Water allocation practices among smallholder farmers in the South Pare Mountains, Tanzania: The issue of scale

The impact of ambitious water sector reforms, that have been implemented in many countries, has not been uniform, especially in Africa. It has been argued that the disconnect between the formal statutory reality at national level and what is happening on the ground may have widened rather than shrunk. There is, therefore, a renewed interest in local water allocation arrangements and how they function. This study looks at water sharing practices and agreements among smallholder farmers in Makanya catchment (300 km²), which is part of Pangani river basin (42,200 km²) in northern Tanzania. Existing water sharing agreements have been studied in the Vudee sub-catchment (25 km²), which has about 38 irrigation furrows of which 20 have micro-dams. Five micro-dams are located at the downstream side of the sub-catchment. At the outlet of the Makanya catchment, farmers practice spate irrigation, using the residual flows from the highlands to irrigate.Based on interviews with smallholder farmers and supported by hydrological data water sharing agreements were found to exist among irrigators using the same furrow, among furrows using the same river and at sub-catchment scale. Some agreements date back to the 1940s. They mostly specify water sharing on a rotational basis at all three scales. No water sharing agreements were found at catchment scale, such as between the water users in Vudee sub-catchment and Makanya village.The study concludes that, as a result of the increase in demand for a diminishing resource, tradeoffs between upstream and downstream water uses have emerged at an increasingly larger spatial scale. At the catchment scale, downstream water users have changed their practices to accommodate the changes in the flow. Currently these claims for water do not clash as upstream water users use the base flow (which does not reach downstream anymore) and downstream water users utilise the flood flows. The water sharing arrangements at sub-catchment scale are negotiated through the social networks of the smallholder farmers and are therefore build on the social ties between the communities. However, at catchment scale, the social ties appear relatively weak in addition to the hydrological disconnect; these links are possibly too weak to build new water sharing arrangements on. It may therefore be necessary to involve more formal levels of government, such as Pangani Basin Water Office, to facilitate the negotiation process and create awareness on the inter-linkages of various water uses at catchment scale.     

The Eritrean spate irrigation system

Eritrea’s coastal zone has been identified as an area of substantial development potential. About 14,000 ha of this 5 million ha area (i.e. <0.3%) has already been developed under a form of spate irrigation known locally as jeriff. This is a water diversion and spreading technique in which wadis (ephemeral streams), springing from Eritrea’s Central Highlands are diverted to irrigate land in the coastal plains. The system as it is applied in Sheeb, an area north-east of Asmara, characterised by agro-pastoral spate irrigation, is described. Under spate irrigation, crop growth is entirely dependent on the residual soil moisture stored in the soil profile. If the basin fields are flooded adequately, the resulting residual soil moisture is sufficient for two or sometimes three crop harvests. The spate irrigation system builds up land by depositing rich sediment on the fields, but therefore, the elevation of the irrigated lands rises every year. Moreover, the system requires huge numbers of trees annually for constructing diversion structures which are subsequently often washed away by heavy floods. In general, the overall irrigation efficiencies of spate schemes are only about 20% because of the difficulty of controlling floods and because water is lost by percolation, seepage and evaporation. Suggestions are made to improve the system and make it more sustainable: permanent flood diversion and distribution structures should be built to effectively divert the floods and to reduce water loss through percolation and seepage, and the basin fields should be properly levelled to distribute the floodwater uniformly over the entire field.     

Optimum irrigation and pond operation to move away from exclusively rainfed agriculture: the Boru Dodota Spate Irrigation Scheme, Ethiopia

Under rainfed agriculture without supplementary supply, crop failure due to erratic rainfall has become a common phenomenon in many regions of Ethiopia. Spate irrigation development with storage provision at the 5,000 ha Boru Dodota Spate Irrigation Scheme is one of the initiatives to move away from exclusively rain-dependent agriculture. This initiative has faced several challenges. Lack of design experience and failure to fully grasp the unpredictable nature of the spate flow caused the Boru Dodota Spate Irrigation Scheme to be implemented without considering the necessity of storage ponds. In addition, absence of a systematic approach to assist planners has resulted in non-optimal design of ponds’ capacity and operation. The study, on which this article is based, aimed at optimum storage operation to irrigate the maximum possible area with the existing ponds’ capacity and available water resource. During the study, the surface storage and irrigation scheme planning model was developed and used to analyze several pond operation scenarios in Boru Dodota Spate Irrigation Scheme. The main findings were as follows: (1) Supplementing the rainfall with the operation of the existing 19 ponds that enable weekly irrigation frequency results in irrigating at least 6,600 ha. (2) An increase in the number of ponds does not always guarantee an increase in the size of irrigated land because the water resources, the operation, and management are defining factors. (3) It is not economical to only rely on spate flow for irrigation as even with 200 ponds, a maximum of 1,250 ha could be irrigated.     

Effect of different pre-sowing water application depths on wheat yield under spate irrigation in Dera Ismael Khan District of Pakistan

Spate irrigation is a method of flood water harvesting, practiced in Dera Ismael Khan (D.I. Khan), Pakistan for agricultural production for the last several hundred years in which during monsoon period flood water is used for irrigation before wheat sowing. A field study on the effect of different pre-sowing water application depths on the yield of wheat was conducted during 2006-2007. The spate irrigation command areas normally receive the flood water as a result of rainfall on the mountains during the months of July to September, which also carries a significant amount of sediment load. The flood water flows in different torrents and is diverted through earthen bunds to the fields for irrigation with depth of water application ranging from 21 to 73 cm and resulted in sediment deposition of 1.8-3.6 cm per irrigation. In this study, the effect on wheat yield of three different pre-sowing water application depths (D1 < 30 cm, D2 = 30-45 cm and D3 > 45 cm) were studied under field conditions. Fifteen fields with field sizes of about 2-3 ha were randomly selected, in each field five samples were collected for analysis of soil physical properties, yield and yield components. Five major soil texture classes (silty clay, clay loam, silty clay loam, silt loam and loam) were found in the area with water-holding capacity ranging from 23% to 36.3% (on a volume basis) and bulk density varied from 1.35 to 1.42 g cm⁻³. About 36% more grain yield was obtained from loam soil fields, followed by silt loam (24%) as compared to wheat grown on silty clay soil condition. The maximum wheat grain yield of 3448 kg ha⁻¹ was obtained from fields with water application depths of 30-45 cm and the lowest wheat yield was recorded in fields with water application depths greater than 45 cm. On-farm application efficiencies ranged from 22% to 93% with an overall average of about 49%. Due to large and uneven fields, a lot of water is lost. In general, the application efficiency decreased with increasing water application depth. Based on the results of this research, in arid to semi-arid environments, for optimum wheat yield under spate irrigation, the pre-sowing water application depth may be about 30-45 cm (September to July) and under or over irrigation should be avoided.     

The downstream externalities of harvesting rainwater in semi-arid watersheds: An Indian case study

Water-related investment projects affect downstream water availability, and therefore should account for these externalities. Few projects do, however, owing to lack of awareness, lack of data and difficulty in linking upstream investments to downstream effects. This article assesses the downstream impacts of rainwater harvesting in a semi-arid basin in Southern India, focusing on the trade-offs that arise when crop water use is re-allocated from a downstream surface water irrigation system to groundwater irrigated agriculture upstream. The results indicate that the downstream impacts are considerable and that net benefits are insufficient to pay back investment costs. Further research is required to reduce the uncertainties in the water balance of irrigation systems at basin level, to account for the inter-annual variability of crop water availability and to elaborate the wider welfare effects.     

节水灌溉条件下水稻需水规律及水分利用效率研究

根据田间试验对宁夏引黄灌区水稻需水规律及节水灌溉条件下水稻田水分利用效率开展研究。研究表明:拔节孕穗期和抽穗开花期是水稻生育过程中最关键需水期。控制灌溉较当地常规淹灌节水71%,灌溉水分利用效率为当地常规淹灌的4.2倍。控制灌溉不仅节水效果良好、水分利用效率较高,而且保证了良好产量的实现。水稻控制灌溉技术适用于宁夏引黄灌区。     

Integrated hydrologic-economic modelling for analyzing water acquisition strategies in the Murray River Basin

We describe a coupled hydrologic-economic spreadsheet model for the Murray-Darling Basin that allows analyses of water allocation and use by different sectors including agriculture and environment under alternative policy scenarios. The model is a simple, lumped optimisation model which includes partitioning of rainfall into runoff and evapotranspiration, a reach by reach water balance of the river system, irrigation demand and revenue generation. Groundwater is not considered because groundwater use is a small part of the overall water use. The model is used to optimize profit, diversions and flows subject to hydrological and economic constraints determined by the policy scenario.We use the model to examine approaches of acquiring water for reallocation to the environment, and their impacts on irrigation water use and regional income from agriculture. We show that the optimal approach for acquisition depends on: economic factors, including the cost of water and the profits generated by its use; institutional factors, such as restrictions to trade between regions; and, hydrological factors, particularly the connectivity of and losses within the river network.The volume of water to be acquired does not, in general, equal the volume to be allocated. For a downstream site, water must be acquired from upstream, and more water must be acquired than is to be allocated: the volume acquired is that to be allocated plus transmission losses between the locations of acquisition and allocation. For upstream sites, it is optimal to acquire some water from downstream, and less water must be acquired than is to be allocated: the volume acquired is that to be allocated, less the transmission losses no longer incurred between the locations of acquisition and allocation.The volumes of water that must be acquired to satisfy an allocation target and maintain flows in the river system are affected by restrictions on trade between sub-catchments.     

高含沙水滴灌技术研究

滴头堵塞是滴灌系统运行中的一大难题,对于高含沙水来说更为突出.针对多泥沙河道取水时引水必将引沙的现状,在分析了我国主要河道水沙分布特点的基础上,结合天然河道"水小沙少、水大沙多"的特点,提出了明暗结合式取水模式,采用枯水期明引与洪水期暗引相结合的方式,为解决多泥沙河道取水提供了新思路.利用研发的小型移动式过滤设备、简易过滤装置、可拆式灌水器等高含沙水滴灌专用设备进行组装配套,形成了适合于高含沙水的滴灌系统,使系统配套性能和运行效率均得以提高.与现有滴灌系统相比,系统造价大幅降低,堵塞率控制在5%以内,为解决高含沙水滴灌系统的易堵塞、投资高的难题提供了新途径.     

Resource-centred thinking in river basins; should we revoke the crop water requirement approach to irrigation planning?

The paper examines the method of using project irrigation requirements (PIR) in the design and rehabilitation of small-scale smallholder irrigation systems within multi-sector and dynamic river basins. This procedure, which employs equations that determine irrigation and crop water requirements, is found embedded in irrigation thinking and planning methodologies throughout the irrigation world. The paper argues that if the PIR equations are used formally and conventionally without sufficiently accounting for changing demands for water in semi-arid river basins, they can lead to irrigation designs that over-prioritise water for individual irrigation systems and as such be labelled ‘irrigation-centred’. Although other adjustments and attempts at re-allocating water might be undertaken, basin managers are often unable to recognise, accommodate or transcend the irrigation focus that this approach generates thus curtailing the efficacy of re-allocation efforts. This argument is made on the basis of observations in the Usangu Plains of Tanzania of farmer-originated irrigation and donor attempts at rehabilitation and modernisation. Features of a modified planning and design methodology are suggested, which considers irrigation alongside other water sectors, and focuses on the river basin rather than on the individual system; an alternative which, it is proposed, is more flexible and ‘water-resource-centred’. The implications of this dualism in approaches (irrigation-centred or resource-centred) for basin management, livelihoods, conflict mediation and formal irrigation rehabilitation projects are explored.     

A model for regional optimal allocation of irrigation water resources under deficit irrigation and its applications

It is important to promote efficient use of water through better management of water resources, for social and economical sustainability in arid and semi-arid areas, under the conditions of severe water shortage. Based on the developments in deficit irrigation research, a recurrence control model for regional optimal allocation of irrigation water resources, aiming at overall maximum efficiency, is presented, with decomposition-harmonization principles of large systems. The model consists of three levels (layers). The first level involves dynamic programming (DP) for optimization of crop irrigation scheduling. The second level deals with optimal allocation of water resources among various crops. The last level concerns optimal allocation of water resources among different sub-regions. As a test, this model was applied to the combined optimal allocation of multiple water resources (surface, ground and in-take from the Weihe river) of Yangling, a semi-arid region on the Loess Plateau, China. Exemplary computation showed that not only are the results rational, but the method can also effectively overcome possible “dimensional obstacles” in dynamic programming of multiple dimensions. Furthermore, each sub-model is relatively independent by using various optimization methods. The model represents a new approach for improving irrigation efficiency, implementing water-saving irrigation, and solving the problem of water shortage in the region studied. The model can be extended in arid and semi-arid areas for better water management.     

三峡工程建成后湖北省长江防洪形

结合长江流域防洪规划，介绍了湖北省长江防洪规划，包括防洪标准及防洪体系等，分析了三峡工程建设前的湖北省长江防洪形势、当前（2007年）三峡工程对湖北省长江段的防洪作用以及三峡工程建成后湖北省长江防洪形势，在此基础上着重阐述了对三峡工程建成后湖北省长江防洪值得关注的荆江河势控制、城陵矶防洪控制水位及超额洪量转移问题的认识，并提出了建议。     

清、洪水灌溉条件下土壤中盐分运移规律的试验研究

在大同县罗庄村玉米地进行洪水灌溉与清水灌溉的大田灌水试验,研究在不同的灌水定额下,用洪水与清水灌溉后,土壤剖面上盐分的运移规律。研究结果表明:用洪水与清水灌溉后,土壤中盐分的运移规律基本相同;盐分随水分运动而向下运移的深度随灌水定额的增大而增大。     

Farmers' perception on self created water management rules in a pioneer scheme: The mula irrigation scheme, India

During the past two decades with farmer participation in irrigation management moving to center stage, the traditional view of having a centralized control over the water resources for better management has changed. Nevertheless, success of irrigation management transfer depend on a whole set of institutional arrangements or the rules-in-use and the willingness of the users to comply and enforce and/or change the rules in the light of changing circumstances. There are many institutional analyses of water sector, much of them touch on law, policy and administration, and characteristics of the users. The present paper is based on the study carried out to examine the institutional arrangements in one of the water users association that was first in the Maharashtra state. It focuses on the institutional arrangements governing water use and distribution and attempts to elicit the perceptions of the members regarding the rules-in-use. The findings reveal that the WUA has been successful in devising and enforcing the rules for water distribution, fee collection and conflict resolution for over a decade. However, current socio-economic developments such as political heterogeneity have required explicit conflict resolution mechanisms. These issues have now become issues demanding immediate attention and may be use of existing courts or legal institutions to help the WUA sustain in future.     

Main experiences on design and management of the Dujiangyan irrigation system

The largescale Dujiangyan Irrigation System has had a long history. Built some 2200 years ago, it still operates smoothly today. Two major causes for the obvious profits it has provided are:Firstly, Yuzui (a bifurcation pier), Feishayan (a sand outlet and spillway) and Baopingkou (a diversion intake for the general trunk canal), the three main head-works were built in accordance with the terrain and topography of the river and appropriately arranged, thus successfully solving the problem of sand discharge and flood control. Consequently the task of gravity diversion could be fulfilled over a long period.Secondly, there is a special management and maintenance system, which is made up of a technical and an administrative department. The former is in charge of the maintenance and drawing-up of flood control and water consuming plans. The latter is responsible to mobilize and organize farmers which benefit from the system to carry out related plans and tasks. The most apparent characteristics of management is that many farmers are organized to participate in the management of this irrigation system. At present, techniques like remote control and telemetery have been adopted. Also experiments on management automation and optimization of water allocation are being conducted.     

Water ‘banking’ in Fergana valley aquifers—A solution to water allocation in the Syrdarya river basin?

The Syrdarya river is an example of a transboundary basin with contradictory water use requirements between its upstream and downstream parts. Since the winter of 1992-93, the operational regime of the upstream Toktogul reservoir on the Naryn river - the main tributary of the Syrdarya - has shifted from irrigation to hydropower generation mode. This significantly increased winter flow and reduced summer flow downstream of the reservoir. Consequently, excessive winter flow is diverted to the saline depression called Arnasai, while water for summer irrigation is lacking. This study suggests to store the excessive winter flows temporarily in the upstream aquifers of the Fergana valley and to use it subsequently for irrigation in summer. It is estimated that groundwater development for irrigation could be practiced on one-third of the irrigated land of the valley, and conjunctive use of groundwater and canal water on another third; the rest will remain under canal irrigation. This strategy will lower the groundwater table and create aquifer capacity for temporal storage of excessive water—“water banking”. This use of the term is only one of many concepts to which “water banking” or “groundwater banking” is applied. In this paper, the term is applied for temporary storing of river flow in subsurface aquifers. Pilot modeling studies for the Sokh aquifer - one of the 18 aquifers of the Fergana valley - supported that this strategy is a feasible solution for the upstream-downstream issues in the Syrdarya river basin. Field studies of water banking are required to determine the scale of adoption of the proposed strategy for each aquifer of the Fergana valley.     

Reductions in water use following rehabilitation of a flood-irrigated area on the Murray River in South Australia

Water use was monitored during rehabilitation of flood-irrigated farms in the lower Murray River of South Australia. Ten irrigation offtakes at six farms were monitored over a period of two years during the rehabilitation process. Full rehabilitation consisted of improved inlet structures, flow metering, elimination of water leaks, laser levelling of paddocks, and construction of re-use systems to recycle excess surface irrigation runoff. Partial rehabilitation consisted of the same improvements with the exception of the re-use system. The mean water use per watering of 0.61 ± 0.08 Ml/ha for the fully rehabilitated farm was approximately one third of that for non-rehabilitated farms (1.89 ± 0.15 Ml/ha) and two thirds of that for partially rehabilitated farms (0.99 ± 0.07 Ml/ha). These differences were statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. A large improvement in efficiency of water use was achieved by upgraded water delivery infrastructure and laser levelling of paddocks. Considerable improvement in water use efficiency was also gained, however, only by installation of re-use systems. It is expected that the overall rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructure will result in a significant reduction of water extracted from the river for flood irrigation in this region. Further longer term monitoring is required to confirm this.     

宁夏灌区续建配套与节水改造项目良田渠治理措施

宁夏引黄灌区历史悠久,是我国大型灌区之一。自实施宁夏引黄灌区续建配套与节水改造项目以来,灌区骨干工程安全状况有了较大改善,渠道综合调控能力不断增强,灌区节水意识进一步提高。良田渠灌域是青铜峡河西灌区的组成部分,通过渠道砌护及建筑物新建、维修等改造工程措施,提高灌溉水利用系数,减少引黄水量,完善渠道防洪体系,为渠道提供安全的行水条件。对灌区经济持续发展和工程效益的充分发挥起到推动作用,同时对改善渠道沿线生态环境和城市美化也具有积极意义。      

干旱区内陆河水库洪水调度系统开发与研究

针对干旱区内陆河水库防洪灌溉调度的特点,在水雨情自动测报系统建立的基础上,研制出干旱区内陆河水库洪水调度系统。主要介绍干旱区内陆河水库洪水调度系统开发与研究过程,着重阐述了水库洪水预报调度系统软件总体结构、软件功能、运行环境、规范化和标准化设计,以及系统解决的关键技术问题,以新疆玛纳斯河流域中游的夹河子水库作为系统设计开发的实例,经实际洪水检验,预报精度较高,调度方案合理,且系统运行可靠、稳定、效果良好。     

引黄灌区纯井灌水均衡及效益分析

灌溉模式多是井渠双配套,导致工程重叠,土地占压多,引沙量大,且浪费有限的水资源。为实行开源节流,地表水与地下水联合应用,在引黄灌区部分区域开展纯井灌溉是非常必要的。茌平县阁三里位于位山引黄灌区中游,周围引黄条件好,却一直利用地下水实行纯井灌溉。该井灌区(以下简称试区)拥有丰富的地下水动态及水文地质资料,开展阁三里纯井灌水均衡及效益研究,对于指导当前水资源合理调度及工程规划具有重要意义。该文通过系统地分析研究,证明在引黄灌区内部分区域开展纯井灌是必要的、合理的、成功的。     

Can irrigation be sustainable?

Globally, about 10 Mha of agricultural land is lost annually due to salinisation, of which about 1.5 Mha is in irrigated areas. While some climate and management aspects are common to semi-arid regions, the detailed mechanisms and options to secure ecological sustainability and economic viability may vary considerably from case to case. This paper applies a whole of system-water balance to compare irrigation in three semi-arid regions suffering from similar sustainability issues: Rechna Doab (RD), Pakistan; the Liuyuankou irrigation system (LIS), China; and Murrumbidgee irrigation area (MIA), Australia. Soil salinity, lack of adequate water resources and groundwater management are major issues in these areas. The MIA and LIS irrigation systems also suffer from soil salinity and low water-use efficiency issues. These similarities occur in spite of very different climatic and underlying hydrogeological conditions. The key data used to compare these different regions are climate and soils, available water resources and their use, as well as components of the water balance. In addition, the history of water resource development in these areas is examined to understand how salinity problems emerge in semi-arid regions and the consequences for production. Based on the efficiency parameters and the definitions of sustainability, approaches are explored to solve common environmental problems while maintaining economic viability and environmental sustainability for irrigation systems.