THE INPIM E-NEWSLETTER
January 15, 2008; Number 72
http://www.inpim.org
ihussain@inpim.org
Welcome to the INPIM E-Newsletter # 72
NEWS
Ø IndiaNPIM Successfully held All India WUAs Convention
Ø Centre for Water Resources Development and Management Successfully Conducted a National Workshop on Sharing of Experiences of the Implementation of Participatory Irrigation Management in India
Ø Strategic Planning Reform/Unit of Punjab Irrigation Department held an Orientation Workshop on Punjab Irrigation Sector Reform Program in Pakistan
Ø Central Development Working Party (CDWP) Approved Four Projects in Water sector in Pakistan
Ø 1st Asia-Pacific Water Forum - Messages from Beppu: Is Water Hotter Now?
Ø World Bank Reform on Water Pays Off
Ø National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), Philippines Approves Participatory Irrigation Development Project
Ø Improved Irrigation Facilities Revive Agriculture in Afghanistan
Ø European Union (EU) Signs Water Management Funding Agreement With SOPAC
Ø Water Financing Program in Indonesia Moves Forward
DONORS’ LENDING AND SUPPORT FOR IRRIGATION & DRAINAGE PROJECTS
World Bank
Ø Irrigation and Water Resources Management Project for Nepal
Ø World Bank Approved US$150 Million Water and Sanitation Project for Kenya
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Ø ADB Provides $202.5M to Improve Water Supply in Bangladesh's Capital City
Ø ADB Grants $80M Loan to Ensure Safe, Secure Water Supply for PRC's Kunming City
Upcoming Regional and International Meets and Events
Ø Water Management 2008, Exhibition and Conference
14-16 January 2008
Mumbai, India
Ø Second African Show of Irrigation and Drainage
5-10 February 2008
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Ø International Symposium on Agrometeorology and Food Security (INSAFS)
12-21 February 2008
Hyderabad, India
Ø Second International Symposium on Water Resources and Renewable Energy Development in Asia
10-11 March 2008
Furama Resort, Danang, Central Vietnam
Ø International Conference on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM): Lessons from Implementation in Developing Countries and the 2nd Africa Regional Meeting of the National Committees of UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme
10-12 March 2008
South Africa
Ø 33rd WEDC International Conference “Access to Sanitation and Safe Water: Global Partnerships and Local Actions”
7-11 April 2008
Accra, Ghana
Ø Water Down Under 2008
15-18 April 2008
Adelaide, Australia
Ø Second MEDA Water Regional Event on Local Water Management
28-30 April 2008
Morocco
Ø 7th International Congress on Hydraulic Engineering: ‘Enough Water for Sustainable Development!’
15-18 May 2008
Juventud Island, Cuba
Ø Urbanization of Irrigated Land and Water Transfers: A USCID Water Management Conference
May 28-31, 2008
Scottsdale, Arizona
Ø Conference "Water Resource Systems Management in Extreme Conditions"
4-5 June 2008
Moscow, Russia
Crocus Expo Exhibition Center
Ø Groundwater and Climate in Africa - An International Conference
25-28 June 2008
Kampala, Uganda
Ø 10th International Drainage Workshop of ICID Working Group on Drainage
06-11 July 2008
Helsinki, Finland
Ø World Water Week in Stockholm
17-23 August 2008
Stockholm, Sweden
Ø 13th World Water Congress
01-04 September 2008
Montpellier, France
Ø Africa Water Resources Management 2008 (AfricaWRM 2008)
8-10 September 2008
Gaborone, Botswana
Ø WaterTech Central Asia: Central Asian International Water Technology Exhibition & Conference
16-18 September 2008
Almaty, Kazakhstan
Ø ICID’s 20th International Congress on Irrigation and Drainage
13-19 October 2008
Lahore, Pakistan
NEW PUBLICATIONS
Ø Emerging Public-Private Partnerships in Irrigation Development and Management
Ø Irrigation Systems Design, Planning & Construction
Ø A New Approach to Sediment Transport in the Design & Operation of Irrigation Canals
Ø New UN-Water Report: Water Monitoring: Mapping Existing Global Systems & Initiatives
Fellowship and funding opportunities
Ø University of Groningen PhD Fellowship
Ø Amsterdam Merit Scholarships
Ø Erasmus Mundus Scholarship Program
capacity building and trainings
Ø Financial Management of Water Organisations
07-25 April 2008
DELFT, The Netherlands
Ø Groundwater Exploration and Monitoring
07-25 April 2008
DELFT, The Netherlands
Ø Knowledge Management for Decision Makers in the Water Sector
14-25 April 2008
DELFT, The Netherlands
Ø Applied Groundwater Modelling
09-27 June 2008
DELFT, The Netherlands
Ø Public Private Partnerships in the Water Sector
07-25 July 2008
DELFT, The Netherlands
Ø Spate Irrigation and Water Management under Drought and Water Scarcity
10-21 September 2008
UNESCO-IHE
DETAILS
NEWS
IndiaNPIM Successfully held All India WUAs Convention
Hyderabad 17-19 December 2007 (by IndiaNPIM Team)
Introduction
Promotion of participatory irrigation management (PIM) through creation of water users associations (WUAs) is now actively pursued in various states of the country. The WUA is expected to take over management of the irrigation system within its operational area, maintain and operate the system, so that the irrigation waters are provided to all the farmers in its area in a dependable and equitable way, increasing overall irrigation use efficiency. It also aims to improve productivity and ensure social justice to all the farmers in the area. For facilitating the working of WUA many state governments have enacted suitable legislation or amended the existing laws.
Capacity building of the WUAs to make them competent enough to manage and operate the system is also taken up. Financial support is made available to WUAs in many states by way of providing specific grants, sharing of Irrigation fee/recovery, etc.
For the sustainability of the WUAs, it is essential to continuously learn from field experiences and improve the functioning of the WUAs and work for overcoming the various bottlenecks. Interaction between farmers, WUAs, and field officers from different states can be an effective tool in this direction.
The Convention provided a platform for such mutual consultation and exchange of experiences.
The convention was organized by the IndiaNPIM, in association with the Institute of Resource Development and Social Management (IRDAS) at Hyderabad from 17th to 19th December 2007. The venue was Dr. MCR-HRD Institute of the Government of Andhra Pradesh. In all 124 delegates from around 14 states and organizations attended the convention.
Day One: Inaugural Session (17-12-2007)
The inaugural session was held in the Auditorium of the Institute. The function was presided by Dr. Intizar Hussain, Executive Director, International Network on Participatory Irrigation Management (INPIM), who has come all the way from Islamabad, Pakistan where the headquarters of INPIM is located. The Chief Guest, Honourable Minister for Major and Medium Irrigation of Andhra Pradesh, Mr. Ponnala Laxmaiah, inaugurated the convention.
Dr. Intizar Hussain in his presidential address elaborated the global scenario of PIM, emphasized the need to concentrate on technical, physical, and financial security of WUAs for ensuring their sustainability.
He also stressed on the importance of capacity building and expressed that the convention would be a good forum for cross learning from different experiences in the country and hoped that the final recommendations will be useful.
The Honourable Minister for Major and Medium Irrigation, Sri. Ponnala Laxmaiah released the volume titled “PIM in India” brought out by IndiaNPIM.
In his address, the Honourable Minister explained the special emphasis laid by Government of Andhra Pradesh in developing many new irrigation projects and emphasized the importance of WUAs in improving the water use efficiency, productivity and production, and ultimately improving the living standards of the vast majority of rural population.
Sessions
After the inauguration, regular sessions were held. From each state two presentations were made, explaining the progress of PIM, the functioning of WUA and the problems faced in their respective state. Each presentation was followed by questions and answers to provide clarification.
Day Two (18-12-2007)
The day two was devoted to field visit of a project area and discussions with a WUA and farmers in the village. Participants were divided into two (2) groups. Group one visited the Sreeramasagar Project (SRSP) area and WUA at village Eligedu. Group two visited the Nagarjunasagar Project (NSP) – Left Command area, and village Thirumalagiri. The groups had a lively and useful discussion with the members of the WUAs and the field officers.
Day Three (19-12-2007)
The day was devoted for detailed discussions on the various topics that have emerged from the presentations and field visits.
a. Group Discussions
The topics were divided into five categories. The participants were divided into five groups and each discussed one main topic:
1. Legislation and legal support to WUA;
2. Water distribution including volumetric supply and water use efficiency;
3. Maintenance of the system; water fee collection and sharing with Government and other sources of income of WUA;
4. Improving productivity – more crop per drop; and
5. Measures for sustainability of PIM / WUA.
b. Main Recommendations
Main recommendations that emerged out of presentations and group discussions are categorized into four (4) areas. They are given below:
1. Financial Sustainability
a. Water fee collection should be entrusted to the WUAs. From this collected amount the WUA may retain its share, as decided by the government and pass on the share due to Distributory Committee (DC), Project Committee (PC), and government.
b. All works of maintenance within the area of operation of WUA and DC should be entrusted to the farmers organization, under the technical guidance of the competent authority; and
c. All irrigation projects, where PIM is implemented, should be included under Command Area Development and Water Management (CADWM) programme of Government of India, so that additional support can be made available to the WUA from various CADWM schemes like OFD activities, management subsidy, etc.
2. Organizational Sustainability
a. The WUA should be a permanent body. The elected members may have a tenure of 6 years, one-third of the members retire at the end of 2-year period and elections held to fill up these vacancies.
b. The Model of AP, with modification to meet local conditions may be adopted;
c. Tanks and ponds within the operational area of a WUA, needs to be included in the working of WUAs;
d. All works of maintenance within the area of operation of WUA and DC should be entrusted to the farmers organization, under the technical guidance of the competent authority;
e. Non payment of water fee should be a bar for individuals contesting WUA election; and
f. Women representatives should be on the managing committee of WUA. For this two (2) women from the area need to be nominated as members.
3. Technical Capability
a. Capacity building activities should be intensified, covering various issues like irrigation charging and cost recovery, maintenance, water requirements, land leveling, micro-irrigation, etc.; and
b. Improving productivity should be one of the major concerns of the WUA. To achieve this regular training should be made available through the concerned entities.
4. Water Management
a. Release of water from the project should be done in consultation with farmers’ organization; and
b. Efforts should be made to supply water on a quantitative basis to WUA and the WUA may provide irrigation to farmers on hourly basis, adopting a proper schedule (as adopted in Maharashtra).
Centre for Water Resources Development and Management Successfully Conducted a National Workshop on Sharing of Experiences of the Implementation of Participatory Irrigation Management in India
The Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM), with the support of the Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India, organized a National Workshop on “Sharing of the Experiences of the Implementation of Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) in India” during 11 – 12 December 2007 at Thiruvananthapuram.
Mr. N. K. Premachandran, Minister for Water Resources, Government of Kerala, inaugurated the Workshop. Dr. E. P. Yesodharan, Executive Vice President, Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment, and Ex-officio Principal Secretary, Science and Technology Department, presided over. Mr. K. Jayakumar IAS, Principal Secretary, Water Resources Department, Mr. Turabul Hassan IAS, Chairman, IRDAS, Andhra Pradesh, Mr. B. S. Bhavanisankar, Water Management Specialist, Karnataka, and Mr. N. Sasi, Chief Engineer, Irrigation and Administration, Kerala, offered the felicitation speeches. Dr. George Chackacherry, Scientist and Officer i/c, CWRDM Sub Centre, Thiruvananthapuram and Coordinator of the Workshop spoke about the content of the Workshop. Dr. M. D. Nandeshwar, Executive Director i/c, CWRDM, welcomed the gathering and Dr E J Joseph, Scientist, CWRDM, proposed a vote of thanks.
In the Introductory Session, Mr. R. K. Jain, Senior Joint Commissioner, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India, gave an overview of Participatory Irrigation Management in India. Dr. George Chackacherry presented the experiences of implementation of pilot projects on PIM in Kerala State. The experiences of implementation of PIM in other states were presented in four sessions. Dr. G. Elumalai (Tamil Nadu), Mr. B. S. Bhavanisankar (Karnataka), Mr. Turabul Hassan (Andhra Pradesh), Mr. V. R. S. Sharma (Andhra Pradesh), Mr. B. B. Dua (Haryana), Mr. Nildari Naha (West Bengal), Mr. K. J. Joy (Maharastra), Mr. J. C. Chaudhari (Gujarat), and Mr. N. Rajasekharan (Tamil Nadu) also presented their experiences. Dr. R. Doraiswamy and Mr. K. J. Joy presented papers on alternatives to PIM. Detailed discussion was arranged forming four groups looking into (i) financial sustainability of Water User Associations; (ii) Operation and Maintenance issues; (iii) Capacity Building and support systems; and (iv) integrated use of water and equity issues.
Dr. E. P. Yesodharan delivered the Valedictory Address on 12 December 2007. Mr. R. K. Jain, Dr. Babu. Rao Verma, Dr. M. D. Nandeshwar, and Dr. George Chackacherry spoke on the occasion.
Seventy senior officials from 11 states participated in the Workshop and 15 papers were presented in four technical sessions. Following are the recommendations of the Workshop:
- Source integration – both local and exogenous water – may be popularized for maximizing water availability. It is essential to integrate minor water bodies like tanks, and water conserved through watershed development, with canal water.
- The wells in the command areas of the irrigation projects may be brought under the jurisdiction or purview of the Water User Associations (WUAs) and the wells may be charged/taxed. However, the water used for drinking and domestic uses from the wells in the command areas may not be charged.
- Rotational Water Supply may be from the tail reach to the head reach within the command area under WUAs and within the project.
- Along with agriculture use, the water should be ensured for other livelihood activities; on the minimum the non-agriculturists should get at least the amount of water they were using prior to the irrigation project.
- Water supply for irrigation purposes may also be of graded tariff system. Water required for drinking, domestic and livelihood activities may be given at an affordable cost especially to meet operation and maintenance costs.
- Before handing over the operation and maintenance of the irrigation systems to WUAs and farmers, the systems may be brought to functional level.
- Involvement of farmers from planning stage of operation and maintenance is essential and contribution of the farmers may be through ‘shram dan’.
- Since the fragmentation and sub-division of agriculture land are increasing, governments may propagate group farming.
- The problem encountered by farmers engaged in irrigated agriculture is not shortage of water alone, but other inputs such as labour, good seeds, marketing facilities, etc., also. Therefore, PIM should be of a total approach, and address management of all inputs and resources. Efforts are required in the government side to equip the officials to manage irrigation with a multi-disciplinary approach.
- Opportunities may be created for better coordination among various departments and agencies involved and related to irrigation agriculture.
- The unutilized government land within the command areas may be leased out to WUAs for cultivation. In the case of tank irrigation, the right for fish cultivation may be given to the tank WUA.
- There is an urgent need for social audit and evaluation of PIM programmes to assess whether the desired results are being achieved or not, and find out the reasons.
- Involvement of spouses of land holders in WUAs may be encouraged, so that more and more women participation could be achieved, which may contribute to the sustainability of WUAs and PIM.
Strategic Planning Reform/Unit of Punjab Irrigation Department held an Orientation Workshop on Punjab Irrigation Sector Reform Program in Pakistan
Strategic Planning Reform/Unit (SPRU) of Punjab Irrigation Department organized a one-day orientation workshop at Irrigation and Power Department (IPD) Secretariat on November 15, 2007 to provide a comprehensive orientation on Punjab Irrigation Sector Reform Program (PISRP) to IPD staff.
The workshop was chaired by the Secretary IPD and was attended by the Chief PMIU, Chief SPRU, GM (TM) PIDA, GM (OP) PIDA, Director Vigilance, Director SEMU and SPRU Team. From field formations, Chief Engineer Lahore, Chief Engineer Bahawalpur, Chief Engineer DG Khan, two Superintending Engineers from each irrigation zone, three Executive Engineers from each zone and two Sub-divisional Officers from each zone attended the workshop.
The overall theme of the workshop was to provide a comprehensive overview along with implementation status of PISRP. Detailed discussions took place on the subject areas given below:
Ø Introduction to PISRP, perspective to reforms, objectives, outcomes, indicators and way forward
Ø Asset management plan & revised yardsticks
Ø Third party monitoring
Ø Departmental Accounts Committee (DAC) meetings and related issues
Ø Canal water monitoring & management
Ø New initiative of Irrigation Management Transfer: The emerging model of FOs, AWB & PIDA
Ø Introduction to groundwater management initiatives, pilot areas, scope of interventions, cooperation required from field formations
Ø IPD modernization and change management: Future perspective
Ø Social & environmental considerations in irrigation projects
Ø Communication strategy & implementation
The workshop provided a detailed orientation on PISRP through an detailed discussions on the way forward for reforms, different aspects of asset management planning, revision of yardsticks, the interface between IPD and FOs and institutional support to FOs in their management, internal capacity building and various other issues
Source: Punjab Irrigation E-Newsletter, December 2007
Central Development Working Party (CDWP) Approved Four Projects for Water sector in Pakistan
In a recently held meeting, Central Development Working Party (CDWP), Pakistan approved following projects in water sector.
1. Optimizing Canal and Groundwater to Assist Water User Association in Maximizing Crop Production and Managing Salinization with Australian Assistance