Beyond politics, knowledge bridge in Indus Basin.

The 'Informing Change in the Indus Basin' is a DFID funded project under the South Asia Water Governance Programme. Throughout the project, the International Water Management Institute and its partners have been engaged with media across the Basin, to expose journalists to key research, and explore complex topics including water and climate change. This chapter presents a case study, analysing the context, challenges and lessons learnt from this experience.

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF IRRIGATION SCHEMES IN RUGERAMIGOZI MARSHLAND, RWANDA

Evaluating irrigation schemes contributes to the identification of performance gaps and this may lead to implementation of necessary improvements for enhancing agricultural productivity. In Rwanda, despite significant investments in irrigated agriculture, most of the irrigation schemes are performing far below their planned capacity. This study aimed at benchmarking the performance of Rugeramigozi 1 and Rugeramigozi 2 irrigation schemes located in Rugeramigozi marshland, Rwanda using irrigation indicators developed by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). The study showed that land productivity for both the two irrigation schemes was generally low. Rugeramigozi 2 irrigation scheme had superior performance than Rugeramigozi 1 in terms of water productivity due to adoption of deficit irrigation strategies that promoted water conservation. The performance indicators for water service delivery showed that water use was more sufficient in Rugeramigozi 1 compared to Rugeramigozi 2 irrigation scheme. The water delivery capacity performance for both schemes revealed that the existing irrigation canals were sufficient to meet the irrigation water requirements at peak demand. The analysis of financial performance in both schemes indicated that the collected irrigation fees were inadequate to cover the operation and maintenance costs. Similarly, the gross returns on investment were low in both irrigation schemes due to low crop yields that generated low revenue for farmers. Overall, the performance indicators showed that both Rugeramigozi 1 and Rugeramigozi 2 irrigation schemes were in need of intensive management and infrastructural improvements in order to increase productivity and enhance sustainability of the schemes.

Modernized Irrigation Technologies in West Africa

Crop production in West Africa is mostly dependent upon rainfed agriculture. Irrigation is a vital need due to uneven distribution of rainfall and seasonality of water resources. However, management and sustainability of irrigation are under risk due to notably weak database, excessive cost, unappropriate soil or land use, environmental problems and extreme pessimism in some quarters since rainfed agriculture is seen as potentially able to support the present population. This paper focuses on modernized irrigation technologies and systems that utilize less water. Information about irrigation systems in Ghana and Liberia were gathered through: 1) Irrigation development authorities in both countries, by reviewing past literatures, online publications, reports and files about irrigation in West Africa, specifically Ghana and Liberia; 2) International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); 3) Collation of information, reports and data from Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA) and 4) International Water Management Institute (IWMI). The result shows that both countries have higher irrigation potential. However, the areas developed for irrigation is still a small portion as compare to the total land available for irrigation. On the other hand, as seen in the result, Liberia as compare to Ghana has even low level of irrigation development.

National River Linking Project of India

India plans to transfer water from the water surplus region of the north-east to the water scarce regions of western and southern India. The plan is called the National River Linking Project (NRLP). Sixteen links in the Himalayan region and 14 links in the Peninsular region are proposed that will transfer annually about 174 Billion m3 (Bm3) of water through a canal network of 14,900 km. It will involve connecting 37 rivers and construction of dams/storages in 3,000 places. It is estimated to cost US$ 120 Billion (in 2000 price). The projected benefits are additional irrigation to 34 million hectares of land, generation of 34,000 MW of electricity, reduction of floods, and social upliftment. Many prominent experts and personalities have criticized the project claiming that it will be a financial, social and environmental disaster. Both the proponents and opponents think that India will be doomed depending on whether the NRLP is implemented or not (Amarsinghe 2009). The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in collaboration with the Challenge Program for Water & Food (CPWF) undertook a three year Strategic Analysis of the NRLP to evaluate the NRLP concept with a detailed analysis. This paper is a general description of the NRLP, and it summarizes the findings of the Strategic Analysis of this Project undertaken by IWMI-CPWF. Further, it explores the possible consequences to India's neighbors in general and Nepal in particular.Hydro Nepal; Journal of Water, Energy and EnvironmentVol. 12, 2013, JanuaryPage: 13-19DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/hn.v12i0.9026Uploaded Date : 10/28/2013

A remote sensing-based approach for water accounting in the East Rapti River Basin, Nepal

Accurate estimates of evapotranspiration across different land uses are a major challenge in the process of understanding water availability and uses in a river basin. This study demonstrated a remote sensing-based procedure for accurately generating evaporative depletion and runoff in mountainous areas using Landsat ETM+ images combined with standard hydro-meteorological data. The data was used as a key input into the International Water Management Institute (IWMI)’s water accounting procedure to understand how water is now used, and opportunities for improvements in the future. We found a higher annual actual evapotranspiration from the riparian forest than from irrigated agriculture in the East Rapti River basin of Nepal. Another important finding of our study is that simple rainfall surplus can be a good predictor of river flow at an ungagged site of the East Rapti River basin. The water accounting analysis revealed that there is the potential for further development of water resources in the East Rapti River basin as only 59% of the total available water is depleted. A critical analysis of social and ecological flow requirements downstream is necessary before any development of water resources upstream. This study successfully demonstrated that the key inputs required for evaluating and monitoring the overall water resources conditions in a mountainous river basin can be computed from satellite data with a minimal support from ground information.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/hjs.v7i9.5785 Himalayan Journal of Sciences Vol.7 Issue 9 2011 pp.15-30