IWMI Research Reports

Due to inadequate rainfall, groundwater has acquired a vital role in the development of Pakistanapos;s agricultural economy. However, a lack of awareness concerning the use of groundwater, either by itself or combined with canal water, has added large amounts of salt to the soil. As a result, large tracts of irrigated lands are already salinized, while many others are under threat. This report presents the results of a modeling study carried out to evaluate the long-term effects of a different quality of irrigation water on root zone salinity. The simulations were performed for the Rechna Doab (sub basin of the Indus Basin) in Pakistan, by using 15 years of actual rainfall and climatic data.

This report describes the development of the near real-time drought monitoring and reporting system for the region, which currently includes Afghanistan, Pakistan and western parts of India. The system is based on drought-related indices derived from high-resolution remote-sensing data (MODIS). The unique feature of the study is the development of regression relationships between drought-related indices obtained from MODIS and AVHRR data, which have different pixel-resolution and optical characteristics. The goal is to make the system available, via Internet, to all stakeholders in the region.

The management of water resources is being transformed in South Africa. All water users, especially the small-scale ones, are now invited to participate in this movement. This report reviews the process of inclusion of small-scale users in the new large-scale Water User Associations (WUA).Considering the difficulties encountered in this process, this report also recommend external monitoring after the transformation of an Irrigation Board into a WUA. This method may also facilitate assessment of the inclusion of small-scale users into catchment management agencies, and water resource management organizations.

India is a large country with regional differences in per-capita water supply and demand. Attempts to describe the water situation in India at a national level are often misleading due to the tremendous diversity in the water situation across the country. This Report analyzes the spatial variation of water supply and demand across river basins in India. The study identifies basins that are water-scarce because of inadequate water availability to meet the effective demand. It also identifies issues that are important for estimating the future water demand and for the formation of policy for future water-resources development and management.

Despite the importance of nutrient-water interactions, they are often ignored in analysis. After discussing the interrelationships between soil nutrients and water and reviewing methods for determining nutrient balances, this report describes an array of available methods for soil nutrient valuation and provides a discussion of four nutrient valuation studies, which together cover a range of scales, perspectives, and geographic contexts. It also includes case studies from Ghana, Mexico, sub-Saharan Africa, and an examination of possible approaches to valuing soil organic matter and its various functions—an often ignored area in literature

This report analyzes the evolving water-management institutions and their performance of five core water management functions, in the context of the ongoing economic and agrarian reform in the Kyrgyz Republic. These core water-management functions are, operation of water systems, maintenance, resource mobilization, conflict resolution and organizational management. The report also identifies key issues and challenges that constrain effective stakeholder participation in water-resources management.

This report provides a case study from the province of Esfahan, in central Iran, describing the struggle of a village to secure the water resources without which local agriculture, and altogether life in the village, would be impossible. It illustrates the endless ingenuity of farmers in their quest for water, how land and water rights have developed, how various legal repertoires may conflict with one another, and how the intervention of the state transformed the wider hydrological cycle of the valley and affected the delicate equilibrium between population and resources that had prevailed until then. The report estimates the costs of accessing one cubic meter from each of these different sources and shows how political interventions or drought mitigation policies elicit solutions that are extremely costly.

The overall objective of this paper is to outline the analytical framework and theoretical approach underlying a new research paradigm and illustrate how this paradigm can be used for the strategic analysis of water institutions by applying it to the Indian context.

Using a global analysis across 66 countries, this study empirically validates the presence of an Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) relationship for irrigation development. The resulting inverted U-shaped relationship between the level of irrigation and income implies that, water uses in irrigation and agriculture are considered more important in the early stage of development of a society. Once the economy grows, however, the relative importance of irrigation and water uses in agriculture declines, compared to water uses in other sectors.

The impacts of water resources and irrigation development need to be quantified in order to understand the environmental costs of such development activities. Complex data-intensive simulation methods are normally used for this purpose in the developed world. However, lack of reliable data prohibits the use of such models in developing countries where it is more practical to apply models with less data requirements. The report illustrates three applications of simple and pragmatic simulation models to small coastal water bodies in Sri Lanka and South Africa.

This report examines the development of eight small dam projects in the mountainous province of Al-Mahweet in north-central Yemen. The report also investigates how external assistance affects incentives for local people to invest in dam development and water delivery systems and also to create rules, property rights and institutional arrangements to manage the dam and water.

In the highly populated South Asian region, where pump irrigation has gained predominance over gravity-flow irrigation in recent decades, the fortunes of groundwater and energy economies are closely tied. Little can be done in the groundwater economy that will not affect the energy economy, and the struggle to make the energy economy viable is frustrated by the often violent opposition from the farming community to the rationalization of energy prices. As a result, the regionapos;s groundwater economy has boomed at the expense of the development of the energy economy. This report suggests that this does not have to be so; and the first step to evolving approaches to sustaining a prosperous groundwater economy with a viable power sector is for the decision makers in the two sectors to talk to each other, and jointly explore better options for energy-groundwater co-management which, the authors suggest, have so far been overlooked.

Today, there is an increasing worldwide interest in assessing the potential for maintaining or increasing rice yields by reducing or eliminating the use of chemicals and by decreasing irrigation requirements. The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) first developed in Madagascar and now being tested in many countries, is an example of such an approach. The system is based largely on organic farming principles and additional requirements for spacing and the transplanting of seedlings.

The paper presents a framework for water use in rice-based irrigation systems, which is based on linear programming (LP). This framework intends to facilitate improved understanding of a systemapos;s internal and external conditions and the constraints to productive use of the available land and water resources, and thereby create a reference for the assessment of the physical, economic and environmental performance of a given system. The framework is conceived as a tool that is used interactively in technical group sessions with farmers, system operators and extension workers, where structured discussions lead to improved data confidence, and understanding of complex irrigation systems.

By determining the capacity of relevant international, national and regional legislation to support sustainable use of water and land, planners, legislative drafters and policymakers have a basis for recommending legal and institutional reform. This report, based on an investigation into existing water- and land- management laws and issues in three countries in the region, offers a methodology that can be used for such evaluations.

The development of societies is shaped to a large extent by their resources base, notably water resources. Access to and control of water depend primarily on the available technology and engineering feats, such as river-diversion structures, canals, dams and dikes. As growing human pressure on water resources brings actual water use closer to potential ceilings, supply-augmentation options get scarcer, and societies, therefore, usually respond by adopting conservation measures and by reallocating water towards more beneficial uses.

The report examines the relationships between agricultural policies in the North China Plain, the approaches to water management that evolved from them, the quantity of water that was actually used, and the consequent groundwater depletion beneath Luancheng County, Hebei Province, from 1949 to 2000. To systematically address these relationships, we use a comprehensive water-balance approach. Our results indicate that a single, longstanding policy-that of using groundwater to meet the crop-water requirements not supplied by precipitation-is responsible for the steady rate of groundwater decline.

In India public (government) tubewells were built with the intention of providing irrigation to all categories of farmers in a fair, equitable and affordable manner. However, most public tubewell programs across India have failed on all these counts. Efforts to transfer their management to water users too have met with little success. Nonetheless, the Gujarat Water Resources Development Corporation (GWRDC)-a state-owned public company-has achieved rare success in tubewell transfer by handing over management of around 60 percent of public tubewells in the Gujarat state to user groups. This study tries to identify the factors that helped in accelerating the transfer process and evaluate the performance of transferred tubewells against those owned by individuals and GWRDC. It also suggests some policy changes that can make the scheme function better and explores the replicability of the success achieved in Gujarat.

The transmission of malaria in Sri Lanka is unstable; its incidence greatly fluctuates from year to year and exhibits important variations within a year. Identification of the underlying risk factors of malaria is important to target the limited resources for the most-effective control of the disease. This report presents the first results of a project on malaria risk mapping to investigate whether this tool could be utilized to forecast malaria epidemics. It documents the key malaria risk factors for the Uda Walawe region of Sri Lanka, where monthly malaria incidence data were available over a 10-year period. In the study, data on aggregate malaria-incidence rates, land-use and water-use patterns, socioeconomic features and malaria-control interventions were collected and analyzed in a geographical information system. Malaria cases were mapped at the smallest administrative level and relative risks for different variables were calculated employing multivariate analyses. The findings of the study call for malaria-control strategies that are readily adapted to different ecological and epidemiological settings.

This report analyses water productivity and water-saving initiatives in the Syr-Darya river basin in Central Asia and presents institutional and political aspects of water management in the basin.

The use of shallow wells, equipped with small pumps, to lift groundwater has spread rapidly in many agricultural regions of tropical monsoonal Asia. In Sri Lanka, the rapid and pervasive invasion of agro-wells and pumps drew the attention of policymakers and researchers, but many questions were left unanswered due to lack of research in the area. This study aims to fill this gap in knowledge, based on observations and data obtained in field surveys conducted in major and minor irrigation schemes in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. This report gives the key findings of this study into the pattern, extent and causes of the spread and use of agro-wells and pumps in traditional villages and irrigated settlement schemes. It investigates farmer investments in agro-wells and pumps, the private internal rate of return to these investments, the economic viability of investments and incentives for farmers to make investments

The purpose of this study is to analyze variations in wheat yields and to assess the range of factors affecting wheat yields and profitability of wheat production in the selected irrigation systems in India and Pakistan. The study attempts to identify constraints and opportunities for closing the existing yield gaps. It is hypothesized that substantial gains in aggregate yields can be obtained by improved water management practices at the farm and irrigation-system levels.

The practice of using untreated wastewater for irrigation is widespread but has been largely ignored because the norm has always been that wastewater should be treated before use. Increasing water scarcity, lack of money for treatment and a clear willingness by farmers to use untreated wastewater have led to an uncontrolled expansion of wastewater use. It is therefore important to better document the practice of irrigation with untreated wastewater in order to find out how it can be improved within the financial possibilities of very low-income countries.

Farming communities in water-scarce regions increasingly practice the use of urban wastewater in agriculture. Untreated urban wastewater is generally considered unacceptable for direct use because of potential health risks. However, in many parts of the world, poor farmers in peri-urban areas use untreated wastewater. This situation is considered likely to continue even in the foreseeable future due to the high investment cost associated with the installation of treatment facilities.

Increasing the area under irrigation and the widespread adoption of seed-fertilizer technology were the major factors that contributed to enhanced rice production in Sri Lanka, enabling the country to achieve self-sufficiency in rice. In recent years, there has been a shift in emphasis from expanding the irrigated land base to enhancing the productivity of irrigated land through diversification of agriculture and improvement of rice production, with better water management in irrigation schemes. This report attempts to assess how the irrigation sector in Sri Lanka is adapting itself to these new challenges. It analyzes the future direction of irrigation in Sri Lanka in light of recent trends in public and private investment in this sphere, and the revolution in groundwater development brought about by the poor performance and gradual deterioration of existing irrigation schemes.

A growing body of evidence on the impacts of irrigation management transfer (IMT) shows that IMT risks aggravating rural poverty. For governments that aim to continue irrigation management while ensuring that it contributes to poverty alleviation, a quot;pro-poorquot; mode of IMT needs to be designed and implemented. That is, a mode of IMT that benefits poor farmers while benefiting non-poor farmers equally, or perhaps to a lesser degree. The present research explores the scope for pro-poor modes of IMT in canal irrigation, focusing on large-scale canal irrigation schemes in India.

This report reviews several decades of global experience in transferring management of government-run irrigation systems to farmer associations or other nongovernmental agencies in an attempt to apply the lessons of success to the African smallholder irrigation context.

Although gender issues are today a priority on the agendas of irrigation policy makers, interventionists, farm leaders and researchers, there is still a considerable gap between positive intentions and concrete action. An important but hitherto ignored reason for this is the lack of adequate generic concepts and tools that are policy-relevant and can accommodate the vast variation in irrigation contexts worldwide. The Gender Performance Indicator for Irrigation (GPII) aims to fill this gap. In any particular scheme, this tool diagnoses the gendered organization of farming and gender-based inclusion or exclusion in irrigation institutions. It informs irrigation agencies what they themselves can do for effective change-if necessary. The tool also identifies gender issues beyond a strict mandate of irrigation water provision. The Indicator was applied and tested in nine case studies in Africa and Asia. The research report presents the underlying concepts, methodological guidelines and selected applications of the GPII.

This study uses both farmer surveys and physical measurements to understand the impact RCTs have had on water use and water savings in the irrigated Rice-Wheat Zone of Pakistanapos;s Punjab province. The findings show that field scale water savings achieved from RCTs is not necessarily equivalent to water savings at broader scales and may even result in an increase in overall water depletion.

Thousands of small irrigation reservoirs (tanks) exist in rice ecosystems in malarious regions of south Asia. The potential of these tanks to generate malaria-transmitting mosquitoes has not been adequately evaluated. Through a study of nine small irrigation tanks in north-central Sri Lanka, this report provides an assessment of the capacity of tanks to generate malaria and nuisance mosquitoes, factors that contribute to mosquito generation, and measures that could ameliorate the problem.

Changes in the way water is used in one part of a river basin often affect how water is used somewhere else in that basin. This report introduces the concept of hydronomic ( hydro water + nomus management) zones that were developed to help untangle some of the complexities of basin-wide water resource use.

Coping with scarcity of water supply for managing irrigation under uncertain and inadequate conditions has become part and parcel of many irrigation systems in the semiarid tropics of Asia. Based on a case study of the Kirindi Oya Irrigation and Settlement Project (KOISP) in southern Sri Lanka, this report provides evidence of the uncertain and inadequate inflow into the reservoir and its impact on the seasonal planning.

This report analyzes the history of groundwater development in the eastern Uttar Pradesh region over the 1950-1990 period. Its main conclusion is that the story of groundwater-based livelihood creation in the Ganga basin is one of failed public initiatives and successful adaptive responses by private agents. However, tube-well-induced agrarian dynamism in eastern Uttar Pradesh and north Bihar in recent years can spread to the entire basin if public policy makers learn correct lessons from the experience of these two subregions.

A clear understanding of the current water balance is required to explore options for water saving measures. However, measurement of all the terms in the water balance is infeasible in terms of spatial and temporal scale, but hydrological simulation models can fill the gap between measured and required data. For a basin in Western Turkey, simulation modeling at three different scales, field, irrigation scheme and basin scale, was performed to obtain all terms of the water balance. These water balance numbers were used to calculate the Productivity of Water at the three spatial levels distinguished to assess the performance of the systems.

Inadequate funding for maintenance of irrigation works and emerging shortages of water are prevalent. The use of water charges to generate resources for maintenance and to reduce demand is widely advocated. Examples from other utilities, and from the domestic/industrial sectors of water supply suggest the approach could be effective.; In developing countries, the facilities required for measured and controlled delivery of irrigation are rarely in place, and would require a massive investment in physical, legal and administrative infrastructure.; To be effective in curtailing demand, the marginal price of water must be significant. The price levels required to cover operation and maintenance (Oamp;M) costs are too low to have a substantial impact on demand, much less to actually bring supply and demand into balance. On the other hand, the prices required to control demand are unlikely to be within the politically feasible range.; Furthermore, water supplied is a proper measure of service in domestic and industrial uses. But in irrigation, and especially as the water resource itself becomes constrained, water consumption is the appropriate unit for water accounting. This is exceptionally difficult to measure.; An alternative approach to cope with shortage would focus on assigning volumes to specific uses—effectively rationing water where demand exceeds supply. This approach has a number of potential benefits including simplicity, transparency, and the potential to tailor allocations specifically to hydrological situations, particularly where salinity is a problem.; Data from Iran are presented to support these contentions.

Although irrigation projects often provide water for more than crop irrigation, water allocation and management decisions often do not account for nonirrigation uses of water. Failure to account for the multiple uses of irrigation water may result in inefficient and inequitable water allocation decisions. Decision-makers often lack information on the relative economic contributions of water in irrigation and nonirrigation uses. This report addresses this problem. It examines the relative economic contributions of irrigated agriculture and reservoir fisheries in the Kirindi Oya irrigation system, located in southeastern Sri Lanka. The results of the analysis indicate the importance of both irrigated paddy production and reservoir fisheries to the local economy. They also demonstrate significant potential financial and economic gains to irrigated agriculture from improvements in water management practices.

Describes the use of a distributed hydrologic model to evaluate different data scenarios. The study attempted to answer questions such as; what will happen to the basin water resources if a)there is a change in climate; b)it is decided that more water must be retained in the river for environmental reasons; c)more water is extracted for urban and industrial use; d)the timing and accounts used for water are changed?

Discusses and illustrates concepts for identifying ways of improving productivity of water within basins. The results of applying a water accounting procedure to four sub-basins in South Asia (Bhakra in India; Chishtian in Pakistan; Huruluwewa in nothern Sri Lanka; and Kirindi Oya in southern Sri Lanka) are presented. The methodology used identifies the quantities and productivity of various uses of water within a basin. This information is then used to identify the water-saving potential, and the means of improving the productivity of the managed supplies.

Better water management in irrigation tank cascade systems is vital in achieving higher productive use of available water. To develop and implement management practices aimed at improving effective use of water, studies leading to the development of models that can predict available tank water in irrigation tank cascade systems are invaluable. This report presents a simple water balance model, Cascade, developed to predict tank water availability in the Thirappane tank cascade system in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. The report includes calibration of the model and its application to predict tank water availability for rice crops over a 10-year period.

More irrigated land is devoted to rice than to any other crop. A method to save water in irrigated rice cultivation is the intermittent drying of the rice fields, known as alternate wet/dry irrigation (AWDI). This report reviews previous studies in AWDI, with a focus on mosquito vector control, water saving, and rice yields. Examples are provided from a number of countries.

Studies the low-cost alternative strategy of selective lining of watercourses to reduce seepage and increase irrigated areas in the Indian subcontinent. Satellite remote-sensing (SRS) is seen as a cost-effective evaluation tool in view of its large area of synoptic and repetitive coverage.

An assessment of the social impact of treadle pump technology for manual irrigation in eastern India, the Nepal Terai, and Bangladesh, South Asiaapos;s so-called quot;poverty square.quot; Treadle pump technology can be a powerful tool for poverty reduction in this region. It quot;self-selectsquot; the poor, and puts to productive use the regionapos;s vast surplus family labor. It is claimed that the treadle pump could raise the annual net household income by US$100, on the average.

A study of the enormous differences in agricultural productivity that exist across farms and regions in Pakistan, where, for example, recent farm-level data from Sindh, indicates that irrigated wheat output per hectare varies from 0.5 to 5.4 tons across farms. Looks at the central goal of agricultural policy in the country, viz. improving and sustaining productivity, narrowing the existing productivity gaps, and enhancing resource use efficiencies to meet food requirements of a rapidly growing population.

River basins are complex areas, combining the natural processes of precipitation, evapotranspiration, surface water and groundwater runoff with man-made features such as dams and reservoirs, diversions and irrigation schemes, and industrial and urban water uses. Computer models may be constructed to represent these natural and man-made processes. Such models are used to help understand processes that are difficult to measure (such as evaporation) and to study the effects of changes in land cover, water management or climate on the natural and man-made processes.

An overview of an experiment in which 8 different methods of estimating actual evaporation and transpiration were compared using a common database. Methods based on field data, hydrological models, and satellite data were used and the objectives were to compare results and to assess the utility of each method for various applications.

From a river-basin perspective, wastewater irrigation is an important form of water and nutrient reuse; however, there are important water quality, environmental, and public health considerations. This report explores the advantages and risks of urban wastewater reuse for crop production in the water-short Guanajuato river-basin in west-central Mexico, and then by a selective literature review demonstrates how common this practice is worldwide. It also evaluates several alternative water-management scenarios through application of the Interactive River Aquifer Simulation (IRAS) model, developed by Cornell University and Resource Planning Associates.

Public domain datasets are freely available on the Internet are easy to obtain, and often more up-to-date than those from local sources. This simplifies the modeling process and increases the ability to model basins anywhere in the world, from anywhere with Internet access. Although not all types of data are available, and some conversions may be needed, the information provided does allow for quick and easy simulations of basins. The Semi-Distributed Land-Use Runoff Process (SLURP) hydrological model has been designed to take advantage of such data sources. The application described in this report uses public domain data for topography, land use, seasonal variation in leaf area index (for transpiration) and climate data- all without calibration of parameters.

Of the four major ways of storing water —in the soil profile, in underground aquifers, in small reservoirs, and in large reservoirs behind dams—the first is possible only for relatively short periods of time. In this paper, the authors concentrate on the three kinds of long-term technologies, and compare the hydrological, operational, economic and environmental aspects of each.

Examines the extent to which the Government of Indonesiaapos;s aspirations were realized through turnover program adopted in 1987. The impacts of management turnover on irrigation management and irrigated agriculture in selected systems in West and Central Java are analyzed. This study is part of a comparative research program to examine the impacts of irrigation management transfer in several countries using a common methodology.

Presents the results of case-studies of the functioning of four pump-based irrigation systems in the Niger River Valley. Prospects for sustainability are analyzed, especially in the light of the governmentapos;s policy of promoting irrigator organizations to take over responsibilities for operation and maintenance.

Defines the degree of womenapos;s involvement in irrigated agriculture and water users associations in two private irrigation canals in Ecuador and identifies factors that limit their involvement. Analyzes the effects of intra-household dynamics and the womenapos;s urban/rural backgrounds on participation.

Demonstrates the viability of farmers organizations for managing parts of the water resource system to achieve efficient and equitable use of water in a hierarchical society such as Pakistan. Suggests a successful conceptual and methodological framework for taking a bottom-up approach to the formation of water users associations and identifies possible constraints on its wider application.

Presents an improved methodology for evaluating the resource demands necessary for effective canal operations. Includes identification and analysis of three operational domains: vulnerability, sensitivity and perturbation. Enables more cost-effective strategies and procedures for operation, and priorities for rehabilitation or modernization of physical infrastructure.

Describes the application of a standard methodology developed by IWMI to assess the impact of irrigation management transfer on the performance of irrigation schemes. Includes detailed analysis of the effects of participatory management on the performance of irrigation schemes in Sri Lanka.

Evaluates the performance of the Bhadra Reservoir Project-before, during, and after the introduction of modernization with structured system design. Analysis focuses on water management, agricultural productivity, and farmer participation and perception. Identifies the absence of a continuing support mechanism and lack of farmer participation as the major causes for the projectapos;s decline.

Sri Lanka is a country with vast spatial and seasonal variations of water supply and demand. Statistics in the form of aggregated information at national level sometimes mask issues of local water scarcity. But when the same indicators are used at subunit level, a substantial area of the country comes under severe water-scarce conditions. Knowledge of subunit level water scarcities is very important because most of the food requirement of the country at present comes from water-scarce regions and projected additional requirements are also to be met by the same regions.

Defines the degree of womenapos;s involvement in irrigated agriculture and water users associations in two private irrigation canals in Ecuador and identifies factors that limit their involvement. Analyzes the effects of intra-household dynamics and the womenapos;s urban/rural backgrounds on participation.

Tests the hypothesis that timely surface cultivation before monsoon or winter rains in semiarid and arid areas will assist reclamation of abandoned saline soils. The effect of surface cultivation, monsoon rains, depth to water table, and ground water salinity on secondary salinity are evaluated using a numerical model, SWAP93.

This report presents a methodology for identifying the main characteristic features (constraints and opportunities) of gravity-fed irrigation systems, which influence management and operation of the system for the purpose of water delivery. It presents the development of a generic typology for improving irrigation system operations. A case study of 64 irrigation systems in Sri Lanka is presented illustrating the practical application of the proposed typology.

Describes the use of satellite remote sensing and GIs techniques to analyze the agricultural performance and sustainability of the Bhakra Irrigation System in India. Demonstrates the cost-effectiveness of these techniques as diagnostic tools for irrigation system improvement and the advantages of using SRS and GIs in combination.

Describes the results of an irrigation performance evaluation using remote sensing techniques, GIS procedures, and hydrologic modeling at a regional scale. Demonstrates how advanced information technologies support the analysis of irrigation performance by facilitating an in-depth study of a large irrigated area.

Watershed analysis provides a framework for ecosystem management, which is currently the best option for conservation and management of natural resources. The current methods of assessing hydrologic impacts of land use transformation at the watershed scale, particularly in the tropics, are impaired by technical, financial and time constraints. This study provides an alternative approach to ascertain the actual changes in hydrologic response of a particular watershed to land use transformations made in the past.

Assess the impacts of the current national irrigation management transfer program in Colombia. Examines the context of transfer, the basic transfer strategy, the impacts of transfer, and the powers and functions devolved in the transferred districts. The need to use the transfer process to create local management self-reliance is also stressed.

Assess the impacts of the current national irrigation management transfer program in Colombia. Examines the context of transfer, the basic transfer strategy, the impacts of transfer, and the powers and functions devolved in the transferred districts. The need to use the transfer process to create local management self-reliance is also stressed.

Explores the theoretical and actual responses of farmers faced with irrigation supplies that are limited in relation to available land and labor resources, and where the actual schedule and available volume for delivery are uncertain.

Evaluates the degree of success of water users in managing water allocations and deliveries in two irrigation district modules in the Lagunera Region of Mexico. Policies and practices are evaluated from the standpoints of the nature of planning rules, consistency, equity, and efficiency in implementation of the plans.

Evaluates the degree of success of water users in managing water allocations and deliveries in two irrigation district modules in the Lagunera Region of Mexico. Policies and practices are evaluated from the standpoints of the nature of planning rules, consistency, equity, and efficiency in implementation of the plans.

Describes and evaluates the application of IWMIapos;s minimum set of performance indicators to the Alto Rio Lerma Irrigation District, and compares this with the application of a small set of process performance indicators.

Describes and evaluates the application of IWMIapos;s minimum set of performance indicators to the Alto Rio Lerma Irrigation District, and compares this with the application of a small set of process performance indicators.

Presents a case study of the institutional implications of remodeling an old irrigation system in northern Pakistan. Highlights the importance for donors and project planners to consider institutional issues such as water allocation rules, operation procedures, and organizational capacity for post-construction system management along with changes to the physical infrastructure.

Outlines IWMIapos;s external and other comparative performance indicators that allow for analysis of irrigation performance across systems. The purpose of these indicators is to understand the current situation with respect to productive utilization of land and water, to compare relative performance of systems, and to identify where performance can be improved.

Presents two alternative scenarios of water demand and supply for 118 countries over the 1990 to 2025 period and develops indicators of water scarcity for each country and for the world as a whole. This study is the first step in IWMIapos;s long-term research goal: to determine the extent and depth of water scarcity, its consequences for individual countries and what can be done about it.

Assesses the impact of rehabilitation interventions on irrigation system performance using time series analysis. The study demonstrates that with proper impact specification and model identification, the nature and magnitude of the impacts of different interventions can be separated from the effects of simultaneous changes in dominant exogenous factors.

Focuses on the existing gap between the traditional design concepts of warabandi - in irrigation water allocation method practiced in Pakistan and Northern India - and its actual practice. Within this focus it also outlines some institutional implications of the present practice of warabandi and identifies further research and policy needs.

Tests the hypothesis that, in general, irrigation management transfer has positive impacts on operation performance, managerial accountability, Oamp;M budgeting and expenditures, costs of water to farmers, and agricultural and economic productivity in the Alto Rio Lerma Irrigation District in Mexico. Evaluates the potential of the Mexican IMT process as a model for other countries.

Describes the process of transfer of irrigation districts in Mexico from public ownership to joint management, where responsibility for irrigation Oamp;M is shared between the public irrigation agency and water user associations. It evaluates the sustainability of transferred systems and discusses needed changes.

Describes the process of transfer of irrigation districts in Mexico from public ownership to joint management, where responsibility for irrigation Oamp;M is shared between the public irrigation agency and water user associations. It evaluates the sustainability of transferred systems and discusses needed changes.

Tests the hypothesis that, in general, irrigation management transfer has positive impacts on operation performance, managerial accountability, Oamp;M budgeting and expenditures, costs of water to farmers, and agricultural and economic productivity in the Alto Rio Lerma Irrigation District in Mexico. Evaluates the potential of the Mexican IMT process as a model for other countries.

Discusses the potential opportunities and pitfalls of introducing market forces into the process of water allocation. Proposes several preconditions for beneficial privatization of water allocation and argues for a more sophisticated form of analysis than that generally allowed by proponents of basic needs or of free market approaches.

Presents a methodology for planning the rehabilitation and improvement of small-scale irrigation systems within the context of the water basin when information on hydrology and water use is inadequate. The methodology is useful to those undertaking irrigation rehabilitation projects in similar circumstances, and it may also be extended to water resources planning in many other circumstances.

Explores the relationship of water distribution rules to water distribution performance in the Tambraparani Irrigation System in India. Argues that if water distribution rules do not match the irrigation services desired by the users, the users subvert the rules to provide the water deliveries they require, with negative impacts on water distribution performance and equity, and the cost of irrigation.

Evaluates data from 29 different studies on irrigation management transfer to assess the impacts of transfer on various aspects of irrigation system management. Twelve guiding principles to ensure a more systematic approach to research on the impacts of management transfer are proposed. Identifies key research propositions on the conditions necessary for transfer programs to succeed.

Describes the use of satellite remote sensing and geographic information system techniques to obtain information on primary agricultural productivity and irrigation system performance in a large rice irrigation system in India. Discusses the potential and cost-effectiveness of SRS techniques for making inventories and monitoring agricultural productivity.

Explores the effects of plots allocation on womenapos;s labor contributions in the Dakiri irrigation system of Burkina Faso. Compares intra-household distribution of income derived from agricultural activities when men are the sole owners of plots to income distribution when both men and women within the same household own irrigated plots.

Argues that single irrigation systems managed by autonomous system-specific organizations accountable to their customers, perform better and are more sustainable than those managed by agencies dependent on the government, or by agencies responsible for multiple systems. Selected cases are reviewed and the plausibility of this hypothesis established. General recommendations are made for policy makers designing irrigation reform programs.

Examines multiple factors in womenapos;s involvement/non-involvement in irrigation in the Chhattis Mauja irrigation scheme in Nepal. Includes an empirical analysis of the livelihood strategies of farm households, documentation of the level and nature of participation of women and men in the water usersapos; organizations, analysis of womenapos;s access to irrigation services, and an examination of the need and desirability of increasing the participation of woman in the scheme organization.

Describes a streamlined approach to calculating water and salinity balances in three different irrigated areas of Pakistan where salinity is a major problem. Explores the impact of current irrigation and agronomic practices on salinity and suggests corrective measures.

Outlines the IWMI Water Balance Framework, which identifies sources, uses and reuses of water. The framework will be of interest to those involved in the design of irrigation projects and in the formulation of improvements to existing infrastructure of operational rules. Managers of irrigation projects will also find it useful for interpreting water use efficiency, or for identifying interventions to improve the efficiency and sustainability of their projects.

Evaluates the turnover of two formerly government-managed irrigation districts in Colombia to the water usersapos; associations. Impacts are analyzed in terms of the cost of irrigation to farmers and the government, the quality of water distribution, the sustainability of irrigation, the productivity of agriculture, and farmer income.

Presents the concept of integrated water resources systems (IWS) as clearly and simply as possible, with a focus on the irrigation sector-the largest and most complex user of water.

Combines and interprets results from a number of studies that were designed to help the Egyptian government formulate a rational approach to sharing the costs of water services among the beneficiaries-agriculture and other users-and government. Highlights lessons transferable to other countries.

Examines the concept of water efficiency, the impact of water recycling and implications for water management. Distinguishes between quot;wetquot; and quot;dryquot; water savings, and explores opportunities for creating quot;wetquot; savings-savings that make more water available for use in a basin.