<%@ Register TagPrefix="ucl" TagName="footer" src="../incs/footer.ascx" %> <%@ Register TagPrefix="ucl" TagName="header" src="../incs/header.ascx" %> <%@ Import Namespace="System"%> <%@ Page Language="VB"%> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd"> <HTML> <HEAD> <title>RIPARWIN (RAISING IRRIGATION PRODUCTIVITY AND RELEASING WATER FOR INTERSECTORAL NEEDS):: Lessons</title> <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2005"> <meta name="CODE_LANGUAGE" content="Visual Basic .NET 2005"> <meta name="vs_defaultClientScript" content="JavaScript"> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <meta name="description" content="Your website description goes here"> <meta name="keywords" content="your,keywords,goes,here"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../incs/stylesheet.css" type="text/css" media="screen,projection"> </HEAD> <body> <div id="container"> <div id="header"> <ucl:header id="header1" runat="server" /> </div> <div id="navigation"> <ul> <li style="WIDTH:100px"> <a href="http://www.iwmi.org">IWMI HOME</a></li> <li style="WIDTH:160px"> <a href="index.aspx">PROJECT OVERVIEW</a></li> <li style="WIDTH:190px"> <a href="Outputs.aspx">PUBLICATIONS / OUTPUTS</a> <!-- <li style="width:160px;"><a href="Miscellaneous.aspx">MISCELLANEOUS</a></li> --></li> <li style="WIDTH:160px"> <a href="Lessons.aspx" class="selected">LESSONS / RESULTS</a></li> </ul> </div> <div id="content"> <h2>RIPARWIN (RAISING IRRIGATION PRODUCTIVITY AND RELEASING WATER FOR INTERSECTORAL NEEDS)</h2> <h4><a href="../index.aspx" target="_self"></a></h4> <table> <tr> <td height="23"></td> </tr> </table> <p align="justify"> <table> <tr> <td> Improving local irrigation water efficiency and productivity can, in certain circumstances, be important. In water stressed catchments, where irrigation is located upstream of other uses and significant amounts of water are being lost in non-beneficial ways, improving the efficiency and productivity of irrigation is an important means of  freeing water for other uses. Lessons can be learned from smallholder farmers who often have no choice but to irrigate efficiently and effectively. <br><br>Care is needed in the design and planning of irrigation infrastructure. In water stressed catchments, where the intention must be to increase catchment level productivity and simultaneously improve the equitable sharing of water resources, careful consideration needs to be given to both the physical design and the management of intakes. This is particularly important in the absence of strong monitoring and regulation, when the opportunity for over abstraction of water is high. <br><br>Trade-offs between different ecosystems may be necessary. Where water is important for poverty reduction and socio-economic development, it is not reasonable to plan only environmentally favorable allocations and it maybe necessary to manage trade-offs between different ecosystems. Such trade-offs need to be based on detailed understanding of the consequences for ecosystem services, and their role in supporting the livelihoods of the poor. <br><br>Economic valuation alone is not sufficient for determining water allocation. Although the allocation of water should be informed by an understanding of its full economic value in various uses, this needs to be bolstered by consideration of equity and development needs. Sustainable water resource management requires that water be treated as both an economic and a social good. Mechanisms for benefit sharing need to be sought. <br><br>Contemporary systems for water management need to be cognizant of, and, where appropriate, build on existing indigenous arrangements. Enhancing community involvement in water management, through for example Water User Associations, is most effective when they build on and strengthen local water management approaches, while recognizing that customary arrangements can perpetrate inequitable sharing based on gender or poverty. Pragmatic mixing of new and existing management arrangements, to deal with contemporary problems of water allocation, can help to improve services and reduce conflicts. <br><br>Water management can be enhanced through tools that promote stakeholder dialogue. Tools such as the River Basin Game and the Ruaha Basin Decision Aid, which facilitate mutual understanding of system dynamics and social learning, provide a basis for discussion which allows stakeholders to contribute directly to ideas for improved water management. It is anticipated that decisions made with the assistance of such tools are more likely to be sustainable and potentially reduce conflict in the long-term. </td> </tr> </table> </p><br> </div> <div id="footer"> <ucl:footer id="footer1" runat="server" /> </div> </div> </body> </HTML>