fund for furthering flexible irrigation
System H Demand Irrigation Schedule Pilot Project, Sri Lanka
A pilot project was established within System H of the Mahaweli Development Project in Sri Lanka to demonstrate a flexible irrigation supply. The project was designed by John L. Merriam and constructed in 1979-1981, with World Bank project funding. It was placed in operation in 1982. The primary objectives were to enable farmers to utilize irrigation water and rainfall more efficiently, provide more convenience in the use of labor and scheduling of farming operations, and increase yields through improved management. Key project elements are: a service area reservoir, sloping and level-top canals, semi-closed pipelines, and a demand schedule. These provided downstream water control to approximately 133 one-hectare farm allotments of the 340 farms on D-1 channel.
The project operated fairly successfully for six seasons with extended support from John L. Merriam and the World Bank for operation until 1985. Water use and yields were monitored along with other aspects of the project's performance. Monitoring revealed that the flexible supply was widely accepted by project farmers. It permitted increased water use efficiency by reducing applied water needs and conserving rainfall while increasing yields 20% due to improved management. Unfortunately, when special support terminated the project did not continue to operate as planned. The primary contributing factors were: 1) lack of a water user organization; 2) lack of provisions for dealing with farmers who abused the flexibility 3) inconsistency between the operation requirements of the pilot project and those of the overall project, especially the means for allocation water shortages, 4) lack of follow-up education, and 5) lack of government interest in a new concept and pipelines.
In 1997, the Government of Sri Lanka entered into a loan agreement with the World Bank for funding to rehabilitate the System H irrigation infrastructure including the Pilot Project. The goals are to build stronger farmer organizations and transfer more of the project operation and maintenance responsibility to farmer organizations and provide follow-up support and education. The pilot project is currently (2001) being rehabilitated and also extended by installing pipelines on the rest of D-1 (about 200 farms) with technical support furnished by the Fund For Furthering Flexible Irrigation.
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