Chapter I INTRODUCTION

1.1

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

The irrigation system of Pakistan is the largest integrated irrigation network in the world serving approximately 18 million ha of cultivated land. The water of the Indus River and its principal tributaries (the Kabul, the Swat, and Kunar from the West, and the Jehlum, the Chanab, from the East) feed the system. The concept of participation of a farming community in irrigated agriculture in Indo-Pak subcontinent is not new as it has been practiced since time immemorial (Gill 1998). The civil canals in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan are an example of Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) and these have been constructed, operated and maintained by the stakeholders since long (1568-1800).

Irrigation development in Pakistan started on a technical foundation in the latter part of 19th century with major objectives to reduce the risk of famine and
P P

maintain political and social stability (Stone 1984). The irrigation system was designed with an objective to optimize the production per unit of available water, ensuring equitable distribution between canals, branches and also among the offtakes (outlets). The duty (area irrigated by unit discharge during the base period) was fixed relatively high in order to irrigate more land with low cropping intensities. Another design objective was to keep the administrative and operational requirements and cost as low as possible and therefore the

number of control structures in the canals was kept to a minimum. The irrigation intensity was also kept low at an average of 75 percent. This design practice is known as protective irrigation (Jurriens 1993, Jurriens et al. 1996).

The major constraints to maximize agriculture production in canal commands are due to poor irrigation water management practices. Only 30 to 40 percent of diverted river water to canals ultimately becomes available for the crops (Kahlown and Kemper 2004). Aggregate irrigation water supply does not meet the optimal yield of crops. The time pattern of water supplies is not matched with time pattern of crop water needs. Uncertain and inequitable distribution of supply results in water deficiencies in tail reaches, of canals while upper reaches take excess irrigation supply (Bhutta et al. 1991; Latif and Pomee 2003). In the beginning of the season, farmers have no choice to decide the cropping pattern and cropped area with respect to expected supply in the coming season.

The irrigation system is operated on a continuous schedule at the main system level and at fixed rotational schedule at farm level, the combination of this rigid delivery allows for more economical delivery system operations. The irrigation system consists of a network of alluvial channels. The hydraulic design of a stable alluvial channel requires constant flow at full supply as much as possible. Consequently the outlet normally delivers a constant quantum of supply in the watercourses automatically without any manual regulation. If the flow depth fluctuates, regime of the channel gets seriously upset resulting in

silting (for lower discharges) or scouring (for higher discharges). Most of the channels are silted up at the head reaches which makes the distribution inequitable i.e. upper outlets drawing excess discharge and the outlets in the lower portions start suffering. To feed the outlet in the tail reach the canals have to run with extra supply at the head, which further upsets the regime.

The irrigation systems in Pakistan has a number of inherent deficiencies associated with poor operation and maintenance, which need to be improved to bring out put at par with the world's most efficient irrigation systems. Inefficient and ineffective irrigation management leads to a reduction in crop production levels due to a decline in cropped areas and in crop yields per unit area, which are considerably below potential. Due to mismanagement of the irrigation system, a major lesson learned is that government agencies are not effective for managing the irrigation system without involving the farmers.

1.2

RECENT DEVELOPMENT

The Government of Pakistan (GoP) has recently introduced Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) in the irrigation systems by contraction and reduction of its role and correspondingly expanding the role of water users and other private sector institutions in the process of irrigation management turnover. The turnover process is designed to ensure sustainability of irrigated agriculture, reduce financial burden on government, pass responsibility of operation and maintenance to users, increase water use efficiency, to improve sustainability of the systems. Participation is the core concept used to develop

the capacity and capabilities of farmers organizations to manage the irrigation systems.

The Pakistan Government has revealed plans to introduce participatory irrigation management (PIM). According to this policy decision, the major canal commands are managed by Area Water Boards (AWBs) controlled by farmers organizations (FOs) and Government representatives. These AWBs distribute water to farmers organizations (FOs) within that command. At the provincial level, the existing Provincial Irrigation Departments are reconstituted as Frontier Irrigation and Drainage Authorities (FIDAs) providing technical support and supervision to AWBs. The new authorities have greater autonomy from the provincial government, as well as greater accountability to the water users.

1.3

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

Operational, maintenance and management aspects of the irrigation system play a pivotal role in overall irrigation management aspects. Without improving this part, no optimal results can be obtained. Improvement and modification to the irrigation systems creates greater flexibility in adapting new modified cropping patterns according to changing market requirements. Flow control of irrigation water is essential for effective irrigation system performance. Efficient operation of an irrigation system requires a constant flow of information between farmer organization, operators, data collectors and overall operation policy makers. Policy makers are interested in the general status of the systems (actual situation versus target) and water availability. Operators require precise and

timely instructions on how to operate gates. Farmers want reliable information on water availability and planned allocations so they can effectively plan investments and activities. Field data on rainfall, river and canal flows, actual cropping pattern, etc., should be promptly transmitted and processed for effective use in operation, regulation and management of the irrigation systems.

Presently, the irrigation systems are operated with concern largely for the hydraulic aspects of water conveyance. The surprising characteristics of canal hydraulic operation are the degree of variations that occur daily. Little effort has been taken to improve the operation of the irrigation system and distribution of supplies among distributaries with respect to crop water requirements within available water supply at main canal head. At present irrigation systems face the following chronic problems: Lack of effective monitoring and evaluation of water delivery performance to check whether target discharges have been achieved. Insufficient information on the status of gates and control structures to enable operators and managers to determine whether operation plans can be effectively implemented. Lack of farmers participation at minor and distributary levels in water distribution and maintenance.

Achieving adequacy, efficiency, reliability and equity of the delivered irrigation water are the main objectives in operation and maintenance of the delivery systems. Poor performance of the irrigation water delivery systems has often been attributed to lack of flow control structures, operation, management and

maintenance of the irrigation systems. The objective of this research is therefore to seek ways of addressing these inadequacies through a series of field activities aimed at providing reasonably accurate measured information for assessing performance of recent irrigation management transferred systems to farmers organizations.

1.4

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

In present day context of irrigation management transfer, operation and maintenance has been treated as a central issue, but it is a complex sociotechnical activity which has been inadequately studied and neglected despite evidence that effectiveness to improve the conditions at the tertiary level i.e. below the farmers offtakes (outlet), weakness in the operation of main and distributary level irrigation system has to be rectified. This is the first study in NWFP province by an outside agency on irrigation management turnover (IMT) and operation of irrigation systems by farmers organizations.

Many studies in the past have focused on the effect of improved management and institutional developments on irrigation systems performance using multidisciplinary approach e.g. Command Water Management Project (CWMP) and Irrigation System Management Rehabilitation Project (ISMRP). Studies exploring the effect of the relationship between joint operations and irrigation management transfer to farmers organizations (FOs) hardly exists. This study investigates the operational problems of the farmers managed irrigation systems and suggests operational procedures for their improvement.

The physical (hardware) aspects of the construction of irrigation systems have received intensive attention of Government of NWFP, while the maintenance and management (software) have received very little attention. Maintenance of irrigation network is essential for sustainability of agricultural production. For example, improved irrigation maintenance can make multiple cropping possible and can extend the irrigated area by making more efficient use of available irrigation water. Much evidence exists indicating that improvements in operation and maintenance of irrigation system can lead to substantial and sometimes dramatic improvements in both equity water distribution and production. However, various benefits can be derived from better irrigation management transfer (IMT) of existing irrigation systems.

Finally, it can be argued effectively that, when viewing the irrigation system as whole, increased attention to the operating policies and management plans open the way for major advances in the irrigation system performance. This study is mainly concerned with the operation based on Irrigation Management Information System (IMIS), which impact the irrigation systems ability to effectively meet the needs of the farmers organizations. As the complete irrigation infrastructure are recently constructed, modernized and optimally maintained. The maintenance requirements presently at secondary

(distributary) level are very less, therefore not included in study.

1.5

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

The objective of the research was to develop a procedure for assessing performance based on the capability and potential of farmers organizations using irrigation management information systems (IMIS) and to adopt future strategies to adjust the systems to improve the current performance through hydraulic modeling. Specific objectives of the study were to: 1. Assess the impact of irrigation management transfer (IMT) on the performance of the irrigation system using irrigation management information system (IMIS) techniques. 2. Evaluate the effectiveness of the physical infrastructure with Simulation of Irrigation Canal (SIC) hydrodynamic model. 3. Develop operational strategies using a SIC hydrodynamic model to improve the manual operation of the irrigation system with the assistance of farmers organizations (FOs) and Area Water Boards (AWBs).