Irrigation Project Management

The water consumed for producing a unit of food grain is quite high in India. This in other words means that there is substantial scope of reducing water consumption and enhancing efficiency of irrigation projects. Presently the typical irrigation project functions at about 35-45% efficiency while it is possible to reach up to the 65% efficiency in an unlined open channel system. Seized of the issue, Planning Commission of India has fixed a target of 20% improvement in water use efficiency of the irrigation projects. A professional approach is required to achieve the targeted improvement. The approach would include analysis of the previous performance, identification of problem issues and areas. The identified problems can be managerial or civil works related in nature. The problem diagnosis should be followed with corrective actions which be followed by monitoring of performance at the end of the crop season. This cycle of plan, act and review need to be repeated over a period of time for achieving the gains in a sustainable fashion. The present guidelines summarises various actions that need to be taken up before, during and after the crop period. The comprehensive set of guidelines is named as operational guidelines for improving irrigation project performance and need to be implemented in a decentralized manner in experience sharing mode with necessary mid course correction. The key approach would include

• Standardizing project management methodology
• Standardizing project planning and performance review system
• Institutionally strengthening the key stakeholders – Water User Organizations and Irrigation Department
• Identifying and scaling up of best practices

Evolution of Irrigation Sector in India
Over the past 150 years India has made large investments in irrigation infrastructure – both in surface and ground water, much of which brings water to previously water-scarce areas. This has resulted in a dramatic economic growth in once rain fed and semi-arid areas. The benefits of the investments have been both national and regional in terms of an overall improvement in national food security and in regional rural prosperity. The poor too have immensely benefited from it, especially in terms of wage rate and improved employment opportunity. Consequently, the incidence of rural poverty in irrigated districts is one third of that in unirrigated ones.

The ultimate irrigation potential in the country has been estimated to be 139.89 mha (major & medium - 58.46 mha and minor - 81.43 mha), out of which irrigation potential to the extent of 99.31 mha has been created by March, 2005. The balance potential of 40.58 mha is being created at a fast pace and accordingly, necessary thrust to the irrigation sector is being given in the Five Year Plans. The percentage allocation for irrigation from First Plan to Tenth Plan has reduced from 22.5% to 5.9%. However, in terms of absolute amounts it has increased by more than 200 times. Yet, as per the data available from the Planning Commission, at the end of the Tenth Plan period (March 2007) the total gap in the Total Irrigation Potential created and utilized in the country was 16.51 million ha, which is over 16% of the total irrigation potential created as given in the Annexure I. At the same time, the Eleventh Plan has set a target of developing Irrigation Potential of 16 million ha through major and minor works in the entire state with a projected investment of Rs. 253,301 crores.

The increasing gap ayacut under the projects already completed is a cause of concern. In fact the assessment from above table shows that Government of India is contemplating developing irrigation potential during the Eleventh Plan period, which is almost equal to the gap ayacut under the existing projects at the beginning of the period.  It hence makes imminent sense to consider improving the performance of existing irrigation projects through better operation and maintenance and modernization (if required) along with creation of new irrigation projects, especially as the unit cost of rehabilitating the gap command is far economical than creating new command and with much less gestation period.

Construction Phase to Project Management Phase
Global experience has shown that investments in water resources development follow the broad outlines through three stages. During the first investment stage (Type 1) the challenges are predominantly engineering in nature. As the irrigation infrastructure gets built up challenges of operation and maintenance starts to emerge. This is the second investment stage (Type 2) investment in water management commences, but requirements of infrastructure development absorb most of the investments. The uni-functional irrigation engineering bureaucracy also gives priority to new construction at the cost of management of existing infrastructure. In the third investment stage (Type 3), when most of the opportunity for investment in fresh irrigation infrastructure is exhausted the focus shifts to investment in management including operation and maintenance and stakeholder participation. However, the success of this stage depends on the ability of the irrigation engineering bureaucracy to reform itself from its construction orientation to water management orientation.

While the creation of new ayacut requires huge investment, the restoration of gap ayacut may not need such huge investment. Large extent of gap ayacut can be reduced through much lesser investment in management and maintenance related activities. Further the opportunity in terms of water availability for investment in construction of new irrigation infrastructure is exhausting in many states. The operation and maintenance of the existing projects with involvement of the farmers should be the key activity for irrigation sector. Primarily this is heralding a substantial shift in the focus from construction of projects to management of projects while some remaining construction goes on. The focus shifting to investment in irrigation system management would include reorienting the engineers on general management principles, water management methodologies, creating benchmarks and indicators of efficiency, installing the system of monitoring and evaluation, skills of conflict management, working with stakeholders , regular and effective operation and maintenance for increasing productivity and contribution to the state GDP. However, success in this depends on the ability of the Water Resources / Irrigation Department to reorient themselves from its construction focus to water management focus by undergoing an organizational change management process.

National Action Plan
The National Water Mission under the Action Plan on Climate Change of Government of India has highlighted the actions to be initiated by the state and central government for adaptation to the anticipated adverse impacts of climate change on monsoon and river flows. The Comprehensive Mission Document of the National Water Mission too recommends that States take up reforms program in water sector to support adaptation and mitigation of adverse impacts of climate change, especially in terms of increasing water use efficiency by 20%.In lieu of above, the Eleventh Plan has set the target of achieving 20% improvement in water use efficiency in all irrigation projects in the country.

Evolving the Protocol
There would not be any arguments against improving water use efficiency in the irrigation projects by 20%. Nevertheless, a major barrier in achieving it is in the lack of understanding of how to go about it. There are various small-scale examples of efficiency improvement implemented by local NGOs or farmer groups and also by the state governments. However, at present there does not exist a set of comprehensive methodology and a protocol, whether technical or institutional, that would ensure achievement of the targeted improvement. I&CAD Department of Andhra Pradesh Government, has over the last few years, been piloting a set of interventions that have shown encouraging results in improving water use efficiency in the irrigation projects covered. It has also led to the emergence of a potential technical and institutional methodology for improving water use efficiency in irrigation projects by 20%. The set of activities taken up by the Andhra Pradesh Irrigation and CAD Department relate to Institutional Changes, Participatory Irrigation Management and Performance Monitoring in a project cycle mode.

Evolving a Comprehensive Methodology in Project Mode
The scope and nature of the irrigation activities in present times squarely places it in the Type 3 investment stage as described above. Consequently, one of the primary interventions is to re-orient the focus of the irrigation department and project authority from construction to water management. This will entail that

• the project authority and the irrigation engineering staff are equipped for implementing a new set of activities ranging from irrigation scheduling and regulation;
• Understanding the need of multidisciplinary skills for management of irrigation project
• Working in a network based system in addition to the present command and control system
• promoting participation of Water Users Organization in operation and maintenance of the irrigation system;
• Adopting various managerial tools related to technical and institutional performance monitoring; and promoting agricultural productivity etc.
• Synchronising the activities with crop cycle.

Synchronising Activties with Crop Cycle
As explained above the irrigation management related activities should be synchronised with the crop cycle for optimum productyivity benefits. A set of activities required to be taken up during the pre agriculture season, next set of activitiea would be taken up during the canal operation period and the third set of activities would be taken up aduring canal closure after the crops are harvested. These activities are grouped and listed below and presented in following cyclical diagram.

• Pre Cropping Season-
• Action Plan preparation  - jointly by the farmers and engineers for water release and maintenance
• Implementing the canal closure works
• During Cropping Season
• Water release Schedule and Monitoring
• Farmer Field Schools
• Irrigated Area Assessment
• Post Harvest –
• Water Tax Collection
• Performance Monitoring and Identifying the areas for improvement
• Capacity Building

The cycle represents the activities that are repeated season after season. The actions and performance during the previous season are analysed to understand the gaps and to plan for next season for better performance. This cycle can be repeated for continuous improvement in the outputs from the irrigation projects. To explain the cycle presented in the diagram let us start form the action planning related actions. The description thereafter follows the cycle and explains the set of activities to be taken up, the management tools to be used and the agencies likely to be involved. The activities are marked in black font, the tools in yellow font and the agencies facilitating or implementing them are shown in blue font in the diagram.

Irrigation Project Cycle

Seasonal Planning - Participatory Action Planning (PAP) and Workbook
This is a joint exercise of the engineers and the farmers to understand the gaps from the previous year performance. The process is named as Participatory Action Planning (PAP) and the tool used during the process is named as Workbook. The exercise is to be conducted jointly by the project engineers, farmers. During the PAP the gaps and deficiencies identified in the performance of the irrigation system during the previous year will be identified on the basis of output of performance monitoring during the previous season. The performance report consists of data set and maps highlighting performance on various indicators. This is described in the connected section below. The analysis will be shared and discussed among the engineers and farmers. The system deficiencies identified will also be verified through a joint Walk Through and the required interventions listed out. The information on the previous year performance, static data and proposed action plan as emerging would be recorded in the booklet called workbook that is retained by the respective WUO while the abstract is used for furnishing action plan to the competent authorities for sanction. The PAP Workbook consists of detailed plans for the required O&M works, seasonal crop plan, irrigated area assessment and water tax demand and collection. The PAP exercise needs to be completed immediately on completion of a crop season so as to allow the works to be carried out during the canal closure period. The analysis of the previous season data also highlights the value of crop output achieved against the possible output. The planning exercise should aim at higher crop returns during the ensuing season over and above the previous season. This is the bottom line test for the entire exercise.

Operation and Maintenance
The next step in the project cycle is carrying out the operation and maintenance, deferred maintenance and dam safety related works, The Executive Engineers, Superintending Engineers and Chief Engineers would review the data provided through the workbook for their administrative level and forward it to next level. The Chief Engineer would analyse the necessity of works, the total budget requirement and link it to availability of funds under plan, category A and non-plan funds as per the nature and eligibility of works. Thus a comprehensive maintenance plan under various heads of accounts is prepared by Chief Engineer and forward to the Command Area Development Committee The O&M works design and estimate as identified in the action planning exercise will be facilitated by the irrigation engineers. The status of work would be monitored through web based Work Tracking System developed with the assistance of CGG. The Work Tracking System provides the up to date information on the physical and financial progress of the works. O&M works and deferred maintenance, of the permissible kinds and to the permissible monetary limits (presently Rs. 5 lakhs) will be executed by the WUAs through re-plough of the water tax amount or other budget. The rest will be tendered out as per the departmental procedures.

Water Management Planning and Implementation
Water management planning will commence with the preparation of the seasonal crop plan using the PAP Workbook. The seasonal crop plan will be finalized by the WUAs according to the localization of the command area and actual practices in consultation with the farmers facilitated by the irrigation engineers and the FTC staff. Based on the crop plan and using standard crop water estimation methods the irrigation engineers will calculate the water requirement for the various WUAs/ DCs in the command area and prepare the water supply schedule as per the different stages of irrigation requirement of the crop. Based on the crop water requirement and the irrigation scheduling the irrigation engineers will prepare a canal operation system and finalize it in a Working Table for the irrigation project as per the guidelines provided. The Chief Engineer of the concerned project will then present the Working Table to the SCIWAM Committee for approval and for any revision made in it during the cropping season. This Working Table will be shared with the WUAs/DCs who will be given notice of water release into their respective canals well in advance to be able to plan their agricultural activities.

The flows in the river and inflows into the reservoirs will be monitored using a called the Reservoir Storage Monitoring System (RSMS). The water flows in the canals will be monitored by another telecom-cum-web based application called the Canal Network Flow Monitoring System (CNFMS).

Irrigated Area Assessment and Water Tax Collection
The next stage is assessing the area irrigated. The WUAs, and irrigation engineers jointly carry out irrigated area assessment and record as per the format. A Satellite Remote Sensing based system for assessment of irrigated area is set up using the services of the AP State Remote Sensing Application Centre. The APSRAC has standardized the protocol and has provided the extent of area irrigated during the various crop seasons.

Industrial Water -Irrigation projects are supplying water to various industries for consumptive and non-consumptive purposes. The project engineers establish the water meters to assess the quantity of the water supplied to the industry. The engineer concerned raises the demand for and collects royalty.

Drinking Water- The irrigation projects are also supplying water to various municipalities and village local bodies for drinking water. The irrigation department does not charge the drinking water. Nonetheless, the project engineers measure the quantity of water being supplied for drinking water and the population being served. The water consumed for drinking purposes need to be measured as it would be required for accounting the project water for water auditing and benchmarking.

Performance Monitoring
The next step in the cycle will be performance monitoring of the irrigation project for the previous crop season to identify the areas of future intervention and impact of the previous actions. Under this 2 performance monitoring tools – Participatory Situation Analysis (PSA) and Water Audit and Bench Marking (WA&BM), will be used to assess the performance of the irrigation project.

The PSA is a self-assessment tool to be used by Water Users Organizations (WUOs - Water Users Associations, Distributory Committees and Project Committees) for assessing their performance on the 15 parameters grouped under the themes of Administration, Water Management and Sustainability. As a result of the assessment the WUAs would be graded as A+ (excellent), A (Good), B (Average) and C (Poor) for each of the three parameters. Based on this assessment, specific and well directed training and capacity building program for the WUAs will be imparted to improve their performance in addition to implementing other requirements. The theme wise list of indicators is as follows.

• Administration
• General body meetings
• Updation of records
• Management Committee Meetings held
• Conflict Resolution
• Transparency
• Water Management
• Water Use Efficiency
• Tail end issues
• Innovations in Water Management
• Water Release Schedule
• Warabandi Implementation
• Sustainability
• Joint Azmoish
• Area under Second Crop
• Tax Collection
• O&M works
• Additional Resource Mobilisation

A protocol is developed to analyse the data collected during the PAP exercise. The analysis is converted to maps indicating the performance of various WUAs/ DCs and sections/Division/Circle on following indicators.

• % Area irrigated
• % Crop (Paddy / ID)
• % Tax Collection
• WUE Evolution
• O&M per acre (Rs)
• O&M and WUE
• Excess water utilized
• Ground water status & Wells density
• Tailend areas
• Participatory Situation Analysis (PSA)
• Crop value per Mcft of water (Lakh Rs / Mcft)

The process of analysis of data collected during PAP and converting it to maps has been automated. The software is proposed for installation initially in the offices of Chief Engineers. The data can now be fed through the designated format that will convert the data to the maps. The user can create the maps of a particular WUA, DC, PC or for a section, division or for a circle.
 
Another tool of monitoring, WA&BM, will assess the performance of the irrigation project on its technical, hydrological and agricultural parameters and assist in identifying the irrigation administrative units (sections to circles) and FOs (WUAs to Project Committees) showing gap command, low water use efficiency (Duty), low levels of operation and maintenance and low agricultural productivity, thereby bringing to the attention of the project authorities the project areas where interventions are required to improve the performance of the irrigation system.

Capacity Building of FOs & Establishing Field Training Centers
The project staff, including the irrigation engineers, training coordinator, facilitates the training and capacity building. Towards this a Field Training Centre (FTC), with up to date training infrastructure and facilities, is established in the project at each Irrigation Circle level under the supervision of the Superintending Engineer. In case an irrigation project has more than one Irrigation Circle as many FTCs will be established in it. Each FTC is staffed with a Training Coordinator responsible for training and capacity building of the WUOs and a Water Management Engineer responsible for monitoring water use efficiency. The Training Coordinator and the Water Management Engineer, in consultation with the FOs, identify a number of local farmers who are trained as the Roving Trainers for that FTC. The Roving Trainers assist the Training Coordinators and the Water Management Engineer in training of the FOs. So far 7 modules are evolved for the WUAs, 3 modules for DCs and 2 modules for PCs including exposure visits. The details of the modules are as follows.

This cycle keep repeating season after season. The workbooks are retained in the offices of WUA/ DC/ PC and also DyEE/EE/SE/CE for record purpose. The system performance can be measured primarily on the following two outcome based indicators.

• Amount of water saved season after season and
• Increase in agriculture production from the project

Implementation Stages and Arrangements
The implemenataion of this methodology is initiated with orientation of the project staff followed by actual field level implementation in the projects. Orientation is primarily on two themes. The First theme covers training on domain knowledge that will include the following topics:

• Participatory Irrigation Management and Operations & Maintenance
• Irrigation Project Modernization & Dam Safety
• Crop Water Planning, Water Indenting, Irrigation Scheduling & Real Time Water Regulation
• Irrigation Performance Management & Monitoring
• Water Rights including Tribunals

Another theme covers topics on organization development and change management. The overall design of the The subject matter of organizational development and change management process will be as follows:

• Basic Management Concepts
• Organization Development & Change
• Leadership and Team Building
• Training and Communication Skills

Implementation and Monitoring Arrangement
The project implementation arrangement is at two levels – State and Chief Engineer. To achieve the results at a faster pace in quantifiable terms, the Commissioner CAD review the implementation and monitoring of the project through a multi–disciplinary team.  At CE level - the respective irrigation project Chief Engineers is the implementing agency supported by an implementation unit of same constitution as at state level.

The government has constituted the State Committee on Integrated Water Planning and Management (SCIWAM) with objectives of assessing the seasonal water availability in various river basins and accordingly allocates the water for different usages.  The Committee would also annually review the performance of the seasonal operational plans and the efficiency in use of irrigation water and its agricultural opportunity costs on the basis of the Water Audit and Benchmarking analysis submitted by the concerned Project Authority of its
irrigation project at the end of the cropping seasons and make recommendations for improvement. Thus each Chief Engineer would present the seasonal performance and related issues to the committee.