Benefit distribution of the irrigation system: irrigation reservoir in Geyongan Village, Cirebon Regency, Indonesia

Abstract

This study aim to identify the impact of the development of the irrigation reservoir through the benefit distribution received by the community in Geyongan Village, Cirebon Regency. The stages of research include: identifying the research conceptual framework, data collection, qualitative analysis of benefit distribution referring to conceptual framework before and after irrigation reservoir construction. The role of irrigation infrastructure is very important in terms of ensuring the water provision during dry season. As one of the solutions to the drought problems related to water scarcity, the impact of irrigation reservoirs is essential to determine water sustainability. The previous research has been conducted generally shown that the impact of irrigation reservoir construction gives positive results to agricultural land. However, some research has not been considerate how the benefit distribution of irrigation condition before and after construction. The result shows that during dry and drought season, water availability for irrigation system before and after the reservoir construction is still limited which causes gap of water availability between lower and higher area of agriculture from the secondary irrigation system. Optimum condition occurs after the Geyongan irrigation reservoir constructed during normal rainy season. The results suggest that construction of reservoir irrigation infrastructure can be an alternative option to equalize water allocation in agriculture. Furthermore, it is also important to maintain the sustainability of water availability from water sources or upstream to prevent drought