1st Edition

Hydraulic and Operational Performance of Irrigation Schemes in View of Water Saving and Sustainability Sugar Estates and Community Managed Schemes in Ethiopia

By Zeleke Agide Dejen Copyright 2015
    180 Pages
    by CRC Press

    180 Pages
    by CRC Press

    The rate of global increase in water abstraction for irrigation has been declining since the 1970’s due to declining potentials for large and medium-scale irrigation developments, and is expected to further decline in the next decades. As such the significant proportion of the expected increase in production would have to be supplied from existing irrigated and /or cultivated lands. This in turn could be achieved by enhancing land and water productivity through improved performance and optimal operation and maintenance.

    With less than 15% of over 5 million ha irrigation potential harnessed, irrigation devolvement in Ethiopia remained low. Over 70% of the developed irrigation in the country belongs to small-scale irrigation serving smallholder farmers. While accelerated development of new irrigation, particularly of large and medium-scale schemes is relevant in Ethiopia, ensuring the performance and sustainability of existing schemes is also equally important. The existing irrigation schemes in Ethiopia are generally characterized by an overall performance and technical sustainability levels of below expectation.

    This thesis evaluates the performance of two large-scale (Wonji-Shoa and Metahara) and two community-managed (Golgota and Wedecha) irrigation schemes located in the Awash River Basin of Ethiopia. The study focussed on hydraulic/water delivery performance in the large-scale schemes, and on comparative and internal irrigation service (utility) evaluation in the community-managed schemes. Water delivery performance was evaluated using routine data and hydrodynamic modelling. Farmers’ utility was evaluated using qualitative responses of water users. Major performance challenges in each category of schemes were addressed and operational/water management options for improvement were identified.

    1. Introduction
    2. Background and Objectives
    3. Description of Ethiopia and Irrigation Schemes of this Study
    4. Comparative, Internal and Hydraulic Performance Evaluation of Irrigation Schemes
    5. Hydraulic Performance Evaluation of Wonji-Shoa Large-scale Irrigation Scheme
    6. Hydraulic Performance Evaluation of Metahara Large-scale Irrigation Scheme
    7. Modelling for Hydraulic Performance and Effective Operation of Metahara Large-scale Irrigation Scheme
    8. Performance Assessment in Community-managed Schemes using Comparative Indicators
    9. Internal Evaluation of Irrigation Service in the Community-managed Schemes
    10. Evaluation and the Way Forward

    Biography

    Zeleke Agide Dejen, Irrigation Engineer by profession, has over 13 years of research, teaching and field experience in the area of irrigation engineering and water management. Currently, he holds a position of lecturer and researcher at Arba Minch University (a pioneer University in Ethiopia for water education and research). He has been conducting his PhD research since February 2010 at UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education in Delft the Netherlands which resulted in this book. His research interests are water management, irrigation system management, irrigation water distribution modelling, unsaturated zone modelling, flow control in irrigation, drainage and salinity control.