Comparative Assessment of New Design Criteria for Irrigation Improvement in Egypt

Abstract

The Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (MWRI) has expressed concern about the current high cost of the Irrigation Improvement Project (IIP) implemented in the “old lands” of the lower reaches of the Nile River. Because the IIP is financed through fees paid by the direct beneficiaries of the project, i.e., irrigation water users, these same Egyptian agricultural producers are especially sensitive to the higher than expected costs that the project has incurred to date. The objective of the current study is to evaluate whether this cost reduction is associated with any deficiency in irrigation performance. This Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) study aims to answer questions such as: Does reducing pump capacity and increased pump operation affect the farmers negatively? And, does the use of electricity instead of diesel fuel affect the farmers positively? Six indicators were used to compare new design criteria in the W10 and the IIP1 irrigation system designs, water savings, irrigation cost, irrigation time, night irrigation, and land savings. The W10 project design achieved the minimum actual operating cost per unit of area and per unit of water compared to the IIP1 project design on both Meet Yazied and El-Mesk Canals. The total cost per unit of area in the W10 project design is lower than IIP1 by 19.33% and 24.92% on the Meet Yazied and El-Mesk Canals, respectively. The total cost per unit of water in the W10 design is also lower than IIP1 on the Meet Yazied and El-Mesk Canals. Average irrigation time for rice and cotton crops cultivated in the W10 area are higher than average irrigation time for these crops cultivated in the IIP1 area for all locations on the Mesqa (head, middle and tail), because of increased pump operation in the W10 area (16 to 20 h d − 1). The number of irrigation events at the head of the Sefsafa Canal in the W10 area is higher than on the Meet Yazied and El-Mesk Canals in the IIP1 areas because of the increased pump operation in the W10 area.