
It has been stated earlier that the performance of irrigation systems is influenced by the capacity of management agencies and of user associations, if any, to apply the operational rules defined by the designer. This statement can also be turned around: the performance of an irrigation system is influenced by the capacity of the designer to design systems that conform to the operational capacity of the management agency. Both statements have some value.
The designer should identify the current restrictions in the institu- tional setup before incorporating concrete changes in the procedures and rules of water allocation, scheduling and delivery. In some cases, designers introduce changes in their designs that have too far- reaching consequences on the institutional and operational setup. These changes may not conform to the expectations of the agency or of the water associations. The rejection of the conversion of the traditional systems in Bali from proportional division to adjustable water allocation, which was implemented without consulting the users, was discussed earlier.
Changes in the managerial skills of an irrigation agency could be part of a planned modernization programme, however. For example in the State of Victoria, Australia, the modernization programme was accompanied by a change in the workforce. The job of the newly
123 created positions of planners was more complex than that of the original water-masters and commanded higher pay. On the other hand, the job of field operators required less skill since it did not include the planning and customer contact roles of the original water- masters. A new pay and career structure was designed for the operation staff. The new planners were recruited using a competitive selection process. Improved productivity of the workforce was a major benefit gained from the introduction of centralized commu- nication and planning. Most of the user associations in Mexico have turned down the staff from the irrigation agency at the time of the turnover and recruited younger staff with better academic skills.
Pricing and water allocation strategy
To improve the economic efficiency of water use, donor agencies have encouraged borrowing countries to adopt reforms in institutions and policy. These reforms include the establishment of water rights and trade of these rights, and the pricing of water on a volumetric basis. The design of irrigation projects should take these reforms into consideration. A rigid system with fixed distribution structures is not compatible with water trading, since physical modifications of dividing structures may be needed for each transaction. In adjustable systems, measuring devices are needed at each bifurcation at the level water trading is expected. For example, if water trading is encouraged between user associations along a branch canal, measuring devices are needed at the outlets serving each association.
Capacity of the construction industry
Failure to meet construction standards is a common factor in some projects being unable to fulfil their specific function. This is particularly true for the modern irrigation systems making extensive use of hydraulic regulation devices, such as level-control automatic gates, modular distributors and long-crested weirs. This modern design is very sensitive to problems with improper installation. Baffle distributors provide constant flow rates within very strict fluctuations of the upstream water levels and do not tolerate downstream-submerged conditions. Such design requires perfect
124 vertical settings of all the control structures. The lack of awareness of the requirements of high-quality construction standards in some countries has contributed to the failure of some pilot projects. It may justify the resistance of some specialists to adopt or recommend that technology.
Projects making use of conventional sliding gates are much less affected by inaccurate installation of the control equipment. However, they are more difficult to operate and have to be associated with measuring devices and/or local controllers.
XII. THE CHALLENGE OF MODERNIZATION: OPTIONS
Irrigation project design and management are very complex and each project has different constraints. Designers and institutional re- formers must have a very comprehensive understanding of these constraints and options in order to make the proper choices for modernization. The modernization phase of formulating an appropri- ate operational plan and water control strategy, in which deliberate choices are made on the water allocation and scheduling principles to be adopted, is a crucial phase that requires special multidisciplinary skills. Apart from a sound and up-to-date knowledge of hydraulic control concepts and technology, it also requires management and institutional skills. This section summarizes some of the points discussed earlier and proposes some guiding principles for selecting control strategy and control equipment.
Infrastructure versus management inputs: It has been argued that a certain amount of substitution may exist between staffing requirements and hydraulic control, depending on the type of service that must be provided with a given hydraulic infrastructure. Mutua (2001) recognizes that the ability to substitute hardware for management inputs can only take place within certain limits. As mentioned earlier, the type of infrastructure may have inherent physical limitations in the way it can be operated.
125 The trade-off between infrastructure investment and management to meet a certain level of service is based on the assumption that that level has been defined as part of a comprehensive strategic plan for the agency. It is founded on the principle that a training programme will be in place to support the strategies designed to achieve the strategic goals and guarantee that the staff will acquire the appropri- ate skills to operate and maintain the types of infrastructure chosen for flow control (Malano).
Step-by-step versus full-fledged modernization: Some moderni- zation projects aim at perfect post-project operations that require huge behavioural changes from both agency personnel and water associations. Other specialists argue that the modernization of existing schemes can and in practice should be more often a phased, step-by-step process, in which better operational management (both in efficiency as in service rendered) is achieved in a series of concrete steps of incremental water control and changes in water scheduling. A step-by-step approach might often prove the only feasible option in difficult contexts where the options to come on the desirable operational plan and water control strategy are limited by an institutional resistance to change by the irrigation agency and/or institutional reforms where newly created water user associations and federations have to take up operational tasks for which they have had little experience. The dilemma of irrigation development will always remain to strike the right balance between the operational capacity of the prevailing management institutions and the technological and hydraulic configuration of the system. A proper and successful irri- gation modernization programme will thus strive to reach a coordi- nated and congruent development of both the institutional capacity and the technology. In order to achieve this, it is imperative that the first phase of defining an agreed-upon operational plan and water control strategy be conducted with utmost care and consideration. (Personal communication from G. van Halsema)
Experts from the Bureau of Reclamation (Stringam) who stated that canal control systems should be designed with operations and operators in mind also share these views. Operating personnel must be comfortable with any changes. This objective is attained by
126 tailoring the control system to the needs and understanding of operators and by following an evolutionary installation procedure. Great care should be taken to match equipment and control software to the needs, understanding and management practices of the project operators. Designers will be further ahead if they begin with a simple system. To support these views, these experts from the Bureau of Reclamation note that managers and governing boards of user associations at many irrigation projects hesitate to adopt high-tech control systems because of bad experience and sometimes lack of understanding. In some cases, unfavourable experiences have resulted because designers have not been sensitive to the needs of understanding and experience of canal operating personnel. Control systems were designed and installed without adequate instructions to the operators, and the systems did not perform well because operators did not understand how to use them. On these projects, managers may view automatic controls as a waste of time and money, and they will be hesitant to allow any future automation development.
This paper does not challenge the views that the modernization of existing systems should be an evolutionary process. This is particu- larly valid if modernization plans are aiming at the adoption of technologies that have been developed during the last three decades in parallel with the development of electronics, such as high-tech sensors, telecommunications, supervisory control, computers and flow simulation models and automated controllers. However, some improvements can be achieved with simple one-time modifications of the hydraulic infrastructure, such as the construction of long- crested weir sections at gated cross regulators, flow limiters, compensation reservoirs and interceptor canals, the conversion of surface systems to pressurized pipe systems, and possibly the installation of modular distributors, if the hydraulic conditions of installation and quality of construction are appropriate. All these techniques have been used in a number of countries and quickly understood by the operators and farmers. The rate of implementation of these technical improvements is often limited by financial resources, not by the management capability of the operators. Wherever some of these new structures, such as long-crested weirs,
127 have been installed, farmers have expressed their appreciation by requesting additional structures. Obviously the irrigation projects built on wrong design, such as those using the wrong combination of overflow and underflow structures, should be modified as fast as possible.
An important conclusion from this discussion is the crucial importance to have global strategic planning for modernization from the beginning, whether the modernization is incremental or not.
The role of water users associations in the modernization process
In general, only large well-established water user associations have the staff and resources to conceptualize modernization plans. The role of small associations is inevitably limited to the definition of the type of service they need from the water provider, either a government agency or a higher level of farmer association. Generally the members of small associations do not have a concept of modernization and are primarily concerned about just having reliable and equitable service. Farmers who are struggling with their present- day problems cannot have a vision of what is needed to support their future needs. The interest and (partial) funding for modernization will have to come first from government organizations, which will have to stimulate the interest of large associations. Even in the United States, although the irrigation districts have been managed by user associations for decades, modernization is still a relatively new concept. It may take considerable time and efforts to have water user associations in developing countries very active in modernization conceptually and financially. The creation of a national federation of water user associations, as in Colombia and Mexico, may accelerate the process.
Financing of rehabilitation programmes: a few examples
In practice, the financing of rehabilitation programmes may be the determinant factor in the rate of implementation. The irrigation districts in Alberta, Canada, have benefited since 1969 from cost-
128 sharing rehabilitation programmes which have allowed that province to develop a world-class water distribution system.
Box 10: The irrigation infrastructure rehabilitation programme in Alberta, Canada
Since 1969, the government of Alberta and the thirteen irrigation districts have participated in a unique cost-sharing programme to rehabilitate the irrigation delivery infrastructure. Each district is independently operated by the farmers who elect a board of directors and hire staff to operate and maintain the district. The cost share ratio has changed from an initial 86/14 to the present 75/25. The original ratio resulted from a study which concluded that the irrigation farmers receive 14 percent of the benefits and the other 86 percent go to other areas of the economy.
Prior to 1995, rehabilitation programmes were for five-year periods with no assurance that they would be renewed. With no guarantee of funding, efforts were concentrated on worst stops rather than on rehabilitation in a planned fashion. Over US$400 million have been allocated to cost-sharing programmes so far. The early rehabilitation projects consisted mainly in rebuilding canal banks and replacing critical control structures. The standards used for rehabilitation were progressively improved. Pipelines have replaced canal lining as the preferred choice of rehabilitation.
To overcome the limitations of undershot gates for upstream water level control, two overshot gates were developed in Alberta: the drop-leaf gate, which consists of a flat panel hinged on the bottom of the canal, and the Langemann gate, an improvement of the drop-leaf gate using two hinges with the upper one travelling in a vertical direction.
Remote control and automation were introduced in the 1980s and are now an integral part of irrigation rehabilitation in Alberta, including pump control, upstream level control, and SCADA. Programmable logic controllers are used for irrigation control as well as data loggers, ultrasonic-level transmitters and differential pressure transducers. The dependable and efficient water delivery infrastructure in Alberta has benefited not only the primary producers but also the economy of the province. (Ring)
As a rule, irrigation districts in the western United States have to use their own financial resources to modernize their irrigation systems. In some cases, however, modernization is financed by other organi- zations, which have direct interest in water saving programmes. For
129 example, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California currently finances a huge modernization of the Imperial Irrigation district. Modernization of the Grand Junction district is financed by fish interest groups. No doubt the irrigation districts in the United States are very cautious about the pace of modernization and the adoption of sophisticated and costly equipment. In most countries, modernization works are financed by the government, with a very modest contribution by the farmers. This is the case of the Mula irrigation scheme in Spain. The century-old canal infrastructure was replaced by pressurized systems. The innovative management initiative associated with the physical modernization is the creation of an individual water account.
A modernization by substitution of the 5 500-ha Lugan Sur project in the province of Mendoza, Argentina, is under consideration. Even the main canal will be replaced because of the relocation of the intake on the Mendoza River. Although the project is designed to boost high-quality wine export, there is no clear decision on the contribution of the users to this project, which costs about US$3 000 per hectare, excluding on-farm water-saving techniques.
There are very few cases in developing countries where the farmers have been involved in the planning, design and financing of modernization of their irrigation infrastructure. The business- oriented water user associations in Mexico have progressively matured since their creation about ten years ago. Their first efforts for improving performance were concentrated on acquisition of office equipment and special light maintenance equipment. Efforts to improve the delivery infrastructure were slow until 1997 when an agreement on a 50/50 cost-sharing programme was signed between the National Water Commission (CNA) and ANUR, the national association of irrigation water users. Modernization activities consist in the substitution of canals by low-pressure pipelines at secondary and farm levels, construction of long-crested weirs in secondary canals, subsurface drainage, agro-meteorological equipment, broad- crested weirs and electronic flow meters. Efforts to install automatic controls in canals have failed for a number of reasons, including the use of tailor equipment.
130 Box 11: Modernization of the mula traditional irrigation system, Spain
The traditional basin mula irrigation system in the semi-arid region in south-eastern Spain dates back to the 10 th century. The average annual rainfall is 280 mm. Until a few years ago, the system was characterized by a deteriorated irrigation network causing high water losses, rudimentary methods to control water volumes resulting in excessive power consumption, and excessive land parcelling with 68 percent of the fields of less than one hectare.
The regulation of flows was achieved with the construction of nine terminal interconnected reservoirs, with a total capacity of 500 000 m 3
distributed to supply water for localized irrigation without additional pressure. The whole operation of the irrigation network (valves, pumps, gates, filter stations) is centrally controlled from the Office of the Irrigators Association. Another computer is used to manage the database information on water deliveries, water pricing, water accounts and irrigation management.
An innovative management tool is the creation of an individual farmer water account, similar to a savings account, in which every detail regarding the annual water allocation of each farmer is recorded. Each farmer can verify his water consumption and how his installation is working through a water teller similar to automatic bank tellers. Each user can also programme irrigation opening or closing in his fields according to his own criteria or to the programmes developed by an irrigation advisory service. He can also suspend the irrigation programme at any time.
The benefits of the modernization of the mula project include: a substantial reduction of water losses in the distribution network; a further reduction of water losses for farmers using micro-irrigation, against those still using traditional irrigation methods; energy savings; and significant increases in crop productivity.
The modernization of the mula project designed as a pilot operation is now a model in Spain demonstrating the possibilities of transforming a traditional irrigation system into a modern micro-irrigation installation, computerized, with efficient management and a level of automation adapted to the needs of the local communities.
The works were financed with public funds and a small contribution from the farmers to automatic filtration. The mula user association was involved in the modernization plan and the arrangements with individual landowners for the expropriation of land for construction of new works.
131 SPECIFIC DESIGN ISSUES
Two specific design issues that are neglected during the design of irrigation projects are discussed here because of their important effect on the performance of irrigation projects.
Hierarchy of canals
The layout of the canal network should be designed so as to be integrated with not only the roads and drainage system but also multilevel management, whether from an agency or user associations.
Figure 9 An irrigation project with a well-established hierarchy of canals Note: The setting-up of a multi-tiered organization of water user associations, combined or not with higher level management by an irrigation agency, will naturally be derived from the layout of the canals
In many existing schemes in South Asia, the hierarchy of canals is not adequate for the creation of multi-tiered user associations. As much as 40 percent of the irrigable area in some projects is served through direct outlets from the branch distributary and even the main
132 canals. It is unlikely that a water user association consisting of user groups with individual points of supply would be very active since the groups have little common interest. The construction of a new canal parallel to the parent canal and serving all the direct outlets may be a technical solution to correct the deficiencies of the original layout in relation to the social and managerial aspects. However, the farmers served by direct outlets may strongly object to that solution which would deprive them of their privileged situation.
Figure 10 A typical irrigation system with a loose hierarchy of canals and a high proportion of direct outlets Note: The figure shows several options for the creation of water user associations above the 50-150 ha block level
If management of the system is divided between units, the interface should be located preferably at hydraulic breakdowns, such as reservoirs. This principle is widely applied in mid and southern China, where most systems consist of a large reservoir connected to many medium-sized and small reservoirs supplying thousands of village and farm reservoirs.
133 Figure 11 Typical configuration of an irrigation project in mid and southern China (known as melon on the vine) Note: Medium-sized and small reservoirs are natural interfaces between different levels of management: province, counties and villages
Control of seepage losses
Seepage losses from canal irrigation systems may reduce substan- tially the volumes of water to be delivered at farm level. The losses from the field channels in the large alluvial plains of Asia are reported to account for about 40 percent of the volumes of water supplied to these channels.
Lining of irrigation canals is a very costly exercise and may increase the total cost of a project by 30 to 40 percent compared to the cost of an unlined system. The decision whether or not to line irrigation canals on the basis of economic considerations should therefore be a very important part of the design process. It is puzzling that not much thought has been given by designers to the robustness of the conventional rigid lining techniques routinely adopted during design. Most disturbing is the doubt about the actual amount of water saved by canal lining despite considerable investments for canal lining and
134 the ambitious rehabilitation programmes in many countries. The reduction of seepage losses is generally assumed to be constant for the expected life of a project to have a chance of achieving a favourable economic return, an assumption generally unrealistic. Projects with extensively cracked concrete lining abound throughout the world. The effectiveness of these linings to reduce seepage losses is very low. Even lining with still good appearance may not be an effective seepage barrier because the small cracks or deficient joints form water flow paths to the entire canal prism, which considerably reduce the effectiveness of the lining. Saturation of the soils after commissioning of a canal causes some settlement of the soil mass resulting in wide gaps underneath the slabs. The rigid slabs eventually rest on a limited number of supports resulting in further cracks. The gaps provide opportunities for seepage loss under most of the lining.
The use of rigid materials (cast-in-situ concrete, pre-cast concrete panels or bricks) is still the most common technique of canal lining in developing countries. The causes of the ineffectiveness of rigid canal lining are linked to the poor quality of construction, particularly the compaction of the sub-base and the placing of concrete, and to the inadequate operation of the canals with too rapid drawdown and frequent dewatering. The adoption of design stan- dards of irrigation agencies from some developed countries recom- mending thin concrete lining, which is adequate in case of high standards of construction using modern canal lining machinery and of strict respect of operation rules, is also the cause of the problem. Designers should consider the difficulty of canal lining in humid conditions, using rustic methods of concrete placing. Increasing the thickness of canal lining by about 30 percent may be a realistic but costly solution.
Another option is to adopt the use of flexible geo-membranes protected with a rigid lining or with loose materials. This technique was used first in Bureau of Reclamation projects and in some projects in the Middle East with very difficult soils or gypsum soils. If geo-membranes consist of stable long-lasting material and are well installed, seepage rates from canals are negligible. Despite the
135 accumulated evidence of the short life of the conventional lining techniques in many projects, adoption of geo-membranes in irrigation canal lining is still very slow. The Fordwah-Sadiqia project in Pakistan and the Tarim project in western China are two remarkable exceptions. The former included a very intensive research component on estimation of canal seepage losses before and after lining and an evaluation of different construction techniques. The latter, involving the lining of over 400 kilometres of canals, with the use of over 5 million m 2 of geo-membranes, is the largest construction work ever using that technique.
A managerial option to reduce seepage losses is to operate the canals by turns, and to close them during the low season. That management approach has obvious disadvantages for the irrigators.
The economic considerations on the issue of capital investments versus maintenance costs and the short life of low capital invest- ments discussed above are particularly valid for canal lining. Before deciding on a costly lining programme, it is important to use realistic values for the reduction of seepage rates, life of lining and maintenance costs. A comparative evaluation of earlier lining pro- grammes in the same region should be carefully evaluated through intensive measurement of seepage losses of unlined and lined canals several years after construction.
XIII. A PROCESS FOR REVISING DESIGN PROCEDURES AND STANDARDS
Assessing the need for changes: the use of internal indicators
Very few developing countries have adopted the full spectrum of modern irrigation concepts and standards. In a few cases, the design makes use of the most advanced technology for water control but the water distribution strategy lacks the flexibility required for a service- oriented delivery (for example in Jordan and Morocco). In other cases, the technology is inadequate to satisfy the stated objective of modern irrigation. This is the case of the fully gated, manually
136 operated systems, which were designed to meet the irrigation requirements but are far too complicated or too costly to operate, especially during the wet season and in the humid tropics. Many examples are found throughout the world. More frequently, neither the technology nor the strategy meets the definition of modern design. That category includes the projects with faulty designs, and operational procedures designed for the convenience of the operators, not of the users.
Most countries would have to assess the needs for changing their approaches to irrigation development. It would be useful to develop a kind of checklist to assist irrigation agencies in this diagnosis with questions falling under the two standard categories: Are we doing the right thing? Are we doing the thing right?
Questions to be addressed could include: Realism of original assumptions for the design of existing schemes Changes in water demand Layout of the farms: direct access of each farm to irrigation and drainage farm Reliability and flexibility of the service provided Is irrigation scheduling imposed by the agency or based on arranged demand? Days for advance request Can water be shut without notice? Possibility of flow rate changes Possible options of on-farm water application for the farmers Hierarchy of canals Compatibility of the layout of the canal system with the organization of multi-tiered user associations with well- defined hydraulic boundaries Water measurement at each level of management Degree of independence of operation at each level (reservoirs or other means)
137 Frequency of changes in settings of devices required to meet set targets such as water levels or flows Sensitivity of the control structures used for cross regulators and off-takes Simplicity of operation of the control devices Interaction between control structures and hydraulic stability Feasibility of volumetric water pricing (robustness of volumetric devices, stability of flow conditions) Feasibility of water trading at different levels Quality assurance of construction Capability of maintenance of sophisticated equipment (tele- metry, remote control and monitoring)
All these questions were considered in the 1996 World Bank research study on performance of 16 irrigation projects. These 16 projects had some elements of modernization, and represented a variety of design concepts, climates, crops and water supply conditions. That study broke new grounds in project evaluation by developing a new framework for assessing systematically the internal process of irrigation projects. The research includes two features: a rapid appraisal process, and the development of a number of internal indicators. The internal indices provide a systematic rating of hard- ware, management and service throughout the entire system. Internal indicators examine the mechanism of water control and allocation at all levels of the project. The complete picture enables the evaluator to visualize where changes are needed, and what impact the changes would have at various levels. That approach was developed to answer the question: what specific actions need to be taken so that benefits can justify the investment in rehabilitation and moderni- zation? 20 None of the external indicators which compare inputs and outputs of irrigation projects provides specific information on what needs to be corrected to improve performance. They do not provide
20 The field questionnaire, the list of internal and external indicators, the data on the 16 evaluated projects and the findings of the research study are available in the FAO water report No 19. This report is available on the Internet at http://www.fao.org/ag/agl/aglw/oldocsw.jsp as a PDF document <ftp://ftp.fao.org/agl/aglw/docs/wr19.pdf>
138 insight regarding the working of the internal mechanisms within an irrigation project, be it management, social or hardware.
The internal indicators provide a new evaluation tool. They can serve as a valuable training and diagnostic tool for modifying the internal hardware and operation of irrigation projects (Burt).
The rapid appraisal process developed for that research differs substantially from the walk-through techniques with farmer representatives that aim at the identification of the worst spots such as poorly located or badly damaged farm outlets.
Development of new design procedures
In the preparation of new design procedures and standards, an important distinction is to be made between the design of new projects and the rehabilitation and modernization of existing ones. The modernization of existing projects is a complex compromising process between the objective of making use of existing facilities and minimizing the costs on one side and the objective of improving performance and changing the quality of service on the other. The solution adopted will depend on the potential productivity of the project and on the government policy on the development of water resources. Development of a modernization plan requires an assess- ment of the service currently provided by the system, the impact of the current service on farmer irrigation management and the potential benefit that would result from improved service. Successful moderni- zation requires the adoption of a service attitude, as well as compre- hensive strategies for design and operation of water distribution facilities at all levels of a project.
A number of technical documents have been published during the last decade to stimulate and promote the development and applica- tion of modernization to irrigation projects, be they new projects under design or projects under operation. Three documents that are
139 intended to serve as guidelines to owners, designers, operators and users are of particular interest 21 : The ICID publication on automation of irrigation systems, which deals with the concepts and the various automatic control logics and describes the different types of equipment, including passive regulators, hydro-mechanical equipment, local automatic controllers and hardware for remote monitoring and control. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Manual on canal system automation also deals with the control fundamentals, methods and algorithms. The automatic control of irrigation systems in the United States is based on the development of the electron- ic industry, which includes the use of electronic components, usually consisting of microprocessor-type equipment (micro- computers and software, keyboards, digital displays, master stations and control centres) and communication equipment. The publication of the IHE in the Netherlands on flow control in irrigation systems discusses in detail the various delivery strategies and canal control systems, canal capacities, and other hydraulic structures such as stilling basins, drops and chutes.
Revision of design standards
Most irrigation agencies should proceed with a diagnosis of the concepts and design standards of existing projects and of their current standards to assess whether they could meet the requirements of present and future operation and maintenance given the forces of change that will affect the irrigated sector. To meet the conditions of the future, water delivery from irrigation projects should be more
21 The FAO paper No 26 (1975) provides detailed information on hydraulic and structural calculation of the structures found in the design manuals of about a dozen countries. This document provides little guidance, however, on the selection of structures, their advantages and disadvantages and their effects on each other. Automatic controllers and remote control and monitoring are not discussed or are outdated.
140 flexible and reliable. Operation rules should be transparent and understood by the users. Volumetric measurement of water is a prerequisite to the establishment of water rights, water trading and water charges. Potential benefits should be attractive enough to the users to be able to recover at least the sustainable costs of irrigation, which include operation, maintenance and replacement costs. These objectives cannot be met without modern management of irrigation projects, including automation. Automation has the potential to yield agricultural benefits as well as environmental benefits: increased delivery flexibility and dependability will benefit farmers and canal operators while better management will reduce water waste and the deterioration of quality of water flowing to the drains and aquifers. Of greater priority are: The countries using water control strategy and equipment that are well known for their difficulty of operation in field conditions and their inefficiency, such as the manually adjustable gated systems and those designed for operating at full supply. The manual from the Bureau of Reclamation referred to above states that the operation of irrigation systems under conventional design is costly and inefficient. Even under continuous vigilance by operating personnel, the latter cannot eliminate undesirable variations in water levels, which adversely affect the water delivery rate and schedule. The countries using designs that are faulty from an engineer- ing viewpoint, such as the wrong combination of control structures which amplify the variations in supply.
Strategies for dissemination
Revision of FAO guidelines: The 1996 FAO guidelines for the preparation of irrigation projects should be revised to provide better guidance on the questions of water delivery strategy, selection of control strategy and control equipment. Some chapters of this document should be incorporated in these guidelines.
Building up national capacity on irrigation modernization through workshops, seminars and training programmes: These programmes
141 could use extensively the tools and findings of the World Bank research study (FAO Water Report No 19) referred to above. This innovative approach to modernization training has been successfully tested in Thailand and provides quick changes in the thinking of trained irrigation engineers. The complete picture provided by the evaluation of internal and external indicators enables the participants to visualize the deficiencies of the present systems and the type of changes that are needed.
Training of water users associations: Simple training materials should be prepared for dissemination to the boards of directors of user associations and their technical management staff. The difficulty of operating a project 24 hours a day seven days a week under manual control should be highlighted. The objective of moderniza- tion should be clearly stated in terms of cost saving, better use of labour force, more efficient and flexible service to the users and overall increased productivity. The possibility of incremental modernization should be emphasized. The active participation of the users in the design and their provision of a consistent level of funding are two ingredients for the sustainability of the moderniza- tion of existing systems.
XIV. CONCLUSION: THE NEED FOR COUNTRY IRRIGATION POLICIES
The need to improve the performance of large-scale irrigation is compelling. Easy, low-cost solutions to mobilize additional resources and improve the quality of service, such as the development of groundwater resources underlying canal irrigation systems, have nearly reached their limits in many arid and semi-arid areas. Furthermore, these solutions are not sustainable when they lead to overexploitation of the groundwater resources. There is no choice but to modernize existing systems to provide the level of service required for reaching the level of productivity needed to meet the food production goals of the 2020s.
142 Few irrigation systems in developing countries and even in developed countries meet all the characteristics of service-oriented modern irrigation. The financial resources required are considerable. However, the main constraints to modernization may be the still widespread denial of the importance of technology in irrigation performance, the strong resistance to change of the irrigation community and the limited expertise available to promote and apply modern concepts and design of irrigation systems. These obstacles would not be overcome without recognition of the importance of technology in the performance of irrigation projects by all international and national organizations involved in the development of water resources (GWP, IWMI, IRRI, IFPRI, ICID, FAO and development banks) and the internalization of modern design concepts in water resource development/irrigation policies of donor agencies.
The new CGIAR Challenge Programme on Water in Agriculture and the dialogue consisting of the dialogue on water, food and the environment and of a comprehensive assessment of water manage- ment in agriculture, which would coordinate the efforts of all stakeholders, including farmers organizations, may be an opportunity to achieve the above two objectives.
The water resource development policy papers prepared by the World Bank and other financing institutions which do not address the specific issues of irrigated agriculture should be supplemented by a long-overdue irrigation policy. Although it is beyond the scope of this paper to provide an exhaustive list of the points to be addressed, the following issues relevant to the performance and sustainability of irrigation projects should be examined:
Objectives of irrigation: Donors should avoid supporting irrigation policies that have conflicting objectives. The objective of sustainabi- lity may not be compatible with the policy of benefiting the maximum number of farmers through extensive irrigation. If this were the case, the level of subsidies should be clearly established.
143 Economic evaluation: The method for the economic evaluation of irrigation projects, which have largely contributed to under-design and to the notorious over-optimism of evaluation of irrigation projects, should be reconsidered. This document proposes to use the same economic method as the one used for other infrastructure or service projects. As for the water supply where projects are evaluated on the value of the water sales, independently of the final use of water, irrigation projects should be evaluated on the sales of water sold for irrigation purposes, at a price acceptable to the users. This approach, revolutionary in the econometrics of rural development projects, would have several advantages. It would break the vicious tradition of designers from consulting firms or governments of under-designing in order to reduce costs and overestimating the irrigation benefits, including the cropping intensities, yields of crops and projected prices of agricultural commodities.
The present use of the economic rate of return for the evaluation of irrigation projects is in favour of low capital and high maintenance cost projects, an unrealistic approach in most countries. Further attention should be given to the life of the infrastructure and sustainability of irrigation projects. It was bad service to borrowing countries to finance the lining of irrigation canals that have little or no effect on seepage losses less than ten years after installation.
Revision of design concepts: The strong link between the irrigation technology and the performance of irrigation projects and the need for the revision of design standards and operational procedures to respond to the forces of change should be recognized. There is no other infrastructure sector that has given so little attention to the needs of the final users of water in terms of flexibility and reliability. Many systems have been sized for the average irrigation require- ments of a predetermined cropping pattern without any provisions for change in crops, deviations from average rainfall, the reluctance of farmers to irrigate at night, and special requirements such as land preparation of paddy fields. No other infrastructure sector has given so little attention to the ease of management by the field operators.
144 Relation between physical improvements and institutional reforms: The role of the user associations in the modernization process of irrigation projects should be recognized. Any strategy for improving performance of the irrigation sector should consider the relationship that exists between the design and functions of user associations and the plans for a better level of service. Physical and organizational improvements are not isolated actions but part of a well-planned process.
Relation between policy reforms and technology: Finally, the irrigation policies should emphasize that policy reforms cannot be implemented without an appropriate physical environment. Public investments may be required to improve irrigation systems to provide better control and measurement of water delivery before volumetric pricing, the establishment of water rights and trade of these rights can be implemented. On the other hand, public policies may have to be implemented while modernizing large-scale irrigation systems, to encourage improvement in farm-level water management and to enhance agricultural productivity.
In many projects, the farmers have pointed out the need for a new approach by looking for other short-term sources of water, which are not necessarily environmentally sound. It is a challenge to the irrigation profession to respond to their signals. 145 REFERENCES Ankum, P. Flow Control in Irrigation Systems. IHE. International Institute for Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering. Delft, the Netherlands Anukularmphai, A. 1996. Comments and discussion on the Country Institutional Context. Towards Effective Water Policy in the Asian and Pacific region. Asian Development Bank. Proceedings of the Regional Consultation Workshop. Manila Balogum, O.S. and Hubbard, M. 1988. Automatic control of canal flow using linear quadratic regulator theory. Hydraulic engineering Burt, C. 1999. Current canal modernization from an international perspective. Proceedings from USCID workshop: Modernization of Irrigation Water Delivery Systems Burt, C. and S. Styles. 1999. Modern water control and management practices in irrigation. Impact on Performance. FAO-IPTRID-World Bank. FAO Water Report No 19 Couture, J.L. and P. Lavigne. 2000. Institutional Innovations and Irrigation Water Management in Office du Niger, Mali (1910-1990). World Bank Workshop on Institutional Reforms in Irrigation and Drainage Clemmens, A.J. 1987. Delivery systems schedules and Required Capacities . in Zimbelman. D.D Planning Operation, Rehabilitation and Automation of Irrigation Systems. American Society of Civil Engineers Diemer, G. 2000. Management process on two smallholder sprinkler layouts: a case study from Zimbabwe. Irrigation and Drainage Systems, vol. 14 Diemer, G. and Huibers, F.F. 1996. Crops, People and Irrigation: water allocation practices of farmers and engineers. Intermediate technology publication Facon, T. 1996. Modernization of irrigation systems: synthesis of country papers, presented at the FAO expert consultation on Modernization of Irrigation Schemes: Past experiences and future options. Bangkok Facon, T. [2002] Improving the irrigation service to farmers: a key issue in participatory irrigation management. FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. Under publication by the Asian Productivity Organization FAO. 1971. Automated irrigation. Irrigation and Drainage Paper No 5 FAO. Doorenbos, J. 1977 (revised: 1992). Crop Water Requirements. FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper No 24 FAO. 1975. Small Hydraulic Structures. Irrigation and Drainage Paper No 26 FAO. Walker, W.R. 1989. Guidelines for designing and evaluating surface irrigation systems. FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper No 45 FAO. 1996. Guidelines for planning irrigation and drainage investment projects. FAO Investment Centre, Technical Paper No 11
146 FAO/RAP. 1997. Modernization of Irrigation Schemes: Past Experiences and Future Options. Proceedings of the Expert Consultation, Bangkok, November 1996 Gardner, W. et al. 1996. A new Era for Irrigation. Committee on the Future of Irrigation in the Face of Competing demands. National Research Council Gleick, P. 2000. The Worlds Water 2000-2001. The Biennal Report on Freshwater Resources. Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security, Oakland, California, USA Goussard, J. [undated] Automation of Canal Irrigation Systems. ICID-CIID Guerra, L.C., S.I. Bhuiyan et al. 1998. Producing More Rice with Less Water from Irrigation Systems. IRRI-IWMI System-Wide Initiative on Water management. SWIM Paper No 5 Hillel, D. 2000. Salinity Management for Sustainable Irrigation. Integrating Science, Environment and Economics. Environ-mentally and Socially Sustainable Development. Rural Development International Commission on irrigation and Drainage. Price, W. 1999. Guidelines for Rehabilitation and Modernization of Irrigation Projects. ICID International Programme for Technology and Research in Irrigation and Drainage (IPTRID). 1999. Realizing the value of irrigation system maintenance. IPTRID/FAO, Issue paper No 2 Jurriens, R. and K de Jong. 1989. Irrigation water management: a literature survey. Working party irrigation and development, Department of irrigation and soil and water conservation, Wageningen Agricultural University Langford, K., C. Forster and D. Malcom. 1999. Towards Financially Sustainable Irrigation Systems. Lessons from the State of Victoria, Australia, 1984-1994. World Bank Technical Paper No 413 Mainuddin, M., R. Loof and C. Abernathy. 2000. Operational Plans and Performance in the Phitsanulok Irrigation System in Thailand. International Journal of Water Resources, Vol. 16 Malano, H. and van Hofwegen. 1999. Management of irrigation and drainage systems: a service approach. IHE Monograph 3. A.A. Balkema/Rotterdam/Brookfield Mandavia, A. 1999. Modernization of irrigation system operational management by way of canal automation in India. Proceedings of the Fifth International ITIS Network Meeting, Aurangabad, October 1998. FAO/RAP publication 99/43 Manzungu, E. [undated] Strategies of Smallholder Irrigation Management in Zimbabwe Moench, M. [undated] Groundwater and food security in India: evaluating the implications of emerging overdraft concerns. Draft Moench, M. and Moench, Y. 2001. Through a Different Lens: Uncertainty, Variability and the Questions of Groundwater and Food Security. Draft
147 Molden, D. and F. Rijsberman. IWMI. 2001. Assuring Water for Food and Environment Security. Paper prepared for CGIARs Mid Term Meeting in Durban, South Africa May 2001 Mutua, B. and H. Malano. 2001. Analysis of manual and centralized supervisory control operations to improve level of service: a case study of Pyramid Hill No 1 channel, Victoria, Australia. Irrigation and Drainage Systems Journal, Vol. 15 Nijman, C. 1993. A management perspective on the performance of the irrigation subsector. PhD thesis, Wageningen Agricultural University Plusquellec, H. and T. Wickham. 1985. Irrigation Design and Management: Experience in Thailand and its General Applicability. World Bank Technical Paper No 40 Plusquellec, H. 1990. Sudan: Gezira Irrigation. Blue Series Paper Plusquellec, H., K. McPhail and C. Polti. 1990. Review of irrigation system performance with respect to initial objectives. Irrigation and Drainage Systems Journal, Vol. 4 Plusquellec, H., C. Burt and H. Wolter. 1994. Water Control in Irrigation Systems: concepts, issues and applications. World Bank Technical Paper No 242 Plusquellec, H. 1989. Improving Operation of Canal Irrigation systems. Script of the audiovisual document, Economic Development Institute, World Bank Plusquellec, H. 1996. Guilan, A Successful Irrigation Project in Iran. Irrigation and Drainage systems, Vol. 10 Postel, S. 1996. Dividing the Waters: Food Security, Ecosystem Health, and the New Politics of Scarcity. WorldWatch paper 132 Ring, L., R. Renwick, J. Prozniak. and E. Wilson. 1999. Irrigation Infrastructure Rehabilitation in Alberta: A 30-year case study of government-industry cooperation. Proceedings from a USCID Workshop, Modernization of Irrigation Water Delivery Systems. Phoenix, Arizona, USA. October 1999 Sakthivadivel, R., S. Thiruvengachari and U. Amarasinghe. 1998. Intervention Analysis of an Irrigation System Using Structured System Concept. International meeting on Modernization of Irrigation System Operations. Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India. IWMI,CEMAGREF, FAO, WALMI Samad, M. and Smidt, P. 1999. Management transfer in irrigation systems in Asia: A review of selected country experiences. Question 49. ICID International Congress. Granada, Spain Seckler, D., R. Barker et al. 1999. Water Scarcity in the Twenty-First Century. International Journal of Water Resources Development, Vol. 15 Stringam, B., Rogers, D. and Walker, W. 1999. Designing Reliable Canal Automation Systems Lessons learnt. USCID Workshop on Modernization of Irrigation Water Delivery Systems. Proceedings Svenden, M., Trava, J. and Johnson III, S. [undated] Participatory Irrigation Management: Benefits and second generation problems. Economic Development Institute of the World Bank and IIMI
148 Bureau of Reclamation. 1991. Canal Systems Automation Manual. A Water Resources Technical Publication. U.S. Department of the Interior Vermillion, D. 1997. Management devolution and the sustainability of irrigation: results of comprehensive versus partial strategies. FAO/World Bank Technical Consultation on Decentralization and Rural Development, Rome World Bank. 1993. Water Resources Management Policy Paper World Bank. 1994. Pakistan. Irrigation and Drainage: Issues and Options. South Asia World Bank. Jones, W. 1995. The World Bank and Irrigation. A World bank Operations Evaluation Study, OED World Bank. Rice, E. 1997. Paddy Irrigation and Water Management in Southeast Asia. A World Bank Evaluation Study. OED World Bank. 1997. National Water Management Project. India. Implementation Completion Report Zimbelman, D. 1987. Planning, Operation, Rehabilitation and Automation of Irrigation Water Delivery Systems. Proceedings of a symposium sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Portland, ASCE Zhifang Xu. 1995. Irrigation Management Transfer in China. Irrigation Management transfer in Asia. Papers from the Expert Consultation on Irrigation management Transfer in Asia. Bangkok/Chiang Mai, September 1995. FAO RAP Publication 1995:31
149 ANNEX I
PLANNING A LARGE IRRIGATION PROJECT IN THE PERIOD 1950-70
This annex draws heavily on a paper prepared by two engineers from the Bureau of Reclamation published in the 1955 U.S. Yearbook of Agriculture. This paper presents the approach to planning of large irrigation projects in the 1950s. The Bureau of Reclamation has considerably influenced the planning process adopted by lending agencies. The focus was on the classical engineering studies, land classification and the capacity of the farmers to pay.
A large-scale irrigation development is a substantial undertaking that requires investigation, planning and progress in accordance with a defined course of action. It is interwoven with economic, social, legal, political and interregional and international problems.
The reconnaissance stage, the first stage of planning, involves a short review of all major engineering, land and water problems to determine whether a more detailed investigation is warranted. Planning during the feasibility stage, the second stage, should be detailed and conclusive in the formulation of plans for the irrigation project, recognizing that the plan proposed now may be subject to change when the irrigation project is being constructed.
Studies have to be made of groundwater possibilities since large projects often combine the use of surface and groundwater to provide the full requirements. Quality of water must be determined. Flood flows require special consideration: structures must be designed with adequate spillways to accommodate these floods.
The feasibility of an irrigation project depends on continued productive ability of the lands. Detailed description of land classification studies is provided. If the water supply is the limiting factor, the arable land classification data and the underlying surveys are used as the basis for selecting the locations of the irrigable lands to be included in the project.
The application of engineering skills and judgment is essential to the design and construction of works to deliver irrigation water to the land in controlled and adequate amounts for crop use. In that, the important steps are engineering surveys and explorations, including geological interpreta- tions, preparation of preliminary designs and cost estimates, and the determination of annual operation, maintenance and replacement costs.
150 During the preparation of feasibility designs, studies are made to deter- mine the structures best suited to the conditions encountered. Engineering economics is important: the engineer must design a structure for the job the most economical in first cost and in annual cost of operation, maintenance and replacement.
To make a reasonable estimate of the annual operation, maintenance and replacement cost, the project plan must be crystallized, extensive operation on each important structure must be available and the farm layout must be determined. With such data available, an organization necessary for the operation and maintenance can be planned, equipment requirements estimated, materials and supplies needed for operation and maintenance determined and the probable life of structures calculated.
Repayment studies are made to determine payment capacity of the water users and to make recommendations for repayment of construction costs allocated to irrigation. Determination of payment capacity is accomplished by an extensive study of the agricultural expectancies of the project area without the proposed development in comparison with conditions assumed to exist under the proposed development. The main tool of the study is the farm budget analysis.
Project development may be further justified by a comparison of the net benefits resulting from construction of the project with all anticipated costs of bringing about these benefits. The ratio of all net benefits to costs in excess of unity will indicate the desirability of the development.
Finally arrangements have to be made for financing if the project has been found feasible.
Sometimes the farmers are not familiar with the problems connected with irrigation farming, the need for the preparation of land to receive irrigation water, and the controlled application of water for best results. They may need help which can be made available through different agencies.
151 ANNEX II
ABSTRACTS FROM THE FAO GUIDELINES FOR PLANNING IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE INVESTMENT PROJECTS
This annex reproduces the sections from the FAO Investment Centre Technical Paper No 11 which are dealing with water management and operation of irrigation and drainage systems.
Part I: Recent lessons and implications for planning
Choice of technology (page 29)
Commonsense dictates that the choice of a technology for irrigation should be based on its appropriateness for the cropping patterns intended and should also consider cost-effectiveness. In the past, irrigation engineers have tended to overlook an additional need: for the technology also to be matched to the level of sophistication of the operational capacity of the users. It has become increasingly obvious that the design process must start from a consideration of how the users will operate the system; this should be then designed to provide the optimum combination of efficiency in water use and cost-effective operation and maintenance. Equally important, the designer must consider how the users will cultivate their land and the implications that this may have for scheme layout. Thus it may be that the design which involves the lowest investment cost per hectare may not be the most cost-effective solution if it also involves a large number of staffers for its operation or if, because of operational difficulty, it cannot be used to capacity. On the other hand, a design of modern water control structures may not result in overall efficiency gains if the users reject the modern control in favour of their traditional proportional dividers.
The choice of technology, whether for new development or for the rehabilitation of existing schemas, has been the subject of much debate over the years. While most irrigation engineers would now agree that the starting point for design must be ease of operation, they still tend to polarize into two camps. One sees the problem largely as overcoming the hydraulic instability of extensively gated manually operated systems; it sees the solution as the modernization of these systems, adding automatic downstream control structures and other feedback mechanisms designed to achieve hydraulic stability. The other accepts the reality of farmers damage in wet-season drought and so favours designs based on cruder and more robust structure; the possibility of just-on-time, demand-based
152 delivery of water to crops is foregone, in the hope of preserving the civil works from interference.
Part II: The planning process
Activities for planning the preferred option (page 69)
Engineering studies should include: a) for schemes being considered for rehabilitation and upgrading, a detailed diagnostic operational study to identify the current condition of the infrastructure, constraints, sources of inefficiency and the scope for efficiency gains and b) preliminary engineering designs for the scheme layout, main structures and water supply focusing particularly on water saving measures and ease of farmer operation and management, including automatic controls if they are considered to be an appropriate technology.
Outline of a typical proj ect document: proj ect rationale and planning considerations (page 131)
The section on design considerations should address questions such as: the choice of technical strategy and technology to match operation and maintenance capacity (e.g. upstream versus downstream technology, automation, etc) and/or traditional water rights and methods of distribution, e.g. division structures that maintain traditional rights and farmers operational preferences.
153 ANNEX III
CONVENTIONAL TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR CONSULTING SERVICES FOR AN IRRIGATION IMPROVEMENT PROJECT
The following are extracts from the terms of reference for a project approved by a donor agency in 1994. The terms of reference are limited to conventional engineering studies. They do not include a diagnosis of the performance of the existing projects, particularly in terms of service provided to users. The appraisal report for this particular project does not indicate the level of service to be provided under the project; it does not even include a short discussion on the water control strategy and equipment. Most recent appraisal reports of donors limit the discussion on operation and maintenance of the project to indicating the level of canals for which the agencies and the farmers are responsible.
Contracts for each subproject would cover the scope of work for engineering designs and construction supervision. Services to be provided for each subproject would include, but not be limited to, assistance in: a) Collection and analysis of data b) Preparation of work plans for all subproject components c) Survey, investigation, design, layout, preparation of specifi- cations, tender/construction drawings, consultants cost estimate, and supervision of construction of the irrigation, surface/sub- surface drainage, and land levelling works d) Establishment of criteria and procedures for technical work and construction specifications e) Preparation of tender documents for civil works and required equipment f) Quality control, including performance and/or ranging field and laboratory tests g) Setting up monitoring systems for selected physical parameters and monitoring the physical and financial progress h) On the job training and guidance of the implementing agencys assigned staff in materials inspection and construction technique
The main objective of the study for each subproject would be to provide recommendations on how best to organize water user groups along a convenient tertiary block service area perimeter, and to strengthen the functional capability of exiting water user groups.
154
ANNEX IV
IRRIGATION POLICY: MODERNIZATION OF WATER RESOURCES IN BRAZIL
This annex provides extracts from a policy note on irrigation modernization in Brazil, which is a good model of a new policy incorporating the principles developed in this document. Brazil is among the most advanced countries in Latin America in adopting modern irrigation technology. With some 65 percent of all irrigation under some form of aspersion, it is significantly ahead of most countries. In addition, technology use is highly diverse. Nearly all existing technologies are under use in some form or another. The paper recognizes that water user associations are only one type of private-sector participation. It also recommends the adoption of more efficient technologies to respond to the increasing demand for water for other sectors.
Irrigation has a crucial role to play in the transformation of agriculture and the improvement of economic and social conditions of the world population. Although the global demand for food is essentially met, hunger persists mainly because the hungry cannot translate their needs into demand or because civil disorder disrupts food flows.
Despite these expectations, irrigation expansion has slowed dramatically since the 1980s. Over the past decade, the worldwide trend has been towards emphasis on the rehabilitation and management improvement of existing schemes. The slowdown is probably linked to factors such as: a) the trend towards economic wide reforms that result in reduced fiscal resources for irrigation, a sector that has traditionally relied heavily on public funding; and b) growing adverse publicity related to negative environmental impact from both the development and abandonment of irrigation schemes.
There is a danger that countries will become complacent, reduce irrigation investment to unsustainable levels or abandon it altogether, and thereby trigger crises for the most vulnerable populations of society.
Irrigation is a case in point. Historically, except for a period of fairly significant investments and an effort to promote irrigation development in the 1960s and 1970s, the government of Brazils attention to irrigation has taken a back seat to other uses, such as power and urban water supply. The situation persists even today as modernization reforms are focused
155 mainly on the overall economy or, in the case of the water sector, more on overall water resource management, water supply and hydropower. As a result, changes needed to modernize the legal, institutional and policy framework for irrigation are lagging and irrigation development has been relatively stagnant for over a decade.
Need for irrigation reform
There is an abundant literature on the main issues affecting the irrigation sector in many countries, often described in the form of a vicious cycle caused by the lack of maintenance, poor irrigation service, farmer dissatisfaction, low rates of fee collection, weak irrigation budgets and, as a result, inadequate maintenance. In an attempt to break this cycle in the irrigation sector, governments and multilateral organizations have begun to promote new-style programmes that combine a mix of physical rehabilitation improvement and management reforms, improved financial performance and attention to operation and maintenance, stronger linkages to support services and overall water resources and user participation.
User participation, in particular, has drawn a lot of attention, in part because it enables public agencies to get out of a business where they have generally been inefficient. In this case the more conventional approach tends to focus on creating and building private water user associations or similar organizations that can take over irrigation management from public agencies. A less conventional view takes a more comprehensive approach, seeking to involve a variety of private-sector participants not only in irrigation management but also in financing and construction of such schemes, as well as multipurpose projects. In this case, water user associations represent only one type of private participation. Others include corporations (full-service irrigation com- panies, consulting firms, contracting firms), NGOs and the general public. This unconventional approach is particularly appealing because not only does it potentially minimize the inherent problems of public management but it also provides significant public-sector investment and cost savings. This is increasingly critical, as the growing investment needs of the irrigation sector are not likely to be met by public agencies constantly facing tight fiscal constraints.
Modernization vision
The need and types of irrigation reform seem to be well understood. However, a comprehensive vision of what the ideal, or modern, irrigation sector might look like is less certain. Part of the problem is that the irrigation sector tends to be highly complex, involving and/or affecting
156 numerous other sectors and factors. Irrigation realities and policies vary substantially across countries.
There are at least seven elements that could be considered as fundamental for any modern irrigation sector. They are: Physical irrigation development potential Strong legal and institutional framework Active and growing private sector participation Technological advancement Supporting economic policies Adequate support services Clear linkages to overall water resource management and environmental policies
Regarding technology
Identifying what is modern (or most advanced) is perhaps straightforward. It is widely recognized, for example, that micro-irrigation uses water more efficiently, although it requires more investment and skilled labour than other types of irrigation technology and is sometimes less practical. It is clear that technological advancement is critical to sustain irrigation development over time. Again, in light of significant economic resources constraints, the cost savings and greater productivity that can be realized from adoption of such technologies is fundamental. Equally important, the population growth and rising income factors that may require increased food production from irrigated lands create conflicts among competing uses for water (i.e. hydropower, irrigation, water supply, environment, etc). As such, technologies that improve irrigation water use efficiency, thereby enabling a reduction in overall water use for irrigation, will be important in helping to minimize such conflicts.