Planning and Evaluation of Irrigation Projects: Methods and Implementation

Planning and Evaluation of Irrigation Projects

Methods and Implementation

Raveendra Kumar Rai

Vijay P. Singh

Alka Upadhyay

Table of Contents

Cover image

Title page

Dedication

Copyright

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1. Introduction

1.1. Irrigation: Definition, Functions, Advantages, and Disadvantages

1.2. Irrigation Planning

1.3. Need of Evaluation: Benchmarking and Water Auditing

1.4. Organization of This Book

Chapter 2. Irrigation Project Planning

2.1. Planning Stages

2.2. Investigation Phases and Data Collection

2.3. Scope of Work for Planning or Prefeasibility Report Stage

2.4. Scope of Work for Detailed Investigation or Detailed Project Report Stage

2.5. Factors Affecting the Development of Irrigation Facilities

Chapter 3. Basic Hydraulic Computations

3.1. Basic Terminology

3.2. Conservation Laws

3.3. Hydraulic Jump

3.4. Computation of Critical Depth

3.5. Uniform Flow Computation

3.6. Gradually Varied Flow

3.7. Concluding Remarks

Chapter 4. Hydrologic Computations

4.1. Analyses of Rainfall Data

4.2. Hydrologic Cycle

4.3. Hydrologic Equation and Water Balance

4.4. Estimation of Reservoir Inflow Using Observed Data

4.5. Estimate of Catchment Yield Using Rainfall–Runoff Modeling

4.6. Inflow Estimation in Multi-Reservoir Case

4.7. Design-Flood Estimation for Fixing the Spillway Capacity

4.8. Reservoir Sizing

4.9. Reservoir Sedimentation

4.10. Concluding Remarks

Chapter 5. Estimation of Lake Evaporation and Potential Evapotranspiration

5.1. Estimation of Lake Evaporation

5.2. Estimation of Reference Crop Evapotranspiration

5.3. Concluding Remarks

Chapter 6. Estimating Irrigation Design Parameters

6.1. Estimation of Crop Water Requirement

6.2. Irrigation Water Requirement

6.3. Irrigation Efficiency

6.4. Irrigation Command Area

6.5. Determination of Irrigated Command Area, Project Duty, Duty at Outlet Head and Canal Head, Water Allowance, and Canal Capacity

Chapter 7. Design of Irrigation Canals

7.1. Typical Canal Geometry

7.2. Design of Lined Canals

7.3. Design of Stable Unlined Canals Using the Regime Theory

7.4. Design of Unlined Canal Using Tractive Force Approach

7.5. Determining L-Section of the Canal

7.6. Development of Draw-Off Statement for the Canal

7.7. Concluding Remarks

Chapter 8. Design of Canal Outlets and Their Calibration

8.1. Classification of Outlets

8.2. Performance of Module or Outlet

8.3. Design of Outlets: Discharge Through Outlets

8.4. Calibration of Outlet

8.5. Concluding Remarks

Chapter 9. Canal Architecture

9.1. Canal Classification

9.2. Command Area Survey

9.3. Canal Alignment

9.4. Marking and Finalization of Area Proposed to Be Irrigated by Each Channel

9.5. Design of Canal

9.6. Concluding Remarks

Chapter 10. Irrigation Methods

10.1. Methods of Irrigation

10.2. Factors Affecting the Selection of Irrigation Method

10.3. Layout of Basin Irrigation

10.4. Layout for Furrow Irrigation

10.5. Layout of Border Irrigation

10.6. Concluding Remarks

Chapter 11. Optimal Cropping Pattern

11.1. Linear Programming

11.2. LP Formulation for Optimal Crop Planning

11.3. LP-Based Conjunctive Use of Surface and Groundwater Resources

11.4. Concluding Remarks

Chapter 12. Irrigation Scheduling

12.1. Simple Calculation of Irrigation Scheduling (FAO, 1989)

12.2. Water Balance Method

12.3. Warabandi Scheduling

12.4. Process of Warabandi

12.5. Concluding Remarks

Chapter 13. Benchmarking of Irrigation Projects

13.1. Benchmarking Domains

13.2. Benchmarking Process

13.3. Data Required for Benchmarking

13.4. Indicators of Benchmarking

13.5. Computational Methods for Indicators

13.6. Concluding Remarks

Chapter 14. Performance Evaluation of Irrigation Projects

14.1. System Delivery Performance

14.2. Productive Performance

14.3. Financial Performance

14.4. Concluding Remarks

Chapter 15. Water Auditing of Irrigation Projects

15.1. Definition of Water Auditing

15.2. Data Collection for Water Auditing

15.3. Indicators of Water Audit

15.4. Brief Description of Indicators

15.5. Estimation of Water Auditing Indicators

15.6. Concluding Remarks

Chapter 16. Flow Measurement in Canals

16.1. Flow Measuring Structures

16.2. Area–Velocity Method

16.3. Concluding Remarks

Chapter 17. Soil Analysis

17.1. Soil and Its Physical Properties

17.2. Soil-Water Constants

17.3. Protocol for Soil Moisture Analysis Using Gravimetric Method

17.4. Measurement of Soil Moisture at Field

17.5. Concluding Remarks

Chapter 18. Scheme Irrigation Efficiency

18.1. Scheme Irrigation Efficiency

18.2. Field Application Efficiency (Ea)

18.3. Conveyance Efficiency (Ec)

18.4. Concluding Remarks

Chapter 19. Environmental Aspects of Irrigation Projects

19.1. Environment and Ecosystem Processes

19.2. Biodiversity

19.3. Environmental Aspects of Water Resources Development

19.4. Environmental Impact of Development of Irrigation Projects

19.5. Environmental Impact Assessment and Management

19.6. Policy Background

19.7. Clearances Required for River Valley or Irrigation Projects in India

19.8. Concluding Remarks

Chapter 20. Financial Appraisal of Irrigation Projects

20.1. Benefits and Costs of the Project

20.2. Benefit–Cost Analysis

20.3. Appraisal of the Project

20.4. Concluding Remarks

Chapter 21. Way Forward to Improve Irrigation Efficiency

21.1. Feasible Solution to Improve System Technical Efficiency

21.2. Feasible Solution to Improve Productive Efficiency

21.3. Feasible Solution to Improve Financial Efficiency

21.4. Feasible Solution to Improve Distribution Efficiency

21.5. Concluding Remarks

Appendices

Index

Dedication

Dedicated to our families:

RKR: daughter Manu Bhavya, parents Mr. Rajendra Rai and Mrs. Chandraprabha, and sisters and brothers-in-law.

VPS: wife Anita, son Vinay, daughter Arti, daughter-in-law Sonali, and grandchildren Ronin, Kayden, and Davin

AUP: daughter Manu Bhavya, parents Mr. VN Upadhyay and Mrs. Sheela Upadhyay, and brothers.

Copyright

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Preface

Burgeoning population, rising standard of living, and increasing wastage of food require greater agricultural productivity, if food security is to be assured. However, agriculture greatly depends on the vagaries of nature, especially weather, and the vagaries are being further accentuated by climate change. The only way it seems the food security can be assured is irrigation of agricultural lands. Irrigation provides water to crops where and when crop water requirements cannot be met by natural rainfall. Many areas without or with little rainfall are wastelands, but they can be transformed into crop-producing areas by irrigation. Irrigation is therefore practiced all over the world. Indeed, large irrigation systems have been built in many countries of the world, such as Brazil, China, India, Pakistan, Russia, Sri Lanka, and United States, to name but a few, and many more systems are being planned and constructed. Since water is limited and agricultural irrigation consumes the majority of freshwater resources, it is critical that irrigation systems be planned and managed optimally. Even a small percentage saving in irrigation can go a long way in alleviating water shortages in other sectors, such as domestic and industrial sectors. Furthermore, irrigation systems that are already in place need to be evaluated for their performance. Such evaluation can offer insights for system improvement and improved planning of future systems. This book therefore deals with these two main issues: planning of irrigation projects (systems) and evaluation of existing irrigation projects (systems).

The subject matter of this book spans 21 chapters. Introducing the theme of this book in Chapter 1, the succeeding 12 chapters constitute Section I focusing on irrigation project planning. Chapter 2 presents various components of planning for irrigation projects under prefeasibility and detailed project investigation stages and factors affecting the development of irrigation facilities. Hydraulic computations required for the planning of irrigation projects are discussed in Chapter 3. The essential elements of catchment hydrology, especially analysis of rainfall, estimation of catchment yield, design flood estimation, reservoir inflow, reservoir sizing, reservoir operation, and sedimentation that are needed for planning are discussed in Chapter 4.

Chapter 5 describes procedures for estimating evaporation and evapotranspiration, including the Penman, Penman–Monteith (FAO 56), ASCE-EWRI, and Hargreaves methods. Estimation of crop water requirement followed by irrigation requirement is presented in Chapter 6. Also included is the estimation of storage required and irrigable command area. Chapter 7 deals with the design of canal cross-section that can accommodate peak irrigation water supply during the design base period. Classification and design of canal outlets constitutes the focus of Chapter 8. The procedure for canal layout for a command area to facilitate equitable distribution of water is discussed in Chapter 9. This chapter also discusses the various procedures for classification of canals based on their functioning, alignment, source of water, and capacity and relative importance.

Chapter 10 deals with various methods for field application of irrigation supply, such as surface irrigation as well as sprinkler and drip irrigation. It also discusses the procedure for selection of these methods and their advantages and disadvantages. Optimal cropping patterns for a command area are discussed in Chapter 11. A linear programming technique is presented for optimum crop planning as well as conjunctive use planning. Chapter 12 deals with irrigation scheduling based on (1) simple calculation method and (2) water balance approach. The warabandi scheduling, which becomes desirable when limited water is available for irrigation supply, is also included in Chapter 12.

Section II, spanning Chapters 13–18, deals with the evaluation of irrigation projects in place. Chapter 13 presents the benchmarking of irrigation projects, summarizing various benchmarking indicators used in evaluating irrigation projects. The performance of irrigation systems, namely, delivery performance, productive performance, and financial performance of irrigation systems, is addressed in Chapter 14. The delivery performance evaluation includes two areas of service provision: (1) adequacy with which the organization manages the operation of the irrigation delivery system to provide the water required by the user and (2) efficiency with which the organization uses resources to provide this service (financial performance). The productive performance of an irrigation system deals with the production efficiency of irrigation projects, and the methodology is explained using data from a real irrigation project. The financial performance evaluation of a system, mandatory for assessing the self-sustenance of the project, is also discussed using the data from real irrigation projects.

Chapter 15 discusses water auditing of irrigation projects, which is essential for the effective utilization of water and identifying losses incurred in the system. Estimation of water auditing indicators is also included in Chapter 15. Chapter 16 describes the various techniques of flow measurement. The knowledge of flow rates is necessary to quantify deliveries to the water user and distribute water equitably among beneficiaries. Flow measurement also enables to estimate losses in canal reaches and hence forms the basis for developing measures for maximizing the conveyance efficiency. Soils in a command area and their characteristics are dealt with in Chapter 17. Chapter 18 treats the irrigation scheme efficiency and includes procedures for estimating field application and conveyance efficiencies.

The subject matter discussed in Chapters 19 and 20 is generally used in both planning and evaluation. Chapter 19 discusses environmental aspects of the development of irrigation projects; whereas Chapter 20 deals with financial aspects and financial appraisal of projects. The concluding Chapter 21 reflects on the way forward for improving the efficiency of irrigation projects.

This book discusses real-world examples and is based on Indian experience. It is hoped that those, especially in developing countries, who are interested in irrigation project planning and evaluation, will find this book to be useful. Also, graduate students and faculty members in civil engineering, agricultural engineering, and water resources engineering; irrigation engineers of state irrigation departments; international organizations, such as World Bank, Asian Development Bank, United Nations organizations, Food and Agricultural Organization; national governments; and private companies may find this book to be of value.

Raveendra Kumar Rai,     Udaipur, Rajasthan, India

Vijay P. Singh,     College Station, TX, United States

Alka Upadhyay,     Udaipur, Rajasthan, India

Acknowledgments

While writing this book, extensive literature was surveyed and synthesized. The literature included numerous books, technical papers, manuals, and unpublished material, and is duly referred to in each chapter. We also acknowledge the authors of unpublished materials that are cited but are missing in the references list.

We take this opportunity to acknowledge the continuous guidance and encouragement of Er. Ravindra Bhatnagar, Retired Chief Engineer, Water Resources Department, Rajasthan, for his review and constructive suggestions to make this book useful for irrigation engineers. We are also thankful to the officers and engineers of the Water Resources Department, Rajasthan, for their guidance and encouragement for writing this book. We would like to take this opportunity to express our deep gratitude to Er. A.K. Babel and Er. R.K. Tepan, Additional Chief Engineers, Water Resources Zone Udaipur; Mr. G.L. Bansal, Director (Irrigation Planning), Central Water Commission, New Delhi; Mr. A.K. Bharadwaj, Superintending Engineer, WRD, Udaipur; Er. Hemant Panediya and Er. G. N. Samariya, Executive Engineers, Water Resources Department, Rajasthan; and others for their constructive suggestions. We are also thankful to our colleague in different organizations for their support.

We owe a debt of gratitude to our families for their understanding, endurance, patience, love, and sacrifices. Without their support this book would not have been completed.

Raveendra Kumar Rai,     Udaipur, Rajasthan, India

Vijay P. Singh,     College Station, TX, United States

Alka Upadhyay,     Udaipur, Rajasthan, India

Chapter 1

Introduction

Abstract

Irrigation sector is the major user of fresh water resources in the world. Almost 75% of fresh water is being used for irrigating crops. Irrigation management is, therefore, a major challenge now and will continue to be so in the near future. Adequate irrigation planning for the judicious use of water in the agricultural sector for sustaining agricultural growth thus becomes essential. The judicious use of water for crop production requires considerable knowledge of the weather, soil, crop physiology, water availability and quality, and drainage in relation to crops. It may also be noted that approximately 30%–50% of water is generally lost due to inefficient irrigation systems starting from the water diversion to the head canal all the way up to the agricultural field. This book discusses these aspects, and this chapter provides an elementary discussion of irrigation and its definition, function, advantages, and disadvantages, followed by an overview of irrigation planning and evaluation.

Keywords

Benchmarking; Environmental performance; Evaluation; Financial performance; Irrigation; Irrigation planning; Production performance; Service delivery performance; Water auditing

Water is a vital resource, but burgeoning population, increasing urbanization, and expanding industrial activity have created an alarming situation for the supply and availability of water for future generations. Climate change and consequent variability in rainfall may have further aggravated the situation. Water is mainly utilized in the following basic sectors: drinking or domestic, agricultural, energy, and industrial sectors. Among these sectors, drinking water supply has been considered as a first priority. Agricultural sector, meaning primarily irrigation, is the dominant water consumer, but irrigation is essential for food and nutritional security. The energy sector includes hydropower generation, green energy generation, and cooling systems for thermal and nuclear power generation. The industrial sector includes the water required for running factories. Even the information technology sector requires a lot of water. Also, recreation, ecosystem, and environmental management require large quantities of water. In other words, there is thirst for water all around, and water security is a challenge that has not yet been met in most parts of Asia and Africa.

Irrigation sector is the major user of fresh water resources. In India, nearly 75% of fresh water is being used for irrigating crops. Irrigation management is, therefore, a major challenge now and will continue to be so in the near future. Furthermore, irrigation also causes unfavorable environmental effects. Adequate irrigation planning for the judicious use of water in the agriculture sector for sustaining agricultural growth becomes essential. The judicious use of water for crop production requires consideration of weather, soil, crop physiology, water availability and quality, and drainage in relation to crops. In addition, knowledge of the irrigation system and transfer of technology to farmers are other important factors for irrigation planning. It may be noted that approximately 30%–50% of water is generally lost due to the inefficient irrigation system starting from water diversion to the head canal all the way up to the agricultural field. A good understanding of the irrigation systems and crop water requirements is therefore critically important. This book deals with two important issues: planning of irrigation projects, constituting Section I, and evaluation of existing irrigation projects spanning Section II. It is desirable hence to revisit irrigation and its functions, advantages, and disadvantages.

1.1. Irrigation: Definition, Functions, Advantages, and Disadvantages

Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the farm land or soil to support crop production. It supports agricultural crop growing, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas when there is inadequate rainfall. It may be further defined as the artificial application of water to the crop root zone at the right time and in the required quantity for the optimum crop growth and to get more crop returns per unit of water use.

The functions of irrigation are as follows:

• It supplies moisture to the soil essential for the germination of seeds and for chemical and bacterial processes during plant growth.

• It cools the soil and the surroundings, thus making the environment more favorable for the plant growth.

• It controls salinity.

• It helps converts wasteland to productive land.

• It can apply fertilizers and pesticides.

• It controls frost.

• It ensures crop success against short-term drought.

The impact of irrigation development on social and environmental aspects may be positive or negative. The functions of irrigation are the major advantages of irrigation. A few additional advantages are as follows:

• It stabilizes crop yield.

• It protects from famine (i.e., widespread scarcity of foods).

• It encourages the cultivation of cash crops.

• Due to the development of irrigation, cropping intensity can be greatly improved, which generates additional revenue for the farmer and in turn for the nation.

• It ensures household food security and improves nutrition.

• It provides a reliable source of drinking water with little treatment.

• It improves socioeconomic conditions and helps alleviate poverty in the region.

• It improves economic security of the nation and helps in sustainable economic growth.

On the other hand, in the context of mismanagement of crops, especially selection of crops and their variety according to climate and water resources, mismanagement of the irrigation system may lead to the following disadvantages:

• Mismanagement in crop selection may lead to the requirement of excessive water supply, which is generally supplemented by groundwater resources. The excessive groundwater abstraction will deplete the water table, which affects the ecosystem.

• Due to inadequate operation and maintenance of canals, canal seepage can raise the water table and thus cause water logging. That is why significant portions of lands near canals have become waterlogged.

• Excessive irrigation of field crops can also cause waterlogging.

• Waterlogging accelerates land salinity.

The water quality of a river may be degraded because of water diversions. Also, the reduced flow in the river due to water diversion for canals will disturb river ecology.

1.2. Irrigation Planning

Irrigation planning is one of the important components in water resources development. It involves variety of elements, such as hydrological and hydraulic elements, water budgeting, topographic and geotechnical surveys, structural design, design of irrigation networks, design of canals and outlets and their operation, as well as socioeconomic and environmental studies. Components essential in the planning of irrigation projects can be understood through a flowchart depicted in Fig. 1.1. For irrigation planning, this book presents the necessary hydrological and hydraulic computations; estimation of delta, duty, and irrigable command area, including canal capacity; hydraulic design of irrigation canal and outlets; development of draw-off statement; selection of irrigation methods; environmental and social impact assessment; financial appraisal, etc. The book also covers special topics on optimal cropping pattern and irrigation scheduling, including warabandi scheduling for irrigation water management.

Figure 1.1  Flowchart showing different components of irrigation planning. BC , benefit-cost; CCA , culturable command area; ESIA , environmental and social impact assessment; ICA , irrigable command area; IRR , internal rate of return.

1.3. Need of Evaluation: Benchmarking and Water Auditing

The increasing pressure on fresh water resources due to food security for growing population has created an alarming situation throughout the world. Furthermore, huge losses of water occur in irrigation systems, causing nonutilization of the created potential. The lower water use efficiency in irrigation (20%–35%) has significantly reduced the net irrigated area by the created irrigation system. If this efficiency is increased up to 55%–60%, then 25%–35% irrigated area can easily be increased. Therefore it is important to evaluate the performance of the existing irrigation system and determine the reasons for their lack of up-to-the mark performance. Such evaluation can be done through systematic scientific approach known as Benchmarking and Water Auditing.

Furthermore, most of the irrigation projects have lost their designed culturable command area due to various losses, changes in cropping patterns, deviation in inflow or catchment yield due to land use change in the catchment, etc. It has greatly affected the delivery and productive and economic performance of irrigation projects. Therefore it becomes important to reevaluate the projects as well as their design parameters and identify the deficiencies wherever they may be, and provide feasible remedial measures to improve the overall efficiency of the irrigation project.

While evaluating the performance of irrigation projects, interest is toward the efficiency with which inputs (resources: water resources, human resources, financial resources) to the system are converted into the outputs (socioeconomic and environmental benefits). In irrigation system performance evaluation, four major domains are of interest: (1) service delivery performance, (2) production performance and efficiency, (3) financial performance, and (4) environmental performance. The process of evaluating an irrigation project is depicted in Fig. 1.2. The service delivery performance measures the adequacy with which the organization manages the operation of irrigation delivery system to satisfy the water required by the user. It includes the parameter ranging between the reservoir efficiency and the water use efficiency of the system. The production performance measures the efficiency with which irrigated agriculture uses water resources in the production of crops. It measures the performance of the system after minor canals for irrigation application. The financial performance measures the financial sustainability of the irrigation delivery system, which basically focuses on the cost recovery of operation and maintenance cost incurred periodically in the project. Besides all these, the environmental performance assesses the environmental impact of the project command area, which includes change in water table and land degradation due to salinity.

Figure 1.2  Flowchart showing the process of evaluation of an irrigation project.

1.4. Organization of This Book

Introducing the theme of the book, Chapters 2–12 describe various components of planning for an irrigation project and constitute Section I. They deal with factors affecting the development of irrigation facilities, basic hydraulic computations required in irrigation project planning, elements of catchment hydrology, procedures for estimating evaporation and evapotranspiration, estimation of crop water requirement and irrigation requirement, design of canal cross-sections, classification and design of canal outlets, canal layout planning for equitable distribution of water in the command area, methods for field application of irrigation water supply, optimal cropping patterns, and irrigation scheduling.

The succeeding chapters discuss the evaluation of irrigation projects, entailing benchmarking of irrigation projects, delivery performance, productive performance, financial performance, water auditing, flow measurement, soils and their characteristics, estimation of water auditing indicators, scheme irrigation efficiency, financial appraisal, and environmental and social impact assessment. The book concludes with remarks on the way forward for improving the efficiency followed by appendices relevant to the book.

Chapter 2

Irrigation Project Planning

Abstract

Development of an irrigation project requires preparation of a detailed project report (DPR), involving multidisciplinary treatment ranging from hydrological investigation to various surveys not limited to topographical, geophysical, geotechnical, and environmental, along with financial appraisal. The DPR preparation involves huge investments; therefore before going ahead into a detailed investigation, it would be more practical to have a detailed preliminary investigation for planning of the irrigation project. This chapter discusses the extent of investigation including data requirements and processes for both the planning stage (i.e., preliminary investigation or prefeasibility report) and the detailed investigation stage (i.e., DPR stage), followed by a description of the factors affecting the development of irrigation facilities.

Keywords

Detailed project report; Factor affecting irrigation facilities; Investigation; Investigation phases; Irrigation planning; Prefeasibility report

Irrigation sector is the key sector for water resources, benefitting about 75% of the people in the world who not only generate income through the farm produce but also directly contribute to the national gross domestic product (GDP) and food security. For sustainable agriculture, irrigation plays a fundamentally important role. To utilize surface water resources for irrigating crop lands, irrigation projects are planned, which reduce water scarcity and improve yield due to timely irrigation. Planning of irrigation projects entails a sequence of steps that are discussed in this chapter. Also discussed in the chapter are the factors that affect the development of irrigation facilities at the farm level.

2.1. Planning Stages

Planning of an irrigation project entails five stages: (1) identification, (2) preparation and analysis, (3) appraisal, (4) implementation, and (5) monitoring and evaluation. Each of these stages is now discussed. Accordingly, the stages in investigation are determined, which are generally preliminary, detailed, and preconstruction investigation (Fig. 2.1). The preliminary investigation or prefeasibility study of the project involves the identification stage of planning with necessary approval following the preparation and analysis stage under detailed investigation. The latter two planning stages, i.e., implementation and monitoring and evaluation are covered in preconstruction investigations, which are taken up after the appraisal of a detailed investigation report.

2.1.1. Project Identification

Project identification aims at undertaking a preliminary assessment of a project idea before planning of resources that includes financial resources, manpower and skills, and other resources. Irrigation projects are generally identified by situational analysis of rainfall pattern, low crop yield, seasonal availability of water, frequency of drought and floods, magnitude of irrigable land, and market opportunities. Such an analysis should be adequately deliberated at a common platform composed of local communities, farmers' association, local administration, local leaders, and technical specialists. Based on the situational analysis, a quick assessment should include identification of the potential sites for storage and diversion, rough demarcation of command area and canal network system, market opportunities, risks, investors, etc. If the assessment is encouraging and deemed suitable and convincing for financing by the government or private partners, then detailed preparation and appraisal of the project validity are made.

Figure 2.1  Planning and investigation stages for an irrigation project. DPR , detailed project report; PFR , prefeasibility report.

2.1.2. Project Preparation and Analysis

Once a project is identified to be suitable for a go-ahead, detailed preparation and analysis of various project components begin. In the first stage of project preparation a feasibility study of the project is carried out; this is followed by the second stage in which a detailed project report (DPR) is prepared, which includes designs and drawings, financial appraisal, and necessary statutory clearances.

The feasibility study includes analysis of various aspects of the project, such as technical aspect, financial analysis, community participation analysis, project organization, socioenvironmental benefits, environmental impact assessment, political and cultural risk assessment, and project sustainability analysis.

1. Technical aspect is a key aspect governing the success of the project, which includes hydrological assessment, topographic survey, analysis of soil suitability for cultivation, climate, crop and water demands, capital and labor, and energy.

2. Financial analysis: It aims at assessing the financial effects on the farmers, public and private partners, government operating agencies, and anybody else who is directly or indirectly affected. In the financial analysis, cost and benefits of the project are assessed for their appraisal. The investment costs include the cost of land acquisition for storage, canal laying, civil works, equipment and material, skilled professionals, and labor. The operation and maintenance (O&M) cost is also considered in the investment. While analyzing project benefits, all possible direct or indirect benefits will be considered, followed by estimating the benefit-cost (BC) ratio to check for its financial sustainability. Based on the financial analysis, financial resources are identified.

3. Community participation analysis: A participation analysis involves engaging the community in the discussions to find out their views and interests as far as the proposed project is concerned. It also helps in developing the feeling of ownership for future O&M of the project.

4. Project organization and management: Without adequate organization and management setup, no project can produce the anticipated benefits. This will involve the establishment of the project and its periodic O&M of infrastructure by establishing functional responsibilities, communication, and activities.

5. Socioenvironmental benefits: It is important that the project is shown to produce social and environmental benefits and the public to be affected is convinced with the merit of the project as well as is informed about any harm that it might cause. The public must come aboard the overall concept of the project and is fully supportive and committed.

6. Environmental impact assessment: Development of any water resources projects has other positive and negative impacts, which should be adequately considered in the detailed project preparation. Diversion of water from the stream alters the natural flow regime of the river and streams, which ultimately affects the existing flora and fauna (biodiversity) in the downstream reaches. To minimize the negative impacts of the project, necessary arrangements should therefore be made.

7. Political and cultural risk assessment: There is a need to align the project objectives with national development strategies and policies. Project objectives should not contradict the government goals. It is important for planners to assess trends in the political system as well as the stability of social environment. The cost of investment may be high if the political system is unstable or while implementing policies that restrict the developers. At the local level, project objectives should be in line with the cultural practices of the area. There will be a need, at this level, to generate political goodwill by sensitization and awareness.

8. Project sustainability analysis: A project is to be said sustainable when the anticipated benefits are higher than investments.

2.1.3. Project Appraisal

Once the project plan is prepared, a critical review or an independent appraisal is required. This provides an opportunity to reexamine the entire project plan to assess whether the project proposal is appropriate and sound before large investments are committed. The appraisal will involve whether the time frame proposed for implementation is realistic. The appraisal process builds on the plan, but it may involve gathering new information if the specialists on the appraisal team feel that some of the data are questionable or some of the assumptions faulty.

2.1.4. Project Implementation

Once the appraisal of the project plan is done in favor of going ahead and the financial agreements have been conducted, the project will proceed for execution. Project implementation involves: (1) preparation of an action plan and budget for successful and timely completion of the project; (2) mobilization of resources (human, material, and management) and assignment of responsibilities under set organizational structure; (3) mobilization of farmers to participate fully in the project right from the beginning; and (4) initiation of field work for various activities. Project implementation plan must be flexible to account for various at-site changes and modifications and difficulties that could not be predicted while planning.

2.1.5. Monitoring and Evaluation

Monitoring takes place throughout the project implementation schedule. Regular monitoring helps in management to keep track of project progress, provides the bulk of information required for evaluating a project, improves the management of irrigated land in terms of agronomic technologies to be used, and helps in the allocation of resources and decision on what to produce. The evaluation process assesses the timely completion of scheduled project tasks and objectives, activities involved, and anticipated benefits.

In the evaluation process, a systematic analysis of successes and failures of the elements of the project is carried out, which helps in enhancing the efficiency and improvement in the implementation of successive project elements. It also improves the knowledge and experience of undertaking similar projects in the future.

2.2. Investigation Phases and Data Collection

For project identification, preparation, and analyses of any irrigation scheme, investigations play an important role. Investigations are generally carried out in three stages following the planning stages (Fig. 2.1): (1) preliminary investigation, (2) detailed investigation, and (3) preconstruction investigation. Preliminary investigation, sometimes referred to as the prefeasibility report (PFR), and its adequate consideration can save huge investments under feasibility or a detailed investigation report of unfeasible schemes. Therefore it is advisable to carry out the prefeasibility investigation to move forward for the detailed studies of the schemes. Under preliminary investigations of irrigation schemes, water availability studies using meteorological and hydrological information should be thorough, along with ascertaining the quality of water followed by the topographic and land use survey for assessing the expected benefits accruing from different levels of water and land with alternative canal layouts and alignment of structures. In the preliminary investigation, geological and foundation investigation shall also be made, based on existing information, maps and reports of the region/area, and reconnaissance survey, and the direct influence of the scheme on the economics and socioenvironmental impacts shall be assessed.

Once the PFR is favorable for the proposed scheme, a detailed investigation shall be taken up, which includes further detailing of the water availability studies by inflow monitoring and numerical model studies, detailed topographic and land use surveys, geological and foundation investigation, and BC analysis of the project, to come out with a DPR. The DPR should also include the construction details and time line. A detailed outline for the preparation of DPR will be discussed in a subsequent section.

2.2.1. Data Collection

The data required for planning of irrigation projects can be broadly classified into the following three categories: (1) water-related data, (2) land-related data, and (3) baseline data. However, the magnitude of data may vary as per the investigation stage (whether planning, i.e., PFR stage, or detailed investigation stage, i.e., DPR stage). The list of data required for the planning of an irrigation project is summarized in Table 2.1.

Table 2.1

List of Data Required for Irrigation Planning

2.3. Scope of Work for Planning or Prefeasibility Report Stage

As explained earlier, the planning or PFR stage is the first and most important stage of investigation of any irrigation project planning. Through the PFR stage, a sound decision should be made to go or not to go for the project. Activities involved in the PFR stage can be broadly understood through the flowchart depicted in Fig. 2.2. Detailed scopes of work or activities under planning or PFR stage are summarized in Table 2.2.

2.4. Scope of Work for Detailed Investigation or Detailed Project Report Stage

Preparation of DPR involves various tasks starting from the detailed data collection, survey and investigation, designs and drawings to the statutory clearances from various departments like forest, environment, etc., besides complying with available interstate or international treaties. Preparation of DPR requires close coordination among the planner or developers and important stakeholders. The DPR of Medium to Major Irrigation or Water Resources Projects is composed of various design activities listed under, apart from the topographic investigations and hydrological investigations:

1. Reservoir sizing and planning

2. Design flood estimation and fixing the capacity of spillway or waste weir

3. Construction of dam including spillways and gates

4. Construction of intake structures

5. Construction of feeder channel, if any

6. Construction of pickup weir or barrage or diversion structures

7. Aqueduct across the rivers or natural drainage system

8. Construction of pumping stations and dedicated power grid in case of lift irrigation scheme

9. Construction of canal

10. Command area development

11. Sediment management

12. River training

13. Other hydraulic structures

2.4.1. Activities for the Preparation of Detailed Project Report

The activities involved in the preparation of DPR can be explained through the flowchart (Fig. 2.3). A brief description of major activities involved for the preparation of DPR for Major and Medium Irrigation Projects is summarized in Table 2.3.

2.4.2. Deliverables and Implementation Plan to Be Incorporated in Detailed Project Report

The DPR shall have the following Annexures as a minimum.

1. The overall plan of the envisaged development

Figure 2.2  Flowchart showing the process of prefeasibility report for irrigation project. DPR , detailed project report.

Table 2.2

Activities Involved in PFR or Planning Stage of Irrigation Project

FRL, full reservoir level; MWL, maximum water level; PFR, prefeasibility report.

Figure 2.3  Flowchart showing the major components of the DPR. DPR , detailed project report; RR , rehabilitation and resettlement.

Table 2.3

Activities/Tasks Involved in the Preparation of DPR