Valuing Water in a Multiple-Use System – Irrigated Agriculture and Reservoir Fisheries

Irrigation projects often provide water formany uses beyond crop irrigation. Sincewater uses within an irrigation system areoften interdependent, failure to addressall uses may result in inefficient,inequitable, unsustainable, or unsafe waterallocations. Accounting for the multipleuses of irrigation water leads to moreinformed decision making, resulting in moreproductive, equitable, and sustainableoutcomes. This paper demonstrates theimportance of accounting for alternativeuses of irrigation water by examining theeconomic contribution of agriculture, arecognized consumptive water use, andreservoir fisheries, an unrecognizednonconsumptive water use. The economicvalues of water for these uses areestimated for the irrigation project areaas a whole and on a per-cubic-meter basis. These values are used to examine theeconomic implications of alternativeintegrative water management practices. Theanalysis focuses on the Kirindi Oyairrigation system, located in southeasternSri Lanka, and has broader implications forother multiple-use systems.