Irrigation Improvement Project Research Articles

Radical reassemblages: The life history of a Nile Delta pumping collective

This article investigates how people, technology, and water flows act together in using and transforming infrastructure to improve water access. Analytically, we propose to study collective action over time through the relationships between humans and non-humans as they collaborate to mediate water and other flows. Our case-study lies in Egypt. Over four decades, the Irrigation Improvement Project has introduced various sociotechnical and institutional measures to improve water management in the Nile Delta. By establishing collective pumping infrastructure and Water User Associations, water users were compelled to collaborate to reduce water extraction and over-irrigation. For heuristic purposes, we examine in detail the life history of one pumping collective facing increasing water scarcity. The article presents four life phases of the pumping collective and analyses what drives the assemblage and its transformations. Through time, we understand pumping collectives as heterogeneous and shifting assemblages of human and non-human agents that provide differentiated access to multiple resource flows. We describe the surprising stream of events that unfolds. The pumping collective radically dismantles the standard technological and organizational set-up and replaces it with a more flexible and disaggregated form of irrigation. By tracking this trajectory, the article demonstrates the remarkable agency of a pumping collective in renewing and reassembling itself. On this basis, we argue that the complex entanglement of material objects, human actors, water (and other resource flows) can explain this. Hence, it is important to look beyond the society-nature dichotomy to understand the transformational capacity of collectives.

THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL WATER POLICIES WITH FOCUS ON THE DRAINAGE WATER REUSE PRACTICES AND THE MEGA WATER PROJECTS

The overgrowing water scarcity in Egypt should be the motive to develop alternative water resources. The article focuses on a technical review of the state-of-the-art water policies for the reuse of agricultural drainage water in irrigation worldwide and in Egypt, due to the increasing pace of implementing mega water projects. Satisfying future water demands in Egypt depends on better utilization and efficient use of the available water resources. Optimal water management, particularly the nonconventional water resources, is an essential prerequisite for the sustainable development of Egypt. The hypotheses examined are that the available quantities of agricultural drainage water in Egypt shall decrease and the quality of that drainage water shall improve. In the meantime, it is expected that soil and water salinity rates shall rise as a result of the multiple reuses of the drainage water and also due to the expansion of modern irrigation practice not only in the newly reclaimed desert lands but also in some old heavy soil lands. In addition, a technical review of the impacts of those changes above on the phenomenon of seawater intrusion in the northern parts of the Nile Delta is presented. It is concluded that the impact of the national water-saving, irrigation improvement projects, and expansion in land reclamation in the desert are inversely proportional to the resulting amount of agricultural drainage water in Egypt. That reduction is interpreted as about 20%, which needs further extensive applied research to verify. That amount might be compensated with the safe reuse of treated wastewater, with the due health safeguards. Accordingly, as stated in the NWRP2037, caution should be taken while projecting the future available agricultural drainage water for reuse in each geographic zone in Egypt.

The pieces of the smallholder puzzle: The add‐in role of farmers' characteristics in irrigation improvement projects in the old lands of Egypt

AbstractIrrigation development is essential for reducing vulnerability to water resource scarcity, food insecurity, and climate change impacts in Egypt. The centralized irrigation development must, however, overcome the challenges of the diversity of smallholders and the pre‐existing, individualistic irrigation management. The purpose of this paper is to examine the farmers' characteristics that influence the design and success of irrigation improvement programmes in the Old Lands of Egypt. The paper investigates this issue from the perspectives of farmers by analysing farm features, agricultural practices, irrigation practices, and satisfaction with water services. The clustering method is applied to create farmer groups within the geographical area of the programme and seek consistent differences that affect the outcome of irrigation improvement. The results show that farmers are less diverse in their agrotechnology and more heterogenous in terms of capacities, livelihood sources, and land tenure structures. The article argues that grouping methods to deploy improved irrigation infrastructure should give more consideration to the farmers' individual features. Programmes intended to replicate such irrigation development or leverage the existing results should address these particularities to create a socially adaptive environment for future irrigation investment in Egypt.

Assessing the Role of Water Users Associations in Operating and Maintaining the Improved Irrigation System in Egypt

The current study investigated the influence of Water Users Associations (WUAs) in the operation and the maintenance of the facilities of improved areas in Egypt. With the establishment of irrigation improvement projects, it was planned that WUAs would play an important role in improving water management and ensuring the sustainability of the improved system through enhancing the cooperation between farmers, scheduling the irrigation and maintaining the improved Mesqas (distributaries). The current study aims to check the actual situation after the implementation of irrigation improvement projects through collecting data from samples according to design questionnaires in the improved areas, and analyzing the collected data to investigate the influence of these associations. The results showed that the influence of WUAs in Egypt was still very limited. Irrigation practices were close to the old trend, which was targeting by irrigation improvement projects. The improved system was operated based on the natural relationships between farmers, with no predefined irrigation schedule targeting improving water management. The operator was the main person, and his role was just to arrange the irrigation based on the reservation of the farmers. Old lifting points were still used in the new system. This gave the farmers the chance to work individually, which could decrease the direct conflicts between them, but it had negative impact on water use efficiency. The maintenance of the system was poor, and the target was just to make the system work without considering the sustainability of the system. The study discussed the reasons behind the weak influence of WUAs including the characteristics of such organizations and different factors that affect their performance. In addition, the study suggested the required steps to improve the capacities of these organizations and to enhance the coordination between farmers including the precise distribution of water supply, and the support from the government.

Investigation of irrigation performance at the tertiary canal level in the Nile Delta of Egypt

One of the objectives of the Irrigation Improvement Project (IIP) in the Nile Delta, Egypt, is to facilitate equitable water distribution and improve on-farm irrigation management by improving irrigation infrastructure. Because paddy rice is a major summer crop in Egypt and it consumes the greatest amount of water in comparison with other crops, the authors focused on monitoring and evaluating the irrigation practices of farmers during summer and examined the extent of sufficient and equitable water distribution in the Dakalt branch canal. Three tertiary canals that had been improved under IIP were selected from upstream, midstream, and downstream along the Dakalt branch canal. Two, three, and one pumping stations were selected from the upstream, midstream, and downstream, respectively, for monitoring pump operations in order to quantify the water supply. Cropping patterns and pump operation records were collected. The irrigation water requirement for each crop was estimated using the UN Food and Agriculture Organization Penman–Monteith method. Water sufficiency (WS), which is the ratio of water supply to water demand, was then calculated, and equitable water distribution among the tertiary canals was assessed based on these results. The mean WS during the mid-irrigation season of June, July, and August for two years at the downstream tertiary canal was 0.75, which was considered to be poor sufficiency, whereas the mean WS values at the upstream and midstream tertiary canals were 0.93 and 0.93, respectively, which were considered to be good sufficiency. The downstream tertiary canal received less water than required compared with the others, and this insufficient and inequitable supply affected rice yields because the average yield downstream in 2013 and 2014 was 7.6 t ha−1, while those for upstream and midstream were 10.0 and 10.5 t ha−1, respectively; this difference was significant. However, WS downstream of the upstream tertiary canal in 2013 and WS upstream of the midstream tertiary canal in 2014 were below 0.8. This was attributed to a drastic change in the cropping pattern at the tertiary canal level and to the insufficient water supply to the tertiary canals.

Irrigation improvement projects in the Nile Delta: Promises, challenges, surprises

In the past three decades successive “Irrigation Improvement Projects” (IIP) have been implemented in the Nile Valley and Delta of Egypt. They have consisted in replacing scattered individual pumps by collective pumps serving distribution networks at the tertiary level, while ensuring a continuous flow in secondary canals, in lieu of the rotational system. This intervention has been praised as “a state-of-the-art project” spearheading the ‘modernization’ of irrigation in Egypt. Given their ambitious objectives and the massive investment of capital planned - the 1986 policy’s target was to ‘improve’ one million ha by the year 2000 - these modernization efforts warrant thorough independent evaluation. This article attempts to revisit the achievements of the project after 30 years of implementation by presenting findings derived from fieldwork surveys carried out in the central part of the Delta. We document how these socio-technical innovations perform on the ground, how they change water distribution and how, in turn, they are adopted and reshaped by farmers. Understanding the contexts in which improvement projects are most beneficial, and the conditions under which such investments may be at risk, leads us to make recommendations as to how the design and implementation of these projects can be improved but also to ask whether such investment is essential for the country.

The limits to participation: branch-canal water user associations in the Egyptian Delta

ABSTRACTEgypt has valuable experience with water user associations in irrigated agriculture. Internationally funded irrigation improvement projects aiming to increase irrigation efficiency have introduced water user associations at the branch-canal level alongside improvements to the infrastructure in the Central Delta of Egypt. In this article we review those water management practices in which these associations are expected to participate. Our main finding is that their role in these areas is minimal and that they are generally weak organizations. Either such organizations should be genuinely strengthened legally and politically, and given real responsibilities and resources, or the entire idea of participation should be abandoned.

AN ECONOMIC STUDY ON THE ROLE OF WATER USERS ASSOCIATIONS IN AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT OF MAIZE CROP IN BEHAIRA GOVERNORATE

The establishment of water users associations (WUAs) is one of the main objectives of the Irrigation Improvement Project (IIP). These WUAs are under the supervision of the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation. The current research aims at measuring the impact of WUAs in agricultural development in Behaira Governorate focusing on their role in the production of summer maize as one of the main crops in the Governorate. The results revealed that. 1 - The average cost of one irrigation for maize reached about LE 22.11 per feddan after joining the WUA, representing about 49.5% of the costs before joining the WUA estimated at about LE 43.8 per feddan. 2 - Joining the WUA can increase maize production in the Governorate to about 258.1 thousand ardab in the governmate these and decrease the irrigation cost of maize to about LE 153.1 per feddan., decreasing the costs of production for maize grown in Behaira Governorate to about LE 28.4 million, release an area used to be cultivated by maize of about 16.2 thousand feddans, contributing to saving irrigation water of about 43.2 million cubic meters in the Governorate and increase the net revenue and the net return per one pound for maize production by joining the WVA. 3 - The average total costs of fuel, depreciation and maintenance of electric irrigation machines were lower than those for disiel irrigation machines by about LE 4.5 per hour. 4 - The average cost of lifting one cubic meter by electric irrigation machine reached about LE. 0.016, as compared to about LE. 0.010 for disiel irrigation machines. 5 - The average energy for lifting one cubic meter by electric irrigation machine reached about 0.024 mega calory, as compared to about 0.086 mega calory for disiel irrigation machines. The results obtained for the economic and technical efficiency indicators, prove that the electric irrigation machines was more efficient than those runned by disiel. The study recommends paying more attention to improve the knowledge of farmers regarding water problems, the importance of water rationalization to sustain water resources, and ecouraging farmers to join WVAs

Improving flow performance of irrigation pump station intake

The Irrigation Improvement Project is being implemented at a national scale in Egypt with a target of improving the old irrigation system in the Nile Delta for increasing water-use efficiency and agricultural production. The objective of this research is to study the influence of existing circular sump shape on the flow conditions of tertiary canals (mesqa) pump station. Field measurements were conducted on the Efrank (1) mesqa pumping station. Three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics model solved the Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes equations for predicting the occurrence of vortices and swirl in pump intakes. In this study, three different modifications were done. The research shows that existing circular sump shape generates swirl flow. The submerged cone under suction pipes does not reduce the swirl flow and vortex. The installation of vertical splitter wall between the two vertical suction pipes reduces the pre-swirling surface flow and improves the pump performance.

INVESTIGATING THE CHALLENGES FACING DRAINAGE WATER REUSE STRATEGY IN EGYPT USING EMPIRICAL MODELLING AND SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS

ABSTRACTThis research investigates the challenges facing drainage water reuse (DWR) strategy in Egypt using empirical modelling and sensitivity analysis. An empirical model, that can describe the relationship between the amount of DWR in the Nile Delta and its major challenges as predictor variables, was developed. A correlation was carried out followed by multiple regression analyses. In addition, sensitivity analysis was performed to detect the most effective challenge.It was found that some of these predictors are useful for predicting DWR using a significant regression model at 0.1% level. The results revealed that fresh water released to irrigation (FWRI) is the best predictor of DWR, followed by the irrigation improvement project areas (IIP‐A) and rice cultivation area (RCA).However, it was clear that the effect of the RCA on the DWR is much stronger than the effect of IIP‐As. Meanwhile drainage water quality (DWQ) varied within a narrow range without a clear tendency where DWR showed a positive trend (continuous increase). On the other hand, the sensitivity analysis revealed that reducing fresh water released to the irrigation system by 30% will lead to a reduction in drainage water reuse up to 50%, while reducing RCAs by 30% will result in a reduction of drainage water reuse by 14.8%. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

EVALUATING THE IMPROVED IRRIGATION NETWORKS IN EGYPT

This study summarizes the results of evaluating the improved canals in Egypt. These results constituted a part of an evaluation programme that was conducted by Water Management Research Institute (WMRI) to evaluate the first phase of the Irrigation Improvement Project (IIP1). This part of the evaluation programme was built on measuring specific hydraulic indicators, such as Relative Water Supply (RWS) and Water Use Index (WUI) in improved and unimproved canals to assess achieving the targets of the improvement project. The programme concluded that most of the targets were not achieved yet illustrating that the main reason was the inappropriate operation of the system. The study illustrated that the chance to achieve the improvement targets should be mainly through the effective operation of the system. The introduced operation system was the continuous flow system, with which water supply will be provided to different branch canals continuously and on volumetric basis and an internal rotation will be applied between lifting points. The monitoring results showed that the actual applied system is a hybrid system between rotational system and continuous flow system. Under this hybrid system, the branch canals are open almost continuously, but water is distributed based on maintaining specific water levels downstream the head regulators without calculating the water volume or implementing an internal rotation between the lifting points. This system encourages farmers and especially head farmers in rice regions to use more water. The main recommendation of the study was to conduct intensive investigations to adapt the continuous flow to another suitable system that fit with the current circumstance of the irrigation networks and the current capacities of the irrigation directorates and Water Users Associations (WUAs). This introduced system might be an adapted version of the rotational system. The other recommendations include forming the improvement targets in a shape of certain responsibilities to encourage irrigation directorates achieving these targets and having certain strategies to face the environmental problems.

Emergy evaluation perspectives of an irrigation improvement project proposal in China

Emergy theory and method are used to evaluate the feasibility of an irrigation improvement project in China and its contribution to local agricultural development. An emergy method for evaluating the costs and benefits of the project and a composite index named the emergy cost–benefit ratio ( EmCBR) were developed. The emergy evaluation shows that the major costs associated with the proposed project come from earthwork (77.4% of the total cost) and concrete work (15.4%), and that water saving (43.0% of the total benefit) and agricultural yield increase (56.9%) are the most important contributions. The calculated EmCBR is 0.97 (the lowest value for a feasible project is 1.0) which indicates that this project would not be feasible in emergy terms. The regional agricultural system could not benefit from the proposed project, according to several emergy indices: emergy yield ratio ( EYR), emergy investment ratio ( EIR), environmental load ratio ( ELR) and environmental sustainability index ( ESI). The results show that conventional cost–benefit analysis could fail to provide an adequate decision-making framework because it is unable to value resources and environmental impacts properly. More additional emergy evaluations should be completed on other alternatives to the proposed project to provide adequate guidelines for selecting the best alternative that contributes most to agricultural development with limited environmental impact.

ONE-DIMENSIONAL HYDRODYNAMIC MODEL SIMULATING WATER STAGE IN OPEN CHANNELS (WS-1)

One-dimensional (1D) numerical model was developed to simulate water stage in open channels in order to suggest solutions for practical problems in the Nile River and its branches. The continuity and momentum equations describe the unsteady flow were solved using the finite difference technique. The developed model is verified using two types of data. The first type, simulating steady flow, is a field data collected at Elbogdady reach. It is a reach located 712.80 km upstream of Roda's staff gauge on the Nile River. The second type, simulating unsteady flow, is a result of the 1D SOBEK model. It is simulating the flow field at El-Mahrousa canal. It is one of El-Kanobia canal branches at 11.47 km left side, which is fed from El-Mahmoudia canal. Simplifications were made to simulate the flow patterns around the hydraulic structures using the developed hydrodynamic model. Actually, the water levels in many branch canals under continuous flow after implementation of Irrigation Improvement Project (IIP) need to be checked. The model could be applied to estimate the water stage under different abstraction values where some reaches of the Nile River and its branch suffering. In addition, it can be used to assess the impact of water allocation. Good agreement was observed between the model results and the field observations.

Comparative Assessment of New Design Criteria for Irrigation Improvement in Egypt

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.

Institutionalizing the Informal: Irrigation and government intervention in Bali

Although there is greater acceptance that farmers can manage their irrigation systems efficiently, many irrigation experts believe that a shift from informal to more formal management strategies will lead to even better water-flow management. Stephan and Rachel Lorenzen examine a case in Bali where attempts to introduce formal institutions led to confusion within the farming community. They argue that irrigation improvement projects need to engage with the local context and encourage a minimum of formal organization.

DRAINFRAME as a tool for integrated strategic environmental assessment: lessons from practice

The Drainage Integrated Analytical Framework (DRAINFRAME) was developed by the World Bank's Agriculture and Rural Development Department to look at and act upon agricultural drainage from an integrated natural resources management perspective. The approach has been field-tested in three World Bank-funded projects: an irrigation improvement project in Egypt, a problems and opportunities assessment in relation to Pakistan's national drainage master plan, and a strategic assessment of a public–private partnership project for surface water supply to a desert region in Egypt. The latter study paved the way for a fully fledged environmental and social impact assessment. The cases provide useful lessons on the proper timing of the DRAINFRAME assessment, the role of public participation, and the influence that a proper and timely assessment can have on further development of water resources management plans. The paper links the DRAINFRAME approach to Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), an increasingly common tool to assess the potential social, economic and environmental consequences of policies, plans and programmes in an early and more effective manner. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. La méthode d'analyse intégrée du drainage (DRAINFRAME) a été développée par le Département Agriculture et Développement Rural de la Banque Mondiale pour examiner et agir sur le drainage agricole du point de vue de la gestion intégrée des ressources naturelles. L'approche a été testée sur le terrain dans trois projets financés par la Banque Mondiale: un projet d'amélioration d'irrigation en Egypte, un bilan-évaluation du programme-cadre national de drainage du Pakistan, et l'évaluation stratégique d'un projet de PPP (partenariat public–privé) pour l'approvisionnement en eau d'une région désertique en Egypte. Cette dernière étude a préparé le terrain pour une étude d'impact environnementale et sociale complète. Les cas étudiés fournissent des leçons utiles sur le moment approprié pour une évaluation par DRAINFRAME, sur le rôle de la participation publique, et sur l'influence qu'une véritable évaluation conduite en temps opportun peut avoir sur le développement ultérieur des plans de gestion des ressources en eau. L'article fait le rapprochement entre DRAINFRAME et l'Evaluation Environnementale Stratégique, un outil de plus en plus courant pour évaluer les conséquences sociales, économiques et environnementales potentielles des politiques, des plans et des programmes de façon suffisamment précoce et efficace. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Irrigation improvement projects in Tanzania; scale impacts and policy implications

Observations in Tanzania indicate that the improvement of traditional smallholder irrigation does not necessarily result in improved water performance, greater equity and reduced conflict. The usual outcomes of such projects is a gain in water for the system being upgraded, especially if located upstream, accompanied by less ability to share water at the river basin scale. This paper concludes that these projects do not commonly understand, match and respond to the complexities of well-developed and evolving smallholder irrigation found in multi-user river basins. Without re-appraisal, the risk is that donors will be unsuccessful with smallholder irrigation and turn away from this sector, as they did with large-scale irrigation.

A cost recovery model for tertiary canal improvement projects, with an example from Egypt

The potential farm-level gains from improvements in a tertiary canal vary among farmers according to their location along the canal. An economic model describing that variation is developed using the concept of irrigation success, which considers the degree to which water volume and quality, and the timing of irrigation events match the requirements of plants throughout a season. A bid-rent model in which farm-level costs and returns are viewed as a function of irrigation success is used to describe the appropriate roles of public agencies in supporting or financing tertiary canal improvement projects and to evaluate cost recovery programs. An empirical version of the model is used to develop cost recovery alternatives for Egypt's Irrigation Improvement Project. A potentially viable cost recovery program is designed using the following criteria: (1) the net benefits of the improvement project are non-negative for all the farmers after making any required payments; (2) the net benefits are the same for all the farmers required to make annual payments, and (3) the total revenue collected each year is equal to the average annual cost of the project. Such a program would require estimated payments of $175 per ha for middle-reach farmers and $412 per ha for tail-end farmers along a typical canal in Egypt's Irrigation Improvement Project. The net benefits for farmers in each of those groups would be an estimated $102 per ha. Head-end farmers would not be required to pay an annual fee, though they would receive a net gain equal to an estimated $40 per ha reduction in annual pumping costs. Alternative programs that require smaller payments from middle-reach and tail-end farmers, while imposing costs also on head-end farmers, are designed using a combination of fixed and variable charges. Volumetric water charges ranging from $4.00 to $7.00 per 1000 m 3 are examined, in conjunction with annual assessments ranging from $40 to $170 per ha. The installation of single-point pumping stations at the head ends of improved tertiary canals provides an opportunity to implement volumetric charges in cooperation with water user associations.

Impact assessment of an Irrigation Improvement Project in Egypt

A national Irrigation Improvement Project (IIP) in Egypt was initiated in 1984 after the USAID allocated the required funds to implement the project in eleven command areas. Sincethen, the project has been extended to other areas, among which is El-Mahmoudia area of 280,000 Feddans (117,600 ha). This study aims at investigating the major expected impacts ofthe project and to highlight any recommendations and/or measures to be taken before, during, and after its implementation. A key element to implement such study was thedevelopment of a numerical approach, capable of quantifying theunrecorded re-circulated irrigation water, so that the water balance can be adjusted accordingly. The calculations have shown that the project has minimal effect on two major drains and consequently on their intercepting lakes. The developed approach has represented a simple and practical tool to implement a reasonable evaluation of different scenarios for the project future impacts.

Economic issues regarding tertiary canal improvement programs, with an example from Egypt

Public investments in farmer-managed tertiary canals can promote an improved distribution of water among farmers, enabling them to improve water management practices, enhance crop yields, and select from a wider variety of cropping choices. This paper examines economic issues regarding public programs designed to improve or rehabilitate tertiary canals, particularly in developing countries. Key issues include defining property rights to irrigation water or delivery capacity, and to new or improved irrigation facilities; communicating the relative scarcity of agricultural inputs with appropriate prices or allocations; implementing cost recovery; and determining the best mix of public and private sector participation. The transaction costs of implementing market-oriented programs are also discussed. Economic issues are illustrated by describing Egypt's national Irrigation Improvement Project, for which a set of alternative cost recovery programs is presented.