Chapter 4 PRESENT CONDITIONS of the IRRIGATION SCHEMES

APPENDIX - F

Irrigation and Drainage APPENDIX - F IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE

Table of Contents

Page Chapter 1 GENERAL...... F - 1

Chapter 2 NATURAL CONDITION ...... F - 2 2.1 Topography and Geology...... F - 2 2.2 Meteorology and Hydrology ...... F - 3 2.2.1 Climate...... F - 3 2.2.2 Water Resources...... F - 3 2.2.3 Hydrogeology...... F - 4

Chapter 3 PRESENT CONDITION OF THE STUDY AREA...... F - 5 3.1 General...... F - 5 3.2 Water Source ...... F - 6 3.2.1 Surface Irrigation...... F - 6 3.3.2 Agrowell ...... F - 8 3.3 Irrigation and Drainage System...... F - 8 3.4 Small Tank Cascade Systems...... F - 10 3.5 Farmers’ Participation in Rehabilitation Work...... F - 12 3.6 Operation and Maintenance...... F - 13 3.6.1 Participatory Irrigation Management Policy...... F - 13 3.6.2 Responsibilities of O&M...... F - 15 3.6.3 Staffing and Organisations...... F - 16 3.6.4 Water Management...... F - 18 3.6.5 Water Distribution ...... F - 19 3.6.6 Maintenance...... F - 20 3.7 Previous and On-going Projects related to the Study Area...... F - 21

Chapter 4 PRESENT CONDITIONS OF THE IRRIGATION SCHEMES ...... F - 25 4.1 Irrigation and Drainage System...... F - 25 4.2 Operation and Maintenance...... F - 32 4.2.1 Meetings to Decide Seasonal Cultivation...... F - 32 4.2.2 Operation ...... F - 33 4.2.3 Monitoring of Irrigation Performance...... F - 35 4.2.4 Maintenance...... F - 35 4.2.5 Involvement in O&M ...... F - 38

i 4.2.6 Turnover of O&M ...... F - 39 4.2.7 Conflict Management ...... F - 39 4.2.8 O&M Cost ...... F - 41 4.2.9 Legal Aspects on O&M...... F - 43 4.2.10 Farmers’ Perception of O&M ...... F - 44 4.2.11 O&M Equipment...... F - 44

Chapter 5 CONSTRAINTS AND APPROACH TO IMPROVEMENT...... F - 45 5.1 Constraints...... F - 45 5.1.1 General...... F - 45 5.1.2 Constraints on Irrigation Facilities...... F - 45 5.1.3 Constraints on Water Supply at Headworks ...... F - 47 5.1.4 Constraints on Water Distribution in On-farm Level...... F - 48 5.2 Approach to Improvement ...... F - 48 5.3 Concepts for Overcoming the Constraints...... F - 50

Chapter 6 REHABILITATION AND IMPROVEMENT ...... F - 54 6.1 Irrigation and Drainage Plan ...... F - 54 6.1.1 General...... F - 54 6.1.2 Irrigation Water Demand ...... F - 54 6.1.3 Water Resources Assessment...... F - 56 6.1.4 Delineation of Irrigation Area...... F - 59 6.2 Rehabilitation and Improvement Plan of Irrigation Facilities and Farm Roads...... F - 59 6.2.1 General...... F - 59 6.2.2 Irrigation Facilities ...... F - 60 6.2.3 Farm Road...... F - 61 6.3 Strengthening of Farmers’ Participation in Rehabilitation / Improvement Works ...... F - 61 6.3.1 Needs of Farmers’ Participation in Rehabilitation / Improvement Works...... F - 61 6.3.2 Getting Consensus of Farmers to Formulate the Rehabilitation Plan...... F - 62 6.3.3 Survey, Irrigation, and Design ...... F - 62 6.3.4 Tendering and Contracting...... F - 62 6.3.5 Monitoring Progress of Rehabilitation Works ...... F - 62 6.3.6 Quality Control for Rehabilitation Works ...... F - 63 6.3.7 Joint Inspection and Operation for Irrigation Facilities ...... F - 63

ii Chapter 7 OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF IRRIGATION FACILITIES AND FARM ROADS ...... F - 64 7.1 General...... F - 64 7.2 Water Management ...... F - 64 7.2.1 Irrigation Scheduling and Planning...... F - 64 7.2.2 Water Distribution ...... F - 65 7.2.3 Operation under Emergency Condition...... F - 65 7.3 Maintenance Works ...... F - 66 7.3.1 General...... F - 66 7.3.2 Inspection and Patrol...... F - 66 7.3.3 Maintenance Planning ...... F - 67 7.3.4 Maintenance Activities...... F - 67 7.3.5 Execution of Maintenance Works ...... F - 68 7.3.6 Emergency Repair ...... F - 69 7.4 Data Collection, Monitoring and Reporting Systems...... F - 69 7.4.1 General...... F - 69 7.4.2 Data Collection...... F - 70 7.4.3 Data Processing and Reporting...... F - 71 7.4.4 Review of Operation...... F - 72 7.5 O&M Costs ...... F - 72 7.6 Training for O&M Works...... F - 72

Chapter 8 RESEARCH PROGRAMME FOR CASCADE SYSTEM AND SUBSURFACE WATER...... F - 74

List of Tables

Page Table F 3.1 Paddy Field by Irrigation Scheme and Cultivation Year ...... FT - 1 Table F 3.2 Paddy Field in the Study Area in 1996/97...... FT - 2 Table F 3.3 Previous and On-going Projects related to the Study Area (1/2 - 2/2)..FT - 3 Table F 4.1 Hydrological Characteristics of Minor Irrigation Schemes (1/2 - 2/2) .FT - 5 Table F 4.2 Preliminary Assessment of Major and Medium Schemes (1/4 - 4/4) ...FT - 7 Table F 6.1 Irrigation Water Requirement (1/3 - 3/3)...... FT - 11 Table F 6.2 Assessment of Water Resources through Water Balance Study ...... FT - 14 Table F 6.3 Summary of Water Balance Study ...... FT - 15 Table F 6.4 Existing Condition of Major and Medium Schemes...... FT - 16 Table F 6.5 Rehabilitation Plan for Respective Projects (1/3 - 3/3)...... FT - 17

iii List of Figures

Page Figure F 1.1 Location Map of Candidate Irrigation Schemes ...... FF - 1 Figure F 1.2 Location Map of Minor Irrigation Schemes (Hydrological Group I) ...FF - 2 Figure F 1.3 Location Map of Minor Irrigation Schemes (Hydrological Group II and III) ...... FF - 3 Figure F 1.4 Location Map of Minor Irrigation Schemes (Hydrological Group IV) ...... FF - 4 Figure F 1.5 Location Map of Minor Irrigation Schemes (Hydrological Group V)..FF - 5 Figure F 1.6 Location Map of Minor Irrigation Schemes (Hydrological Group IV) ...... FF - 6 Figure F 1.7 Location Map of Minor Irrigation Schemes (Hydrological Group VII) ...... FF - 7 Figure F 1.8 Location Map of Minor Irrigation Schemes (Hydrological Group VIII)...... FF - 8 Figure F 1.9 Location Map of Minor Irrigation Schemes (Hydrological Group IX) ...... FF - 9 Figure F 2.1 Mean Annual Rainfall of Sri Lanka ...... FF - 10

iv APPENDIX - F IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE

Chapter 1 GENERAL

This Appendix describes the irrigation and drainage, operation and maintenance plan in the Study for the Potential Realization of Irrigated Agriculture in the Dry and Intermediate Zones of Sri Lanka (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Study’). Chapter 2 outlines the natural condition in the Study area, such as topography, climate, and hydrology. Chapter 3 describes the present condition of the Study Area. Chapter 4 presents the conditions of the 100 irrigation schemes in the Study Area. After discussing constraints and approach to improvement in Chapter 5, Chapter 6 proposes the rehabilitation and improvement plan for irrigation and drainage system and farm. In chapter 7, the future operation and maintenance plan of irrigation infrastructures of the Study is presented. Chapter 8, finally, recommends the research programme for cascade system. Location maps of 100 irrigation schemes are shown in Figure F 1.1 to F 1.9.

F - 1 Chapter 2 NATURAL CONDITION

2.1 Topography and Geology While the topography of the North Western Province is undulating to flat with a predominant slope towards the west and north-west, there are variations in microtopography. There are isolated peaks of erosional remnants in the south, with elevations up to 300 asl. The northern part is gentle to undulating. The terrain gradually descents towards the west into valleys and flood plains, with flat elevations rising gradually up to 60 m asl inland. The Province is underlain by three principal geological formations: granitic gneiss; biotite neiss; and Miocene limestone in the coastal region. Only the surface mantle of soil and weathered rocks provides an aquifer suitable for development of agrowells. Deeper aquifers occur in hard rock, and cannot be penetrated by manual methods.

The North Central Province (NCP) is the largest of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka and it covers an area of 10,512 square kilometers, comprising approximately 15% of the total area of the island. The NCP incorporates two administrative districts of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa. NCP is situated within the lowest peneplain of Sri Lanka. The landscape is flat to gently undulating, except for a few isolated hills and rock outcrops. 97% of the area has 0 – 8% slope and balance 3% has more than 8% slope. Most part of the project area (identified for JICA study) has an elevation less than 160 meters, though it varies from 170 m to 350 m in isolated hills (erosional remnants and rock outcrops) like Ritigala, Mihintale, Thanthirimale, Avukana, Vigithapura and Manawa Kanda. More than 90% of the land area is suitable for some form of cultivation. The flat rolling topography indicates the relatively less soil erosion compared to most of the other areas.

Precambrian rocks underlie the North-central Province which is located in the north of the country where the Central Highlands turn into flat to undulating terrain. Slopes seldom exceed 4 %, although there are occasional inselbergs and hills.

F - 2 2.2 Meteorology and Hydrology 2.2.1 Climate 400 The Study area has a tropical 350 monsoon climate with a highly Mean Monthly Rainfall 300 valuable bi-modal rainfall pattern. Anuradhapura 1989-1996 250 (mm) With a mean annual rainfall be- 200

tween 1,000 and 1,500 mm, the 150

Dry Zones is only dry in compari- 100

son with the wet zone: the 75 % 50

probability is 600 to 900 mm. 0 The north-east monsoon period JUL FEB SEP JAN JUN APR DEC MAY AUG OCT NOV MAR (Maha season) between October Source: Statistical Abstract 1997, Department of and March provides the most reli- Census and Statistics able rain for crop production and irrigation water collection. The south-west monsoon (Yala season) from the end of April to September is generally dry. The inter-monsoonal period from March to early May provides rainfall for the shorter Yala cropping season, but its total and distribution are highly variable. The monthly temperatures are in the range 25-29℃, with minimum temperature occurring in November – March, but not at a level low enough to restrict plant growth. The isohyets map of Sri Lanka is shown in Figure F 2.1.

2.2.2 Water Resources The Study area is traversed by four major rivers which originate in the higher rainfall areas of the central uplands to the west. The Malwathu Oya is located in the North Central Province. The river rises in the Inamaluwa and Ritigala mountains, and runs in a north-westerly direction. The Malwathu Oya basin is rather flat or slightly rolling with some isolated hills. In the upper reaches, there are two existing tanks constructed in ancient times; Nachchaduwa and Nuwarawewa. The Kala Oya is the river providing water for the Mahaweli System ‘H’ area. In the upper reaches, the Kalawewa tank, a certain amount of water is diverted to the north through the Kalawewa - Nachchaduwa - Tissawewa, Yoda Ela. Average annual runoff is estimated at 163 MCM at the Kalawewa Tank. The Mi Oya which flows in the mid-west of island is located in the North-Western Dry Zone. The river originates in the hilly area of the Pallekele Forest Reserve, east of Dambulla in the Central Province. The catchment area is about 557 km2 at the Inginimitiya Reservoir. Average annual runoff at this reservoir is

F - 3 estimated at 105 MCM. Deduru Oya has its source in the foothills of Matale and flows 87 miles through the Kurunegala and Puttalam Districts and reaches the sea north of Chilaw. The total river basin is estimated at 2,622 km2.

2.2.3 Hydrogeology Traditionally farmers in the dry zone of Sri Lanka have relied on surface water in streams and tanks to satisfy both domestic and irrigation demands. However, over the past 10-15 years, demand for water has increased beyond the capacity of these surface water sources and farmers have supplemented water supply by digging shallow, large diameter wells known as agro-wells, to exploit the groundwater available in the regolith aquifer. The dry zone lies on pre-cambrian metamorphic and igneous rocks. Although hard rocks are poor aquifers and do not store water, these rocks have water-storing fissures that have been tapped by relatively deep tube wells to obtain water supplies for domestic purposes, but not for irrigation. The hard rocks are overlaid with weathered rocks and alluvium at a depth of 2 -12 meter and this regolith with little storage is exploited by agro-wells. A field survey (FAO, 1998) revealed that the thickness of this regolith varies from 1.5 to 2 meters in the Anuradhapura District. They concluded that most available water is stored in tanks while the amount available in the shallow aquifer is relatively small. Further, they comment that, although the conjunctive use of surface water from the tanks and shallow groundwater has worked well in the past, it is no longer able to satisfy the increasing demand of rural areas. Further enhancement of the water availability is therefore needed. The main water bearing aquifer comprises weathered rock overburden with an average thickness of about 12 m. At the end of the Maha the water table is usually at or near the surface but during the Yala it falls to 5 m or more except where it is influenced by a nearby tank. This aquifer is tapped by wells for agriculture as well as domestic supplies. Extraction rates in the Yala from agrowells of 5 m diameter are commonly 50 m3/day, but there are wide variation. Tubewells which penetrate fractured crystalline rock provide a more reliable source of water for domestic purposes. Water quality is generally good within acceptable limits for both irrigation and drinking purposes.

F - 4 Chapter 3 PRESENT CONDITION OF THE STUDY AREA

3.1 General The Percentage of Irrigated land in Sri Lanka is about 60 % of the total arable land. The major portion of the irrigated land is planted with paddy. Some 65 % of the irrigated land comes under major irrigation schemes, which are defined as schemes with command areas of 80 ha or more. Lands under major irrigation schemes have increased by 160 % in the last 20 years, while the increase in the total land irrigated to rice was 30 % for the same period (see Table F 3.1).

Paddy Field in Sri Lanka (Unit: 1000 ha) Cultivation Irrigation Scheme Rainfed Total Year Major Scheme Minor Scheme Total 1975 204.8 177.5 382.3 247.5 629.8 1980 245.5 171.1 416.6 253.1 669.7 1985 288.0 176.5 464.5 252.7 717.2 1990 310.5 179.2 489.7 242.9 732.6 1995 323.3 175.2 498.5 237.9 736.4 Source: Department of Census and Statistics Note: In this table, major irrigation schemes are defined as having a command area over 80 ha; and minor schemes below 80 ha.

Total extents of paddy fields in the Study Area are shown in Table F 3.2 and summarised below.

Paddy Field in the Study Area District Irrigation Scheme Total Rainfed Total Major Scheme Minor Scheme Nos. Area in ha Nos. Area in ha Nos. Area in ha Area in ha Area in ha Anuradhapura 20 13,000 980 13,100 1,000 26,100 300 26,400 Matale 1 200 80 1,200 81 1,400 700 2,100 Kurunegala 14 12,400 3,500 25,200 3,514 37,600 15,400 53,000 Puttalam 1 1,200 80 700 81 1,900 - 1,900 Total 36 26,800 4,640 40,200 4,676 67,000 16,400 83,400 Source: Department of Census and Statistics, Department of Agrarian Services

There are some 4,700 schemes (67,000 ha) in the Study Area including tanks, anicuts and lift irrigation units. This includes 36 major irrigation schemes which account for 40 % of the irrigated area. The minor irrigation schemes support 120400 farm holdings operating some 40,200 ha. Anicut schemes are more common in the intermediate zone than in dry zone. Minor irrigation works are scattered throughout the Study Area. The command areas are usually developed into paddy lands in the form of level terraces. Irrigation in the dry zone is normally essential for rice cultivation. Most existing schemes are based on storage tanks designed to supplement rainfall in the Maha

F - 5 season, with residual supplies being used for limited Yala cropping. Although often based on ancient systems, many of the larger schemes have been developed through land colonisation programmes designed to relieve population pressure in the wet zone. In contrast, most of the small irrigation tanks are associated with traditional (purana) villages which often have a history of continuous settlement. Minor Irrigation works form a substantial component of the systems, and it is a part of the Island’s irrigation heritage. In the Dry Zone, the community life in traditional villages is centred round the village tanks, where often the village itself bears the name of the tank. Operation and management of these works are very much bound by traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation. Management and responsi-bility for these works have undergone many changes since, and the tradition that governed or influenced their up-keep have gradually given way to be replaced by new interventions with the changes in environment and social sciences. The individual small tanks along single water courses were subsequently linked together as tank cascade to derive a higher assurance of water to cater to an expanding agricultural frontier and food needs of a rising population (see Figure F.3.1).

3.2 Water Source 3.2.1 Surface Irrigation Storage reservoirs and diversion weirs are the two systems of irrigation, which have generally been adopted from the ancient times and still used in traditional systems. The cultivation practices associated with water requirements of the crop and local traditions have blended to evolve the two main cultivation seasons of the country, Yala and Maha, taking advantage of South West and North East monsoons respectively.

Tank storage, being runoff collected in reservoirs, is an important resource for use especially in the dry season. Maximum storage is in November / December. With the supply of irrigation, water levels drop until March, and rise slightly with the April / May rains. From some tanks, small quantities of water are released for irrigation in the period April – July. Thereafter, tank storage drops sharply. Minor tanks may even dry up completely by September. People depending on such tanks for domestic water dig wells in the tank bed through the silt layer into the buried weathered mantle or to the buried old stream bed to tap groundwater.

Irrigation reservoirs, commonly called tanks (wewa / kulama) serve the two-fold purpose of impounding water for storage and detention of flood run-off. Water is impounded in these tanks by building dams across valleys. Earth dams are the

F - 6 most commonly adopted type in Sri Lanka. The water when required is released to the commanding area downstream through a gated structure called a sluice which has either a circular pipe or a rectangular barrel, made out of stone, brick or concrete. A structure, called the spillway is incorporated in the reservoir to release excess or flood water during heavy storms. There are different types of spillways. The simplest being the natural spillway where a small crest wall (masonry or concrete) is provided to fix the spill level while in more complicated spillways, concrete or masonry structures are provided, so that excess water is allowed to spill without damaging the dam and the downstream area. In larger reservoirs gated spillways are provided, commonly used type being the radial gate. In perennial streams, as is the case in the Wet Zone of the country, diversion weirs, which are commonly called anicuts are constructed to convey water to the field below. A masonry or concrete wall is built across the stream to head up water and water is diverted through a gate incorporated in the head wall itself or in a separate outlet structure built for the purpose. The diverted water is taken to the fields through a system of canals similar to those in a reservoir scheme. During heavy river flow the excess water is allowed to spill over the head wall of the anicut. There are two major basins in the project area, namely Kala Oya and Malwathu Oya. Kala Oya is augmented with Mahaweli diversion and therefore, it is a perennial stream and its reservoirs (i.e. Kala Wewa, Balalu Wewa and Rajanganaya Reservoir) are hydrologically endowed. Malwathu Oya basin originates in the dry zone but Mahaweli diversion augments water supply to Nuwara Wewa, Nachchaduwa Wewa and Tissa Wewa in its basin. The major river basin in Kurunegala project area is the Deduru Oya. As a result of climatic regimes, Deduru Oya is characterised by flash floods followed by very low flows during the months of February, March, June, July, August and September. Batalagoda and Ridi Bendi Ela reservoir irrigation schemes depend on the water supply of the Deduru Oya whereas numerous anicut (direct diversion) schemes and Kimbulwana Oya and Hakwatuna Oya reservoir schemes depend on the water in the tributaries of Deduru Oya. Lift irrigation along the main course of the Deduru Oya is not a common practice till it reaches its middle section in Nikaweratiya area. However, water is extracted from its tributaries (i.e. Kimbulwana Oya, Hakwatuna Oya, and Maguru Oya) in the upper reaches of the river.

F - 7 3.2.2 Agrowell Agrowells are wells, 7-8 metres deep, with an average diameter of 5 m. They are a popular way to obtain water in upland areas to irrigate small areas (0.2-0.4 ha) of high value crops or to provide a supplementary and secure source of water for the paddy crop. An estimated 5,000 agrowells have been installed in the NCP in the past three years. The digging of agrowells is completely unregulated and a concentration of wells is likely to have an impact on the performance of the adjacent tank and other wells. This situation reinforces the need to view the water resources of the whole cascade as an integrated system. As long as a tank does not spill, groundwater abstraction must result in a loss of the surface water available. This is particularly relevant as tanks do not necessarily spill every year and it is estimated that 40 % of tanks spill less than once in three years.

3.3 Irrigation and Drainage System In simple or smaller irrigation tanks the irrigation water released through the sluice is normally directed along a contour canal and fields are irrigated by a continuous flow of water. Larger reservoirs have more complex canal systems consisting main, branch, distributary, and field canals. Most of these are earthen canals, although a few lined canals have been introduced recently. In such systems there are many structures and controlling and measuring devices to supply water when needed at the farms in correct quantities. The most important problem in the area is the lack of a reliable supply of water in time, particularly in minor tank systems. This has also affected the cultivation of upland crops. There is a limitation to solve this problem using surface water and therefore attention is needed on use of groundwater and better water management. Also, improvement of existing schemes, rehabilitation of dilapidated schemes, introduction of short term less water consuming crops, development of lift irrigation schemes and conjunctive use of groundwater, etc., are important considerations in this respect. Water is the limiting factor in irrigation schemes, particularly during the dry season. Uncertainty in seasonal rainfall has discouraged the use of improved varieties and other inputs, which affect the yield in small irrigation systems. Conflicts appear to be unavoidable with the tail-end farmers receiving less irrigation water. Mitigatory measures for avoiding conflicts in water supply include careful planning of the distribution system, good water management and rotation systems. Present irrigation efficiency of irrigation systems is about 40% and it could be enhanced by regular maintenance, adoption of proper cultivation

F - 8 calendars, and identification of actual water demand, etc. There is a need to introduce proper water management practices to minor schemes and further improve present water management practices in major schemes. It is important to ensure the farmer participation in water management and also to make the farmers aware of needs for changes in water management practices to suit the crops and availability of water resources. In the NCP area, about 80% of paddy fields are cultivated in Maha but only about 15% in Yala. Promotion of farmers to commence cultivation with the onset of rains for the maximum use of water resources is now easier as chenas are limited. This is because farmers first attend to highland crops/chena, which is less risky. Timely Maha crop would allow water to be saved for the next Yala for other field crops. According to the residents of the Kurunegala project area, rainfed rice is practised with supplementary irrigation from minor tanks very successfully in the parts of the upper basin during the Maha season except for the drought years experienced once in 4 -5 years. In the lower basin, rainfed Maha rice is supplemented with lift irrigation from agro-wells and streams. In Yala season, lift irrigation is practised both for rice and other field crops. In this basin, farmers use pumps for supplementary irrigation of rice since the period with water stress is very limited and groundwater potential is more compared to areas like Anuradhapura district. As such, government subsidies for lift irrigation could bring more production in the basin. Looking at the cropping intensities in the NWP, it is reasonable to judge that there is a potential to increase the cropping intensity by enhanced irrigation efficiencies. However, reliable data on irrigation duties are not available for most of the schemes to comment further on this aspect of whether only demand management could enhance cropping intensity in the absence of any supply augmentation. Hakwatuna Oya and Kimbulwana Oya Schemes are water short systems. However, Kimbulwana Oya has achieved better cropping intensities mainly due to good water management established through farmers' disciplines inculcated with great attention on institutional development in the past. This implies the need for strengthening the farmer organisations and training of farmers because farmer organisations are responsible for the distribution of water along secondary and tertiary canals. In major schemes, institutional development is a responsibility of the Irrigation Management Division (IMD) whereas, in medium schemes it is a responsibility of Irrigation Management Cell (IMAC). Here again the officers responsible for system administration of medium schemes (i.e. Technical Officers)

F - 9 are the managers under IMAC. For minor schemes institutional responsibilities lies with the Agrarian Services Department. Enhancement of the activities of farmer organisations by responsible agencies could improve distribution and on farm efficiencies in addition to equitable distribution among farmers. For instance, during field visits, it was observed that the operation and maintenance of irrigation systems were far below the satisfactory levels in many schemes including the feeder canals of major schemes. Farmers are well aware of the possibility of using more of the direct rains for land preparation with early cultivation under minor tanks so that the stored water could be used more efficiently. However, many farmers attribute their reluctance for such an early cultivation to inability of bearing the risk if there is any subsequent failure of the seasonal rainfall. In their view, about 75% of the total investment on the crop is already spent by the time of crop establishment and therefore, crop failures after that stage is an unbearable loss. Many farmers see the diversion of water from Deduru Oya to their minor tanks, wherever technically feasible, as a solution to avert this risk. This risk is less in the upper basin where rainfall is more. Management improvements should include upgrading of information sources and management skills of the farmers who manage the system. These improvements may include installing measurement devices, training managers, creating management organisations, devising new rules, etc. Moreover, training farmers in more efficient application of water to crop and in other means of improving water use efficiency should also be a part of management improvement. Except few minor tanks all the other minor tanks are found in cascade systems. A tank cascade or a chain of tanks as a series of small reservoirs that are constructed at successive locations down a common watercourse. Any excess water flowing from one tank in such a chain is captured in the next downstream tank. When irrigation is practised under one tank, the irrigation return flows are captured in the next downstream tank. Generally, the size of the reservoirs increases as one moves downstream of the valley.

3.4 Small Tank Cascade Systems Minor irrigation data book (Agrarian Services Department, 1993) reveals that, in the Anuradhapura District there are 2431 minor tanks with 40,475 ha (99974 Ac) of irrigation command area benefiting 53,621 farmer families and 21 anicut (weir) schemes with 490 ha (1210 Ac) of irrigation command area benefiting 1050 farmer families. However, more than 4000 small tanks are reported in

F - 10 Anuradhapura district by other sources such as IIMI. This reported less number must be the ones already in operation because about 48% of the total number of available tanks are abandoned. In the Kurunegala District, it is reported by ASD that, there are 4442 minor tanks with 29,904 ha (73863 Ac) of irrigation command area benefiting 85,369 farmer families and 722 anicut schemes with 6,280 ha (15511 Ac) of command area benefiting 11,664 farmer families (ASD, 1993). The total number of available minor tanks should be more as about 35% of available tanks have been abandoned in Kurunegala. Except few minor tanks all the other minor tanks are found in cascade systems. Itakura and Abernethy (1993) describes a tank cascade or a chain of tanks as a series of small reservoirs that are constructed at successive locations down a common watercourse. Any excess water flowing from one tank in such a chain is captured in the next downstream tank. When irrigation is practised under one tank, the irrigation return flows are captured in the next downstream tank. Generally, the size of the reservoirs increases as one moves downstream of the valley. Sakthivadivel et al., (1996) have identified 315 small tank cascades including over 4,000 small tanks in the Anuradhapura District. Density of these cascades was highest in the upper reaches of the watersheds of the third- and fourth-order streams, and this density decreased along the middle and lower aspects of the main watershed. They also observed that the highest cascade density is mainly confined to those areas having a gently undulating relief with the surrounding terrain consisting of slopes less than 4 percent. The lowest density was observed in areas that have an undulating relief with the surrounding terrain of 4-8% slopes. When other controlling factors were equal the amount of annual and seasonal rainfall showed a positive correlation with the cascade density. The nature of the underlying lithology and soil overburden were also identified as a factor determining the density of cascades. Panabokke (1990) reported that the highest density of minor tanks within the country are found within the left bank of the Deduru Oya around Panduwasnuwara- Hettipola area. Tennakoon (199) has shown that prior to 1960s siltation of minor tanks was less serious and some silt accumulated in tanks were removed by the irrigation beneficiaries of the tank using the “Kulankatti System”. In addition to disappearance of this system, rapid siltation in tanks has resulted from downward extension of the paddy fields under the upstream tank up to the upper shore-line of the tank below destroying vegetative silt trap called gasgommana; and tank bed cultivation, etc. Adverse impacts of siltation of tanks is discussed by Tennakoon as: low capacity of tanks causing freak floods during rainy months damaging crops; and water shortages experienced short- after the termination of monsoon.

F - 11 He shows that due to siltation, crop losses and non-cultivation of already developed lands have increased considerably. He also argues that groundwater levels in the vicinity of such tanks have dwindled. Further, he also points outs that siltation resulting in lengthy waterless periods in tanks has reduced the fish catch.

3.5 Farmers’ Participation in Rehabilitation Work In the rehabilitation projects performed with foreign fund assistance in the Study Area, the participation of farmers in the works have been promoted, which are featured by 10 contribution for the construction works and meeting with farmers. The procedure of rehabilitation work by farmers’ participatory approach is as follows:

Rehabilitation in all schemes were proceeded Starting meeting ↓ by a pre-rehabilitation meeting. At the initial Rectification meeting meeting, the government officials gather farm- ↓ Finalisation meeting ers for awareness to the rehabilitation works. ↓ After the meeting, field investigation is carried Contract agreement with FO ↓ out by the government officials and the pre- Agreement on 10 % contribution liminary plan is presented at the rectification ↓ Construction works meeting, in which request by the farmers are to ↓ be incorporated in the plan. Based on the Agreement on handing over agreed definite plan, the officials finalise the plan with cost estimate. The plan is discussed at the finalisation meeting to get the final consent of the farmers. Contracts are given to both FOs and private contractors. FOs were entrusted with contracts up to Rs. 250,000 and mainly below the main canal. Private contractors had been hired for contracts in headworks and main canals. One of the conditions for selecting a scheme for rehabilitation is the 10 % contribution in construction. It was mandatory for FOs to provide the 10 % contribution. In almost all cases 10 % contribution was given in labour. In most schemes, farmers have contributed the 10 % voluntary labour contribution, which is a mandatory requirement of the project. Rehabilitation works by either FO or a private contractor is supervised by the government officials. Form time to time, FO must procure such construction materials, as cement, sand, aggregates, and so on, so that the work can be carried smoothly. After the rehabilitation work is completed, the agreement of hand over is made

F - 12 between the government officials and FO leader. In the document, the responsibility of both government and FO as for O&M of the irrigation system is specified. The feature of the scheme is also shown in the document so that FO can operate and maintain the system properly.

3.6 Operation and Maintenance 3.6.1 Participatory Irrigation Management Policy (1) Major Irrigation Schemes Sri Lanka has been developing the participatory irrigation system management policy since 1979, although aspect of it date from the passage of the Paddy Lands Act in 1958. In 1988, a Cabinet Memorandum declared the policy official. Prior to 1978, all major (those whose commands are over 800 ha) and medium (those whose commands are between 80 and 800 ha) irrigation schemes in Sri Lanka were managed by the Government. That is, government personnel were responsible for operations of the headworks, main and branch canals, distributary canals, and field canals and maintenance for headworks, main and branch canals, distributary canals. Funding for management of these schemes was derived from general government revenues; no irrigation fee was charged to farmers. Under pressure from international donors and as part of other attempts to improve irrigation management, the government imposed an irrigation service fee in 1984 to improve the funding position of O&M and thus the sustainability of the system. Although the collection rate for the first year was good, it declined thereafter. In 1988, the government adopted the participatory irrigation system management policy. As declared in a Cabinet Paper, full responsibility for O&M and for resource mobilisation of field canals and distributary canals of the major irrigation systems is to be turned over to Farmers Organisations. In return, farmers would be exempted from payment of the irrigation service fee. The government would retain responsibility for O&M of the headworks and main systems.

There are two goals of the policy: a) Improvement of productivity of the irrigation schemes through management by farmers. The underlying idea is that farmers have the information, ability, and incentive to manage the system to better serve crop needs. b) An increase share of O&M expenditure borne by the farmers. Transfer- ring a portion of the O&M responsibilities to the farmers should help relieve pressure on the government budget.

F - 13 INMAS: The Integrated Management of Major Irrigation Schemes (INMAS) program began in 1984 under the newly created Irrigation Management Division (IMD) with the co-operation of ID. INMAS was the result of several experiments that showed the potential of organised farmer involvement in irrigation system management. Scheme brought under INMAS (originally 48, since reduced to 35) includes most of the large schemes in the country. MANIS: The INMAS program deals only with larger schemes and does not include the medium schemes. Therefore, in 1986 ID created the Management of Irrigation Schemes (MANIS, now referred to as WAPHAULA) programme to serve the needs of the medium schemes. The basic organisation and objectives of MANIS are the same as those of INMAS except that is managed solely by ID. Recognition by agencies does not constitute legal recognition. To remedy this situation, in 1991 the government amended the Agrarian Service Act of 1979 to provide legal recognition of FOs. Clauses 56A and 56B now permit the Commissioner of Agrarian Services to recognise a FO. This provides a simpler alternative to registration of a FO under the Companies Act. By registering under 56A of the amended Agrarian Service Act of 1991, a FO becomes eligible to perform the following functions.

● Preparation of an agricultural implementation schedule for the FO area of jurisdiction.

● Attending to improvements (repairs) to irrigation physical system within the area of jurisdiction.

● Attending to sales of produce and distribution of agro-chemicals and fertiliser within the FO area.

● Co-ordinating agricultural activities in the area and improving the relationship between the farmers and state agencies.

● Any other activities authorised by Commissioner of Agrarian Services and intended to be beneficial to farmers. Registration under clause 56B permits a FO to enter into legally enforceable contracts and to be recognised by the courts. However, the requirements for registration under 56B are more strident than for registration under 56A. One requirement is prior registration under 56A for at least six months. Registration under clauses 56A or 56B of the Agrarian Service Act does not give the FOs any particular powers to enforce their decisions with regard to irrigation management. To rectify this situation, the Irrigation Ordinance4 was amended in 1994. With this amendment, FOs were given the same status enjoyed by Cultivation Committees under the Irrigation Ordinance of 1968. With

F - 14 Cultivation Committee status, FOs have the legal authority to take action against those who do not comply with FO order. The amended Irrigation Ordinance authorises the FOs to take over O&M of their areas. In return they are exempted from paying irrigation rates. This amendment thus also provides the legal basis for turnover that underlies the 1988 Cabinet Paper on participatory management. The Ordinance authorises FOs to impose a levy on the farmers to cover O&M of the distributary canal system and any other cost for work that may be beneficial to the farming community under area of authorisation. It also specify gives the FO the power to fine those who do not comply with FO decisions. This authority may solve the problems of lack of authority raised by most farmer organisation.

(2) Minor Irrigation Schemes

Operation and management have traditionally been the farmers’ responsibility, with government support confined to arranging pre-cultivation meetings, resolving water disputes, or undertaking major repair works. Management under the traditional system was controlled by the ‘vel vidane’, an irrigation headman who usually owed his position to inheritance or leadership qualities.

This system appears to have worked fairly well until 1960s, when administrative changes, resulting in less than effective government involvement, weakened its effectiveness. Government has reinstated the irrigation headman, now elected, assisted by an appointed Agrarian Service Committee of DAS. The cultivation officers of DAS had wide responsibilities for the provision of agricultural inputs and services, and involvement in the management of irrigation water.

In the amended the Agrarian Service Act of 1991, the cultivation officer has been abolished. The Divisional Officer of Agrarian Service Centre took over the initiative to chair the kanna meeting in minor schemes. The operation and maintenance of the system is by farmers through an Agrarian Services Committee of fifteen farmer representatives and five public officers, with oversight by the DAS.

3.6.2 Responsibilities of O&M Under the participatory management policies of the government it is intended to turn over some of the system management responsibilities at and below the distributary canal level to farmers in major and medium irrigation schemes. Minor

F - 15 irrigation schemes have been managed by farmers themselves, under technical guidance of the Provincial Engineering Department and DAS. The following table indicates the responsibility of O&M per each scheme category:

Responsibilities of O&M Description Major Medium Minor Organisation of Decision making for Farmers meeting Farmers meeting Kanna Meeting O&M PMC PMC Kanna Meeting Kanna Meeting Water Distribution Tank Sluice ID ID / FO Farmers Main / Branch Canals ID ID / FO Farmers Distributary Canals Head Gate ID ID / FO Farmers Field canals Head Gate FO FO Farmers Maintenance - Tank ID ID Farmers - Main / Branch Canals ID ID Farmers - Distributary Canals FO FO - - Field Canals FO FO Farmers

As for the major and medium irrigation schemes, the responsibility of O&M for the distributary canals and below are being turned over under INMAS and MANIS programmes. Turnover can take place either formally or informally. Under formal turnover an agreement is signed between the agency and the relevant FO specifying the responsibilities to be fulfilled by the parties concerned. Informal turnover is a verbal agreement between the two parties. Some of medium schemes are fully operated and maintained by FOs without official handed over. This is reason why the rehabilitation works for the schemes have not been commenced yet, and farmers are reluctant to take over the responsibilities of O&M under such condition. Full turnover has not occurred in any of the schemes and the progress has stopped at a joint management stage. In particular, there is reluctance of the part of agency and farmers to have full responsibilities for maintenance turned over to the FOs. Payments continue to be made by agencies for O&M activities to FOs that have taken over responsibilities, either informally or formally.

3.6.3 Staffing and Organisations (1) Government organisation for major and medium Staff of Irrigation Department schemes Des ignation Res pons ibilities Irrigation Engineer (IE) O&M of overall system As for the ID, Deputy Technical Assistant (TA) O&M of main canal system Director’s Range Offices Work Supervisor (WS) O&M of D-canal system (DD’s Office) are located in Maintenance Labour (ML)

F - 16 both Kurunegala and Anuradhapura. Each Range Office administrates several Irrigation Engineer’s Offices (IE’s office), where rehabilitation and O&M work as well as technical guidance to farmers are carried out. Technical staff of the IE’s Office, headed by an Irrigation Engineer, consist of a Technical Assistant (TA), a Work Supervisor (WS), and a Maintenance Labour (ML). They proceed O&M of the major and medium irrigation schemes in co-operation with FOs The schemes are being operated by two IE’s offices. One is IE’s office in Anuradhapura under Anuradhapura DD’s office, and another is the IE’s office in Galgamuwa under the Kurunegala DD’s Office.

(2) O&M by Farmers Organisation

At present, there are two types of O&M by farmers. One is that members of a Farmers Organisation are appointed at a farmers meeting so as to carry out O&M. This type includes the major irrigation schemes, such as the Nachchaduwa scheme, and the Palukadawela scheme, and the Maha Nanneriya medium scheme.

Farmers are organised into legally rec-

Yaya 1 Yaya 2 Yaya 3 Yaya 4

l ognised autonomous organisations. Normally, Farmers’ Organisations covers

F-Canal areas fed by several D-canals, and they are

Main Cana D-canal made up of F-canal groups, each of which

Yaya 5 Yaya 6 Yaya 7 Yaya 8 selects a Farmer Representative (Yaya Representative) to lead the group and to represent them to outsiders. The Farmer Representatives within a Farmers’ Organisation form the Farmers’ Organisation Committee that manages the Organisation. The President and other office bearers of the Farmers’ FO Meeting Organisation are selected from among the Farmer Representatives. The office bearers and the Yaya representatives are responsible Yay a for O&M within areas fed by the D-canals Representatives and a F-canal, respectively. appointed at FO Meeting Major schemes, such as the Nachchaduwa scheme, and the Palukadawela scheme, have a Project Management Committee (PMC) federating the FOs. The PMC consists of representatives of the FOs and of the government agencies concerned with irrigated agriculture. These committees are generally chaired by a government official, but farmers make up a majority of the members. The PMC is responsible for preparing seasonal plans, including making water allocations to different parts of the schemes, and for solv-

F - 17 ing irrigation and other problems. Some larger schemes have lower level joint management committees that focus on solving irrigation and agricultural problems.

(3) O&M by Farmers representative Kanna Meeting Chairman Another is a traditional management appointed system, which has been taken over from FO

ancient time. Minor irrigation schemes Yaya Representatives as well as some of medium irrigation Farmers schemes, like the Periyakulama scheme, appointed at kanna meeting with rather small extents, are categorised in the system. In such schemes, water distributors are selected at a “Kanna Meeting”, which is held before every cultivation season. A gate operator, named by a “Vel Vidane” is responsible for the O&M of the schemes. The Vel Vidane, appointed regardless of entry the FO, is hereditary in some schemes.

3.6.4 Water Management A “Kanna Meeting” (a seasonal cultivation meeting) is held before every seasonal cultivation, twice a year, to decide the cultivation schedule, such as extents and location fed by tank water, starting and ending dates of irrigation, operation method of a sluice gates on a tank , manner of rotational irrigation among distributary canals, and so on. With respect to major and medium irrigation schemes, prior to the kanna meeting, a pre-kanna meeting are held.

The attendance of the Kanna Meeting varies depending on the category of schemes as shown below.

Attendance of Kanna Meeting Major Schemes Medium Schemes Minor Schemes FO Meeting FO Leader FO Leader N.A. Chairman Participants FO members FO members PMC Chairman RPM of IMD Chaired by TA of ID N.A. Participants IE and TA of ID FO leaders, AI, DO, FO leaders Farmer representatives Kanna Meeting Divisional Secretary or District Divisional Secretary Divisional Chairman Secretary Officer of ASC Participants Grana Niladari, Bank, Insur- Grana Niladari Grana Niladari ance, IMD, ID, DOA, DAS, ID, DOA, DAS, Farmers Land, Commissioner FR, Farmers FR, Farmers

F - 18 3.6.5 Water Distribution The following tables outline the present condition of irrigation water distribution for each irrigation scheme.

Persons in charge of water distribution Major Schemes Medium Schemes Minor Schemes Tank Sluices WS in ID Farmer named by Vel Farmer named by Vidane selected in the Vel Vidane kanna meeting, or selected in the FO office bearer kanna meeting, or FO meeting Turnout gates on WS in ID Vel Vidane or N.A. main canals Yaya representative Turnout gates on FO leader, FO secretary, FO N.A. N.A. D-canals Jalapalaka, or FC leader

In the land preparation period, the first month of the cultivation, water is released continuously from the tank. The water issue programme, thereafter, is in accordance with the decision of the kanna meeting. The operators in both the irrigation department and farmers open and close the gates based on the programme. As for major irrigation schemes, the tank sluices and turnouts gates on main canal system are operated by the ID, while some distributary canals and almost all field canals are operated by members of FOs. Sluice gates are controlled by ID staff according to the operation schedule decided at the kanna meeting. In the Nachchaduwa scheme, water flows into the main canals continuously. The rotation rules among the D-canals are also decided at the meeting according to the extents fed by the canals and informed to the FO leaders in writing. The heads of distributary canals are operated in accordance with the rotational rules. The FO sets the rotation rules within a D-canal discussing it at a FO general meeting, but it depends on the scarcity of water. Usually, priority is given to areas located in downstream of the canal for fair water distribution. In general, it can be said that the more water source, the less regulation of water distribution. In medium irrigation schemes, the tank sluice gates control is carried out by the farmers under technical guidance of ID officials in spite of the official hand-over to the farmers has not been made. The water distribution method within the command area is decided by the farmers. The water distribution in minor irrigation systems is carried out by farmers themselves. In general, there is a flexible water distribution method in the minor schemes according to farmer’s need. The farmers take water of the F-canals through a farm turnout or by cutting the canal bund. Plot-to-plot irrigation is basically adopted within a farmer’s field.

F - 19 3.6.6 Maintenance Planning for maintenance was the task of the irrigation agency prior to participatory management. In ID schemes, ID staff inspected the systems and noted the maintenance needed for the following year. These maintenance estimates were usually sent by October each year for funding during the following year. In major irrigation schemes, the FOs now actively participate in identifying maintenance needs at FO level. FO members identify and prioritise maintenance needs and forward the list to the PMC. At the PMC, FO requests are discussed and further prioritised and forwarded to ID for implementation. This process was not observed in medium irrigation schemes because the FOs and PMCs are not as well developed as in major irrigation schemes. There was no systematic planning of maintenance. There are two major maintenance activities carried by FOs: jungle clearing and desilting. FOs are expected to clear the weeds (jungle) from their own field canals by themselves. Clearing distributary canals had been the duty of the irrigation agency but in most major and medium irrigation schemes his activity too is now done by FOs. FOs are expected to desilt their field canals by themselves. Desilting of distributary canals is sometimes done by FOs o contract with the agency. Besides these major activities, FOs are also expected to attend to small repairs, including undertaking minor earthworks such as bund filling, and oiling and greasing of canal gates.

Maintenance Activities by Farmers Jungle clearing from Farmers carry out the distributary canals jungle clearing in distributary canals: most cases under all programmes; agency involvement in the distributary canals cleaning is minimal. Desilting distributary canals: The involvement of FOs in the distributary canals desilting is similar to involvement in the distributary canals clearing. Minor repairs to distributary: The agencies carry out a major portion of the work done. Maintenance tasks of field FOs or the farmers carry out most of the field canals mainte- canals: nance, such as jungle clearing and desilting. Farmers were responsible for these activities even before participatory management. There are two kinds of maintenance works, namely, Sramadana and Panggu. Sramadana, a volunteer labour service, is a communal works which all farmers are expected to attend. In principal, sramadana is carried out in D-canal de-silting and clearing without compensation for the attendance, refreshment or allowance for them are sometimes covered by the FO’s account or a contract. In some cases, the contracted maintenance work is carried out by sramadana basis to deposit all money to the FOs account.

F - 20 Panggu is a maintenance system, that work is a length of canal to be maintained are allocated according to the extents farmers cultivates. The maintenance works of the F-canal is conducted by the panggu method. Usually, farmers attend the maintenance in the canals that are adjacent to their farm lands.

3.7 Previous and On-going Projects related to the Study Area There are four previous projects and seven on-going projects related to the Study Area. These are outlined as follows, and details are shown in Table P.3.3.

Previous and On-going Projects Projects Financial Implementing Period Components Sources Agencies Previous Projects 1) National Irrigation Rehabilitation IDA/EC ID/MIP 1992-1999 Rehabilitation of irriga- Project (NIRP) tion facilities 2) Major Irrigation Rehabilitation IDA IMD & ID / 1985-1994 Rehabilitation of irriga- Project (MIRP) MIP tion facilities 3) Kurunegala Rural Development IDA MFPEA & NI 1979-1986 Rural development Project (KRDP) 4) Second Rural Development Project IDA MFPEA & NI 1981-1991 (Same with KRDP) (SRDP) On-going Projects 1) North Central Province Rural ADB Provincial Gov., 1996-2003 Rehabilitation of irri. & Development Project ID, & MASL Strengthening of FOs 2) North Central Province Participatory IFAD RDD/MPPI 1996-2002 Water resources & rural Rural Development Project development 3) Mahaweli Restructuring and IDA MASL 1998-2003 Rehabilitation and Rehabilitation Project Restructuring of MASL 4) North Western Province Dry Zone IFAD RDD/MPPI, 1993-2001 Rehabilitation of irri. & Participatory Development Project Provincial develop. of agro-wells Council 5) North Western Province Water ADB MIP 1992-2000 Rehabilitation of irri. & Resources Development Project improvement of roads 6) Integrated Management of Major GOSL IMD/MIP - Rehabilitation of irri., Agricultural Scheme (INMAS) Strengthening of FOs, etc. 7) Management of Irrigation System GOSL ID/MIP 1986 Almost same as INMAS (MANIS)

Four of the important projects operating within the study area are the North Western Province Water Resources Development Project, the North Central Province Rural Development Project, North Western Province Dry Zone Partici- patory Development Project, and the North Central Province Participatory Rural Development Project.

These projects are still going on and therefore no real assessment of their impact can be made until they are completed. Nevertheless, there are many important experiences that could be identified and used in future project planning and implementation activities. It should also be noted that in the implementation of these projects concerted attempts have been made to avoid shortcomings in previ-

F - 21 ous projects. For instance, the absence of beneficiary participation in the planning process was a major drawback in the Kurunegala Rural Development Project and attempts have been made to overcome this problem.

(1) North Central Province Rural Development Project

The North Central Province Rural Development Project is financed primarily by the Asian Development Bank and provides 65% of the funding. The Sri Lanka government provides 21% of the funding and the beneficiaries and the Participatory Credit Institutions provide 7% each. The total estimated cost of the project is Rs. 1,643 million (US$ 31.0 million). The duration of the Project is from January 1997 to the year 2003.

The objectives of the project are twofold, first, to raise the income levels of the rural population, and second, to generate employment opportunities, especially for the youth in the rural areas, with the ultimate goal of reducing poverty, broad basing regional development and capacity building of the Provincial Council agencies. It is estimated that 43,000 households will benefit from this project. The project was to provide for more efficient use of land and water resources, better access to markets, improve the rural road network and create income- generating activities for the rural youth.

At the end of 1998 reasonable progress had been made in all planned activities. These include the rehabilitation of 36 tanks and 4 inland fisheries ponds, provision of fingerlings and fries for 25 ponds, conducting training programs on pond fish farming and for co-operative societies, provision of credit and road improvement. The establishment, strengthening and the use of farmer organisations in its activities have been critical. In order to make them more effective farmer training has received much emphasis.

(2) North Central Province Participatory Rural Development Program The North Central Province Participatory Rural Development Program was started in 1996 and will continue until the year 2002. It is being funded by IFAD, SIDA and the WFP. The total funds available amounts to US$ 15.2 million. The Sri Lanka government’s contribution is US$ 4.2 million. The objectives of the project are as follows: increase productivity, production and income levels; improve primary health care facilities; increase nutritional levels; improve rural infrastructure facilities; assist to get benefits of other government development projects; and to increase involvement of beneficiaries in other development programs.

F - 22 These objectives are to be achieved through the implementation of a number of inter-related programs. Social mobilisation and health and nutrition projects and programs for the rehabilitation of irrigation projects are to be executed. The expansion of agricultural extension services, promotion of livestock farming and other self-employment projects together with the provision of credit are earmarked. Legalising and regularising land holdings, especially encroachments will receive much attention. Finally, the introduction of environment friendly farming techniques and conducting agricultural research and necessary training programs will be considered as priority activities of the project. The beneficiaries of the program are the encroachers, small-scale farmers, landless families, those who lack funding, ‘Samurdhi’ recipients, women and the unemployed youth.

(3) North Western Province Dry Zone Participatory Development Project

The North Western Province Dry Zone Participatory Development Project is funded by IFAD and GTZ. The total estimated cost is Rs. 863 million. The project period extends from 1993 to 2000. The objectives of the project are: the development of beneficiary participation and provision of support services; water resources development, rehabilitation of minor irrigation works; construction of agricultural wells; development of rainfed uplands; livestock development; and project management.

(4) North Western Province Water Resources Development Project The North Western Province Water Resources Development Project has being in operation since July 1992 and is due to be completed in July 1999. (The Review Mission of ADB extended the loan closing date to 30 June 2000.) The main objective of the project is to improve the social, economic and nutritional standards of the people living within the project area. This was to be done by increasing agricultural production and thereby, the income levels of the farmers. It was anticipated that the project would promote crop diversification in order to meet market demands for high value crops. These activities were expected to increase employment opportunities for the unemployed and the underemployed, and particularly for women. The Project was to rehabilitate 18 medium and 516 minor irrigation works with a total command area of 13,000 hectares, and improve 5 major, 10 medium and 99 minor schemes with a total command area 13,910 hectares. The project would also restore 1 medium and 35 minor abandoned schemes with a total command area of 765 hectares, and settle farmers in the medium schemes. Drainage and

F - 23 irrigation facilities were to be extended in two existing schemes to supplement water supply and extend the command area from 100 to 525 hectares and settle farmers in the new areas. 400km of “D” and “E” Class roads and 520 km of agricultural roads, which are not classified, were to be improved. Further, credit was to be provided to farmers for the improvement of irrigation schemes including 1,250 ‘dugwells’, 750 units of lift irrigation and to 3,000 rural women for income generating activities. The performance up to the middle of 1998 and programme for 1999 are shown below:

Project Activities and Physical Progress

Project Target Status mid 1998 Programme Project Component Original Revised Complete Partly 1999 Major/Medium Scheme (Nos.) 33 36 13 14 9 Minor Schemes (Nos.) 630 670 395 200 75 Roads (km) 740 920 465 300 200 Dug Wells (Nos.) 1,500 1,250 838 100 100 Lift Irrigation (Nos.) 250 750 56 25 300 Women Development (Nos.) 1,000 3,000 1,511 500 1,000 Source: Project and Programme 1999, MIP It is reported that overall performance was 89% of the target by March 1999. Dugwells have been constructed, with 90% of financial assistance provided by the project and the government and the balance provided by the farmers. This water is used for the cultivation of high value crops during the dry season. 684 such wells have been constructed. Further, 2,271 loans have been disbursed among women entrepreneurs to set up income generating activities and have also been provided with the necessary training and guidance. Beneficiary participation in the planning process has been made compulsory. The farmer organisation development has been a critical component in the project and 773 such organisations have been formed. Farmers have been trained in areas such as, farmer organisation development, quality control in irrigation construction, operation and maintenance of irrigation schemes, water management and crop production and financial management.

F - 24 Chapter 4 PRESENT CONDITIONS OF THE IRRIGATION SCHEMES

4.1 Irrigation and Drainage System (1) Catchment area, Reservoir and Commanding Area The hydrological characteristics of each of the major and medium schemes are as follows:

Hydrological Characteristics of Major and Medium Schemes Code Scheme Name Catchment Total Reservoir Reservoir Commanding Area Capacity Area Area (km2) (MCM) (ha) (ha) Major scheme 1MA-01 Nachchaduwa Wewa 611 55.8 1,783.9 2,540 1MA-02 Nuwarawewa 84 44.5 1,196.3 1,134 1MA-03 Tissa Wewa 5 4.0 212.5 365 2MA-01 Rajangana Wewa 769 100.7 1,598.5 5,668 4MA-01 Palukadawela 18 9.5 360.2 956 4MA-02 Attaragalla Wewa 41 4.5 198.7 462 4MA-03 Ambakolawewa 171 6.3 291.4 410 5MA-01 Magallawewa 54 8.0 284.4 2,632 Medium Scheme 1ME-01 Thuruweli Wewa 38 6.4 323.8 227 1ME-02 Eru Wewa 146 0.8 125.7 34 1ME-03 Uttimaduwa Wewa 6 1.6 116.6 93 1ME-04 Periyakulama 13 1.7 114.3 91 1ME-05 Maminiya Wewa 26 1.7 107.6 211 1ME-06 Maha Bulankulama 13 1.4 93.1 90 2ME-01 Angamuwa wewa 130 15.5 509.0 - 4ME-01 Maha Naneriyawewa 36 2.5 135.2 158 4ME-02 Mahagalgamuwa Wewa 10 8.0 270.3 193 5ME-01 Hulugalla Wewa 28 1.8 99.7 121 6ME-01 Meddeketiyawewa 10 0.8 46.1 98 6ME-02 Moragoda Anicut 101 - - 194 Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999.

Average catchment area and command area in the minor schemes are 2.2 km2 and 31 ha, respectively. Hydrological Characteristics of Minor Schemes No. of Scheme Catchment Area Total Reservoir Reservoir Area Commanding (km2) Capacity (MCM) (ha) Area (ha) 80 2.2 0.2 16.4 31 Note: Indicate average figures in all minor irrigation schemes. Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999.

In detail, the hydrological characteristics for the minor schemes are shown in Table P 4.1. The minor irrigation tanks are constrained by serious water shortages as over half the tanks failed to fill water every year.

F - 25 Occurrence of Spill out in Maha (Unit: Nos. of Schemes) Scheme Total Every 4 years 3 years 2 years 1 year No No Maha Spill out Answer Major87000010 Medium125201220 Minor 80 33 7 14 12 11 3 0 Total 100 45 9 14 13 13 6 0 Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999.

(2) Water Usage Water in the tanks are utilised for not only irrigation but also other purposes, such as livestock raising, bathing and washing, and inland fisheries. Most tanks are not used for drinking purpose.

Utilisation for Tank Water (Unit: Nos. of Schemes) Category Irrigation Cattle Drinking Bathing & Inland Others supply washing fisheries Major853350 Medium 12 10 3 6 5 0 Minor 80 78 3 74 1 1 Total 100 93 9 83 11 1 Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999.

In the inventory survey, some 750 agrowells are recorded in the 100 schemes, and are mainly used for OFC cultivation.

(3) Command Area with Cropping Intensity The total command area in the candidate schemes is about 18,200 ha as shown below: Commanding Area (Unit : ha) Category Total Average Max Min. Major 14,167 1,771 5,668 365 Medium 1,509 137 227 34 Minor 2,509 31 182 8 Total 18,185 184 5,668 8 Note: Indicate gross commanding area Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999.

Average cropping intensities of paddy in the last 5 years in Maha, Yala are shown below.

Cropping Intensity of Paddy in Maha (Unit: Nos. of Schemes) Scheme Total < 40% 40 - 60% 60 - 80% 80 - 100% No data Average Major 8 0 0 0 8 0 96 % Medium 12 0 1 0 10 1 90 % Minor 80 3 3 15 57 2 66 % Total 100 3 4 15 75 3 92 % Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999.

F - 26 Cropping Intensity of Paddy in Yala (Unit: Nos. of Schemes) Scheme Total No 0 – 40% 40 - 60% 60 - 80% 80 - 100% No data Cultivation Major80 1331060 % Medium 12 3 2 3 1 2 1 43 % Minor 80 45 14 10 5 6 0 19 % Total 100 48 17 16 9 9 1 53 % Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999.

While the Maha crop intensity of paddy in major and medium irrigation schemes are generally recorded at over 80 %, some 30 % of the minor irrigation schemes have low intensities with less than 60 %. It is pointed out that the intensities in the minor irrigation schemes are much less than those in major and medium schemes. Most major and medium irrigation schemes carry out Yala cultivation, even though the cultivated areas in Yala vary depending on the availability of tank water. About half of the minor irrigation schemas had no Yala cultivation for the last 5 years. It is likely that the cultivation extent in Yala is closely related to the hydrological characteristics of each tank or the location within a cascade.

Annual crop intensity of paddy for the schemes is summarised below:

Annual Cropping Intensity of Paddy (Unit: Nos. of Schemes) Scheme Total < 100% 100 - 120 - 140 – 160 - 180 - No Average 120 % 140 % 160 % 180 % 200 % data Major80104210156 % Medium120522021133 % Minor80322161026385 % Total1003227816474145 % Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999.

The possibilities to improve the annual cropping intensities should be studied based on the hydrological data and estimated irrigation water demands.

(4) Irrigation Facilities in Major and Medium Schemes 1) Tank All of tanks are classified into earth fill dam and dam height is below twenty meters. Some of them such as Nuwarawewa, Tissawewa, and Angamuwa, were constructed in ancient times and later renovated. Although, in general, the bunds of most tanks are in good condition, some of them have problems of leakage from the bund and slope failure owing to less compaction or wave action. In addition, several schemes are affected by silting and the watergrass problem, which causes a decrease in reservoir capacity.

A tower sluice is adopted for most medium schemes, which require rela-

F - 27 tively small amounts of irrigation water. As for the ancient tanks, a masonry sluice was facilitated, which allows relatively large amounts of water to flow. Some of the sluice gates have lifting problems and/or leakage problems. Several scheme such as Nachchaduwa, Tissawewa, Eru Wewa, Rajangana, and Angamuwa are equipped with spill-gates made of wood or steel for controlling water level and to control floodwater. Most spill-gates have been constrained by spoiled gate bodies, mechanical trouble for lifting and/or packing seal. On the other hand, fixed type is functioning generally well, except one scheme namely, Maha Bunankulama where overtopping of bund takes place occasionally, and is caused by insufficient spillway capacity. In addition, the malfunctioning of the apron located in down stream of spillway in Tissawewa is noted.

2) Distribution System

In general, the distribution system of major schemes is composed of main canal, D-canal, F-canal and distribution facilities such as regulator and turnout. A retaining wall made of masonry is provided in certain places in main canals while most distributary and field canals are earth canals. Although most canal systems are functioning in normally, the main problems of canals are silting and grass growing due to poor maintenance. Further, leakage and/or canal slope erosion are seen in several schemes, thus canal lining will be required in some places.

As far as distribution facilities are concerned, some gates have leakage problems and/or lighting problem, which disturb fair water distribution and saving water. While distribution facilities are equipped in the major schemes, most of medium schemes do not have the facilities yet. Installa- tion of distribution facilities is strongly expected by farmers for water management activities, such as equal water distribution and effective water resources utilisation.

Although measuring devices at the head of canals have been installed in most major schemes, they are not functioning due to deterioration of the structures. Installation or improvement of the measuring devices, as well as, continuous recording will be needed in accordance with the water management plan.

F - 28 Measuring Device (Unit: Nos. of Schemes) Category Available Not available Total Major538 Medium - 12 12 Minor 9 71 80 Total 14 86 100 Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999.

The average canal density of the irrigation schemes is some 65 m/ha as shown below. This value could be a standard to improve the irrigation canal network. Canal Density (Unit: m/ha) Category Nos. of Average Max Min. answers Major 8 64.3 83.2 36.4 Medium 11 64.1 105.4 22.1 Minor 80 63.8 195.5 2.8 Total 99 64.2 195.5 2.8 Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999.

3) Drainage Problem In several schemes such as, Uttimaduwa, Maminiyawa, the drainage problem observed is due to inadequate cross section of drainage canal, which does not have a capability for spilling water properly. Consequently, the command area is affected by the unnecessary spilling of water. Meddeketiya scheme suffers from salinity in recent years because of inap- propriate irrigation practice and a poor drainage system, which causes di- minished yield of paddy.

4) Farm Roads Farm roads are not provided except in major schemes. The Study team has received farmers’ requests for construction of farm roads to improve accessibility of farm tractors and to facilitate conveyance of agricultural production in Nuwarawewa, Maha Bunankulama, and Maminiyawa.

(4) Irrigation Facilities in Minor Schemes The inventoried minor irrigation schemes had no substantial rehabilitation works for a long time. In most schemes, such tank rehabilitation works, as bund re- filling, sluice gate, and spillway, would be urgently required. With respect to irrigation canals, both rehabilitation of channels, as well as, installation of structures will be needed, so as to conduct proper water management. Asked whether the turnout with gate is required, most farmer leaders replied that the structures are needed.

F - 29 (5) Needs for Rehabilitation On the basis of the field inspections of major and medium schemes, major points of the rehabilitation for facilities in each scheme are summarised in Table P.4.2, which also includes general information of water resources and construction/rehabilitation history. According to the inventory survey, out of 100 schemes, schemes that need to rehabilitate tanks and provide irrigation facilities are 88 and 69, respectively.

Rehabilitation of Tanks (Unit: Nos. of Schemes) Scheme Total Necessary Not No Total Bund Sluice Spillway Others Necessary answer Major885642 0 0 Medium1298452 3 0 Minor8071525532439 0 Total 100 88 65 65 41 47 12 0 Note: Others include the provision of riprap of bund slope, washing step, and so on Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999.

Rehabilitation of Irrigation Canals (Unit: Nos. of Schemes) Scheme Total Necessary Not Necessary No answer Major 8 4 4 0 Medium 12 8 4 0 Minor 80 57 23 0 Total 100 69 31 0 Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999.

Major points for rehabilitation are summarised below:

Summary of Rehabilitation Works Scheme Tank Irrigation Major Rehabilitation of sluice gate Rehabilitation of structures Improvement of measuring devices Medium Rehabilitation of sluice gate and spillway Rehabilitation / Improvement of structures Minor Bund re-filling Rehabilitation of channels Rehabilitation of sluice gate and spillway Construction of structures Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999.

(6) Rehabilitation works by Farmers Entrusted by ID, nearly 15% of FOs experience contracts, by which the rehabilitation of irrigation facilities are carried out.

F - 30 Rehabilitation Contracts to FO (Unit: Nos. of FOs) Category Yes No Total Person who contracts Total FO FO Outside No Secretary Contractor answer Major300035558 Medium300141216 Minor14110166278 Total 2011123129152 Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999. In most cases, the works are conducted by the farmers themselves without subletting to a private contractors. The profits from the works are deposited for the maintenance works and other FO’s activities.

Quality of the rehabilitation works on contracts basis is the most important issue for the success of rehabilitation work. Although, in general, training of the farmers in quality control of rehabilitation work have been carried out to the some extent, FOs pointed put that there is still a need to strengthen this activity.

According to FOs there are two main reasons for delays in completing contracts on time. Most important of the two, is the delay in payment for contracts undertaken by FOs. Though a mobilisation fund for contracts is a possibility, some FOs in minor irrigation schemes indicated lack of initial capital as one of the reasons why FOs had failed to secure rehabilitation contracts. Even with the mobilisation fund, most FOs that undertook contracts had to delay their work due to non-availability of construction material. Besides, these two main reasons, lack of experienced manpower and inadequate estimates were also cited as reasons for the delay in contract completion.

(7) Participatory approach for rehabilitation works Recently, many development projects have been implemented in the Study area with foreign financial assistance, and all these projects had used the beneficiaries’ participatory approach to arouse farmers’ self-reliance for sustainable development. In accordance with the approach, before the implementation of those projects, workshops with farmers had been held, by the executing agencies concerned, and farmers’ reactions to the projects had been collected. However, under the rigid and inflexible implementation of plans, in terms of schedule and budget, almost all of farmers’ views that did not match the plan had been rejected, and the agencies’ own plan had been implemented without any explanation to farmers. All rehabilitation activities proposed are subject to discussion at meetings. One of the main purposes of these meetings was to discuss “what has to be done” and

F - 31 “what can be done”, and all farmers were expected to participate in these meetings. However, “what has been happening” was that some FO requests for rehabilitation were not attended to, due to budgetary constraints. Furthermore, the reasons for not taking action was not conveyed to FOs. Therefore, there were a significant difference between FO rehabilitation requests, and what is actually being implemented under rehabilitation. One of the major differences between minor tank rehabilitation requests and actual construction was desilting. Many FOs in minor schemes had requested for desilting of their tanks, but this has not been done due to budgetary constraints. In medium schemes and major schemes, rehabilitation was done in headworks, main and distributary canals. However, not attending to some of the field channels and other essential field level infrastructure had been a cause of concern among FOs. Reason for this situation had been the lack of budgetary provision to undertake such work. Unfortunately, the reason for non-rehabilitation had not been properly communicated to the FO.

4.2 Operation and Maintenance 4.2.1 Meetings to Decide Seasonal Cultivation As stated in the preceding chapter, a kanna meeting, as well as, a pre-kanna meeting, are held to decide the seasonal cultivation schedule. The availability of the meeting with the percentage of farmers’ attendance is shown below.

Pre Kanna Meeting (Unit: Nos. of FOs) Scheme Total No Meeting available FO Meeting Total Nearly 100 - 75 - 50 - < 25% No 100% 75 % 50 % 25% Answer Major 57 1 56 1 45 6 2 0 2 Medium 17 5 12 0 3 4 3 2 0 Minor75472817882 2 Total 149 53 96 2 55 18 13 4 4 Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999. Kanna Meeting (Unit: Nos. of FOs) Scheme Total No Meeting available FO Meeting Total Nearly 100 - 75 - 50 - < 25% No 100% 75 % 50 % 25% Answer Major 57 0 57 1 27 2 11 16 0 Medium 17 0 17 0 7 2 7 1 0 Minor7517402514247 1 Total 149 1 148 1 59 18 42 24 1 Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999.

Most of the major and medium irrigation schemes hold the pre-kanna meeting with FO or PMC. It is also observed that the participation rate in the kanna

F - 32 meetings in the major irrigation schemes is higher than that in minor irrigation schemes. The kanna meetings are mainly held at a school, village community hall, and so on. The places where the pre-kanna meetings are held in the major irrigation schemes are mainly the IMD offices.

The extents of cultivated areas with the first water issue date are decided based on the water level of the tank. In the major irrigation schemes, daily water level records and a height – storage – area curve of a tank necessary to estimate the water storage are available. However, the irrigation water demands to be released at each head of D-canal and tank sluice are not estimated theoretically in accordance with crop growing periods and cultivation extents. Thus, actual water distribution depends on experience of the operators. Further, there are few records of tank water levels in the medium schemes while no record is available in the minor irrigation schemes.

4.2.2 Operation The operation of tank sluice gates is carried out in accordance with a method decided at the kanna meeting, as summarised below.

Operation of Tank Sluices Code Scheme Name Operated by Operation Method 1MA-01 Nachchduwa Wewa ID Continuous flow 1MA-02 Nuwarawewa ID 5 days open, 2 day closed 1MA-03 Tissa Wewa ID 4 days open, 3 day closed 2MA-01 Rajangana Wewa ID Continuous flow 4MA-01 Palukadawela ID 5 days open, 5 day closed 4MA-02 Attaragalla Wewa ID 4 days open, 5 day closed 4MA-03 Ambakolawewa ID 4 days open, 5 day closed 5MA-01 Magallawewa ID 6 days open, 6 day closed 1ME-01 Thuruweli Wewa ID To be collected 1ME-02 Eru Wewa FO To be collected 1ME-03 Uttimaduwa Wewa FO Continuous flow 1ME-04 Periyakulama FO Continuous flow 1ME-05 Maminiya Wewa FO Continuous flow 1ME-06 Maha Bulankulama FO 4 days open, 3 day closed 2ME-01 Angamuwawewa ID In accordance with Rajangana tank operation 4ME-01 Maha Naneriyawewa FO 5 days open, 10 day closed 4ME-02 Mahagalgamuwa Wewa FO 6 days open, 7 day closed 5ME-01 Hulugalla Wewa ID 6 days open, 5 day closed 6ME-01 Meddeketiyawewa ID 4 days open, 7 day closed 6ME-02 Moragoda Anicut ID 6 days open, 2 day closed Source: Field Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999.

The method of the sluice operation varies widely reflecting the local condition, such as water resources potential, physical condition of irrigation scheme, and intention of farmers. Although the headworks in both major and medium irrigation schemes should be managed by ID officials, it is seen that the medium schemes in Anuradhapura District and area covered by the Galgamuwa IE’s Offices in Kurunegala District are managed by FOs under the technical guidance

F - 33 of ID officials. This fact suggests that the whole operation in the medium irrigation schemes will be able to carry out by FOs.

Person appointed to operate the sluice of the tank (Unit: Nos. of Schemes) Category FO FO FO ID No Total President Secretary Jalapalaka Jalapalaka Answer Major00170 8 Medium 1 1 6 4 0 12 Minor 7 14 57 1 1 80 Total 8 15 64 12 1 100 Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999.

In the minor schemes, the sluice of the tank is operated by FO office bearers or a gate operator named by a Jalapalaka, while a Jalapalaka employed by ID is in charge of the operation in most major irrigation schemes. Although the outflow is reported to be adjusted according to rainfall, the operation is dependent to the operators’ experience due to lack of the measurement devices and proper water demand estimation method. Some 75 % of FO leaders reported that the rotation irrigation is conducted within their areas, as shown below. The rotation system is discussed at the FO meeting based on the operation rule of headworks decided by ID.

Rotation irrigation (Unit: Nos. of FOs) Category Conducted Not conducted No Answer Total Major 53 5 0 58 Medium 14 2 0 16 Minor 50 28 0 78 Total 117 35 0 152 Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999.

The questionnaire survey indicates that the farmers in the major schemes expressed greater satisfaction about water distribution than in medium and minor schemes. Satisfaction with quantity of water Category Satisfied Not Satisfied No Answer Major 82 % 18 % 0 % Medium 61 % 38 % 1 % Minor 41 % 57 % 2 % Total 47 % 52 % 2 % Source: Questionnaire Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999. Irrigation water on time Category Yes No No Answer Major 87 % 13 % 0 % Medium 58 % 42 % 0 % Minor 37 % 60 % 3 % Total 43 % 54 % 3 % Source: Questionnaire Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999.

It is remarked that the farmers’ satisfaction with water distribution in major

F - 34 schemes is caused by high involvement of the government agencies. Thus, the management by farmers themselves, with minimum government intervention, would be highly expected in the future. In these systems, land is associated with water in a bethma arrangement, when not all land can be cultivated during a drought, land owners share the land in the water available areas. They cultivate a lesser area under command and divide propor- tionately, according to the original amounts of land owned by each person.

4.2.3 Monitoring of Irrigation Performance In the major irrigation schemes, the daily records of water issue from the tank sluice with water levels of tank are collected by reading the water level gauges at the head of the main canals. The records are compiled weekly and sent to the head office of ID. A cultivation performance report is prepared in every cultivation season to evaluate the irrigation performance. In the reports, actual water consumption is indicated showing the cultivation extents and quantities of actual water issue. On the other hand, as for the medium irrigation schemes, the flow data are collected in fragment in the Maha Nanneriya scheme while no data is collected in the Periyakulama scheme due to lack of measuring devices at the head of the main canals. Further, no data has been collected in all the minor schemes. It is also important to measure and monitor the flow at the head of D-canals to secure proper water distribution to each FO. However, the flow monitoring has not been conducted as the measuring devices at the head of the D-canal were damaged.

4.2.4 Maintenance Some 35% of FOs have a walk through survey in order to identify the maintenance works as shown below.

Method to identify the maintenance works (Unit: Nos. of FOs) Method to identify the maintenance works Major Medium Minor Total Nos. of FO 58 16 78 152 Walk through survey 31 10 13 54 Through surveys by Irrigation Officers 25 11 4 40 Gather request from farmers 54 16 68 138 After discussion of FO meeting 56 15 74 145 Individual farmer directly goes to the officials 19 2 24 45 FO officers / agency officers at PMC 1 0 0 1 Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999.

F - 35 Present farmers’ involvement in maintenance work is as follows:

Maintenance Works by Farmers (Unit: Nos. of FOs) Description of Maintenance Major Medium Minor Total Nos. of FO 58 16 78 152 Desilting of tank 1 0 5 6 Clearing of tank bund 1 3 62 66 Desilting of canals 46 14 62 122 Clearing of canals 56 15 76 147 Bund forming of canals 48 16 69 133 Repair of canal structures 30 8 29 67 Cleaning of drainage canals 27 3 8 37 Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999.

Most farmers are involved in the clearing, desilting, and bund forming of the canals. It is remarked the all FOs in the minor schemes are not involved in the clearing of tanks, even though the FOs are responsible for maintenance of tanks in the minor irrigation schemes. Sramadana is conducted in most irrigation schemes as shown below.

Sramadana (Unit: Nos. of FOs) Category Yes No No answer Total Major571058 Medium 15 1 0 16 Minor771078 Total 149 3 0 152 Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999.

However, it can be said that the activities for shramadana decline due to less involvement in agricultural activities, non-owner cultivation and owners residing outside the schemes. At the early stages of the INMAS programme, there was high enthusiasm of farmers. At that time, shramadana was a good method for mobilising resources for maintenance. However the same enthusiasm is not observed at present. In most major and medium schemes, ID pays for the distributary canals maintenance work done by shramadana, but the payment are usually less than the cost of wages for the work performed. Participation in shramadana activities are declining due to poor returns, non-owner cultivators, lack of confidence and faith in FO leadership, and delayed payment by the ID for work performed. FOs have to get the canals cleaned before water issues commenced. If the work is not done by the individual farmers, FOs may have to hire wage labour. Presently funds for hiring labour come, in part, from the ID O&M allocation. If active voluntary participation in maintenance continues to decline, FOs might be assisted by continuing the ID O&M allowance. In certain instances, farmers have chosen to clean the distributary canals according to the availability of O&M

F - 36 allocation. That is, if the funds provided are not enough to cover the wages of the labour needed to complete the job, the farmers clean only the part of the canal covered by the available funds. In this case, one does not observe a sense of ownership or responsibility towards the system. The reasons for poor farmer participation in maintenance vary from poor physical condition of the system to a high percentage of non-owner cultivation and to owners residing outside the scheme. Although the penalty for the persons, who do not attend the maintenance works, are decided in the kanna meeting, their application have not been made in most of the FOs. In many cases, farmers, as well as irrigation agency officials, complain of inadequate O&M funds. Usually the funds allocated for O&M is about half of the estimates submitted. Farmers have come to expect the maintenance allocation from the government.

Some 75 % of FO leaders replied that deterioration of the system is caused by poor maintenance. Further, action to protect damage by cattle should be considered. Major reasons to deteriorate the system (Unit: Nos. of FOs) Category Major Medium Minor Total Nos. of FO 58 16 78 152 Poor maintenance 48 11 57 116 Damage by the cattle 34 9 53 96 Damage by the farmers 13 5 15 33 Cultivation of reservations 20 1 8 29 Damages by wild animals 3 3 22 28 Development of reservations 6 7 13 26 Flooding 12 4 6 22 Illegal water tapping 6 2 9 17 Non-availability of access road 13 1 1 15 Poor construction of structures 4 2 9 15 Delivering water more than the canal capacity 3 1 10 14 Long term negligence of cultivation 1 0 4 5 Low level of farmer interest 1 1 3 5 Not cultivate timely 0 0 2 2 Poorly performed FO 1 1 0 2 Small and narrow canal bunds in old systems 0 0 1 1 Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999.

It is observed that some paddy plots are unable to be fed due to topographic condition or design defect. Further, some paddy field are divided and succeeded to children without considering locations of water inlet to the fields. The farmers having such fields damage the canals and take an illicit tapping so that they take water to their paddy fields.

In the event of an emergency, most FOs bear the repair costs, as shown below.

F - 37 Repair cost in case of emergency (Unit: Nos. of FOs) Category Major Medium Minor Total All costs are Government agencies 0 1 0 1 Material and equipment is supplied and 10 2 7 19 manpower by FO. All cost by FO themselves 48 12 63 123 Farmers collectively 0 1 8 9 Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999.

It is also confirmed that ID bear the expenses in the case that the repair cost is rather expensive.

4.2.5 Involvement in O&M

The following table indicates the involvement in O&M of both farmers and the government officials.

Present Involvement in O&M Works (Major Schemes) (Unit: %) Description available Available Not No and but not so available Answer active active FGFGFGFG Preparation of Annual Maintenance Programme 26 33 28 22 47 45 0 0 Implementation of annual maintenance programme1621403445430 2 Collecting irrigation service charge 14 5 34 14 52 79 0 2 Awareness on O&M to farmers 28 34 62 41 9 19 2 5 Collection of information on O&M 22 28 47 40 29 31 2 2 Organise O&M Shramadana 74 41 24 36 2 21 0 2 O&M of D- and F-canals 62 47 38 33 0 21 0 0 O&M of main and branch canals 34 53 24 36 38 9 3 2 Settlement of irrigation disputes 74 72 26 22 0 5 0 0 Carryout irrigation rotation 97 79 3 10 0 10 0 0 Settle stray cattle problem 60 50 33 34 3 12 3 3 Impose legal powers 48 43 45 50 7 5 0 2 Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999. F: Activities of farmers’ organisation G: Activities of the government

Present Involvement in O&M Works (Medium Schemes) (Unit: %) Description available Available Not No and but not so available Answer active active FGFGFGFG Preparation of Annual Maintenance Programme 0 19 50 31 50 38 0 13 Implementation of annual maintenance programme 6 19 44 31 50 38 0 13 Collecting irrigation service charge 13 0 25 6 63 94 0 0 Awareness on O&M to farmers 1313446938196 0 Collection of information on O&M 6 6 50 19 44 75 0 0 Organise O&M Shramadana 63 19 38 25 0 56 0 0 O&M of D- and F-canals 31195619638625 O&M of main and branch canals 1931503113191919 Settlement of irrigation disputes 56 38 38 31 0 31 6 0 Carryout irrigation rotation 63 31 31 25 6 44 0 0 Settle stray cattle problem 50 31 44 44 6 25 13 0 Impose legal powers 38 31 63 44 0 25 0 0 Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999. F: Activities of farmers’ organisation G: Activities of the government

F - 38 Present Involvement in O&M Works (Minor Schemes) (Unit: %) Description Available Available Not No and but not so available Answer active active FGFGFGFG Preparation of Annual Maintenance Programme 31 4 10 6 59 87 0 3 Implementation of annual maintenance programme211198608803 Collecting irrigation service charge 13 1 15 4 72 92 0 3 Awareness on O&M to farmers 1810401940713 0 Collection of information on O&M 22 8 24 19 54 71 0 3 Organise O&M Shramadana 60 28 35 15 5 56 0 0 O&M of D- and F-canals 23 13 17 9 13 41 47 37 O&M of main and branch canals 35 12 12 1 12 49 42 38 Settlement of irrigation disputes 55 21 38 32 3 46 4 1 Carryout irrigation rotation 69 23 18 9 9 62 4 6 Settle stray cattle problem 36 33 55 46 8 17 3 4 Impose legal powers 28 31 64 51 8 14 0 4 Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999. F: Activities of farmers’ organisation G: Activities of the government

In connection with involvement in O & M, there is no significant difference between major, medium, and minor irrigation schemes. Farmers’ active involvement is found in carrying out irrigation rotation, followed by organisation of shramadana, and settlement of irrigation disputes. As for preparation and implementation of annual maintenance programme and collecting irrigation service fee, both still show a low involvement.

4.2.6 Turnover of O&M In the some major irrigation schemes, although the official turnover has been completed, it is observed that several constraints are still in existence. a) The farmers pointed out that the hand-over has been proceeded without mutual consent because the performance of rehabilitation works by the government are far from those they expected, b) Farmers other than the FO office bearers are not aware that the turnover of O&M have been completed. They did not understand the rights and obligation according to the turnover, and complaint to the government agencies have been boosted up, c) In some FOs, the agreement of the hand-over is not kept by the Office bearers, and d) Some documents necessary for operation and maintenance, such as an issue tree, inventory of facilities are not with FOs.

4.2.7 Conflict Management The mechanism of conflict solution within and out of the community is outlined

F - 39 below. Conflict Management Scheme In the case that water is not delivered depending Solution of conflict within lands fed by a category on the schedule by the kanna meeting canal Major - Channels for request is as follows : - Discussion between the farmers is made at Schemes Farmers – Yaya representative – FO leader – the presence of FO Leader FO committees – IMD - ID Medium - FO Leader, Vel Vidane, and farmers meet to - The Yaya representative attends to resolve Schemes adopt a rotational irrigation the conflict - If the issues are not resolved, the FO Leader takes the action. Minor - The meeting chaired by the Vel Vidane to take - Discussion between farmers are carried out Schemes action - If the conflict is not resolved, the FO office - Failure of proper water distribution surely bearers act as a mediator leads to total crop damages as the farmers usu- - Finally, ,problems will be reported to the ally plan and carry out irrigation, considering Grama Niradhari if no solutions are to save the tank water to the maximum extent expected even internal discussion Extension of water issues is one of the most important issue where FOs and agency officers take decisions jointly. FO members complain to the government agencies as well as the FO office bearers if irrigation schedule decided at a kanna meeting not being implemented properly. It is also observed that farmers get to know the irrigation schedule hearing from the office bearers. This might cause misunderstanding for the irrigation schedule.

Kanna meeting decisions about dates of water issues are frequently amended on FO request. The requests have been to extend the water issue dates due to delayed sowing, delayed land preparation, or other climate changes. Under the major irrigation schemes, most requests are channelled through FOs and PMC. However, in certain system where the PMC is not strong, the affected FO complains directly to the officials of ID. In most medium irrigation schemes, communication between farmers and agency staff regarding operation is direct. The FO directly communicates with the WS / Irrigators / TA depending on the requirement. It is remarked that the a water management committee is organised in some major irrigation schemes. The committee consists of FO office bearers and the staff of ID to discuss irrigation problems.

Throughout the field survey, it was revealed that some FO members complaint to the government agencies about the irrigation schedule decided at a kanna meeting not being implemented. This could be due to the following reasons:

● Availability of water

● Institutional problems of the government agency, such as insufficient gate operators

● Farming practices like the delay of cultivation due to shortage of labour forces

● Insufficient communication between the government agencies and farmers

● Unclear procedure to settle irrigation disputes

F - 40 ● Gap of perception between the government and farmers for starting date of the irrigation Especially, in connection with the starting date, at a kanna meeting, the farmers insist that the water should be issued after the tank is filled up while ID would like to start the water issue immediately after the start of the Maha rainfall.

The issues discussed in the farmers meetings include scarcity of water, wastage of water, imbalance water distribution, selfish attitude of farmers, stray cattle, illicit tapping, damage of irrigation facilities, low participation rate of sramadana, and so on. Among them, the farmers recognise the most serious issue are that the water are not distributed equally within a channel. Everybody, who is concerned in the affair, discussed mutually at the presence of the yaya representatives as well as the FO office bearers, if needed. Even though the problems are discussed, some of farmers do not follow the conclusion of the discussion or the leader’s mediation.

In general, each FO holds mechanism to solve the conflict having several meetings, and have a linkage complaining to the government agencies. However, it is quite a different matter, whether the conflict can be resolved through the discussion, and whether the decision made at the meetings will be surely implemented.

4.2.8 O&M Cost According to the IDA paper, O&M cost per ha is predicted to be Rs. 830 in 1998. It is assumed that of this amount 40% (including temporary staff salaries) is set apart for overheads, with the remaining 60% available for O&M. The 60% is divided as follows:

Allocation for O&M Works Percentage O&M Areas 20 % Headworks 40 % Main / Branch Canals 30 % Distributary and Field Canals 10 % Internal Roads

The above table indicates that estimated O&M cost for distributary and field canals is some Rs. 150 per ha. On the other hand, according to budget for INMAS programme in 1998, O&M cost allocated to FOs for distributary and field canals is reported to be some Rs. 80/ha. It is remarked that some extents of O&M cost are allocated to FO although the responsibility of O&M have been handed over to FOs because FOs do not have sufficient funds for O&M. The cost of allowance to gate operator sometimes is allocated by ID. Allocation of funds for maintenance, particularly for distribu-

F - 41 tary canals jungle clearing and desilting, is made by ID annually.

Five models of implementing maintenance contracts by the FOs were observed.

● Complete the work through shramadana and credit the full payment to FO fund.

● Distribute the work (desilting and jungle clearing) among farmers and credit the full amount to FO fund.

● Implement the work through shramadana and share the payment among the participants with or without contributing some percentage to FO fund.

● Contract the work to FO leaders (Office bearers of FRs) and credit some percentage (usually 5%) to the FO fund.

● Subcontract to private contractors and charge them some percentage (usually 5%) of the estimate for the FO fund.

In ID, the TA initially prepare estimates for jungle clearing and desilting. The amount allocated for each distributary canal is decided according to a formula that takes into account the length of canals. Sometimes essential minor repairs of earthwork too are included in maintenance contracts. Other structural repairs are usually undertaken with improvement funds. However, the cost is not enough for FOs to take full maintenance works. IIMI report in 1995 mentioned that the appropriate annual O&M cost for distributary and field canals is some Rs. 750/ha.The O&M cost of ID includes the operation cost for the DD’s office and the IE’s office, and operation and maintenance cost for irrigation facilities. The operation cost includes office administration and allowance for the staff and excludes the staff salaries. Some 30% of total maintenance costs are allocated to the FOs for the maintenance of D-canals even though the responsibility of O&M have been handed over. The FOs spend the money on refreshment or allowances for their sramadana participants or make a deposit for future repair or maintenance works. An allowance named by a “Salaris” is collected from farmers. Nearly 60% of FOs collect the salaris from the farmers. They are spent for allowance of the gate operator and reserved for the maintenance activities. Collection of Salaris (Unit: Nos. of FOs) Category Collected Not No Total collected Answer Major 41 16 1 58 Medium 9 7 16 Minor 43 33 2 78 Total 93 56 3 152 Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999.

F - 42 Salaris are collected by FO office bearers, such as a secretary and a treasurer. The amount to be collected is decided at the kanna meeting. Amount of Salaris per acre per season (Unit: Nos. of FOs) Major Medium Minor Total 1 Bushel 145 3/4 Bushel 1 1 1/2Bushel 26 5 25 56 5 kg 1 1 Less than Rs. 100 8 1 1 10 Rs. 100 4 1 5 More than Rs. 1001102 No answer 2 1 10 13 Total 41 9 43 93 Source: Inventory Survey carried out by the Study Team in 1999.

It is observed that the collecting rate of the salaris is less than 50%, at present. The reasons for poor collection rate of the salaris is related to poor physical condition of the system, a high percentage of non-owner cultivation and owners residing outside the scheme. Farmers pointed out that the they have no objection to pay the salaris if the irrigation system is fully rehabilitated. Although the penalty for the persons, who do not attend the maintenance works, are decided in the kanna meeting, their application have not been made in most of the FOs.

On the other hand, some FOs receive a Samurdhi funds. The funds are being used for maintenance work without collecting any O&M fee from the farmers.

4.2.9 Legal Aspects on O&M In connection with rehabilitation and O&M of irrigation facilities, the powers and functions of the FOs stipulated under the Agrarian Services Acts is to construct and repair irrigation facilities at the village level. It should be remarked that no description for the O&M is given in the Acts. Unless otherwise a clause to levy a O&M charge specified in a constitution, no right to collect the charge is vested by FOs. On the other hand, the O&M responsibility were regarded to come under the jurisdiction of the kanna meeting. The kanna meeting has the power to decide rules on O&M and to impose the penalty for those who violate the rules; an absentee of sramadana, and a salaris delinquent.

Although the penalty can be imposed against persons, who do not perform activities decided in the kanna meeting, no action have been taken within the community. The office bearers is likely to fears that there might be still some ill-feeling left on both sides within their community.

In addition to the Acts, the amended Irrigation Ordinance of 1994 stipulates the following powers to be vested in the FOs.

F - 43 ● The FOs are to have the same powers under the Irrigation Ordinance as are accorded to the Cultivation Committees

● In the case of FOs which assume full responsibility of O&M of facilities has been transferred to them, these are to have the power to collect related O&M costs from the farmers

● Where failure to pay required fees has occurred, the FO can report to the District secretary for assistance in retrieving the same In accordance with the Ordinance, FOs came to take responsibility for O&M and have power to collect O&M costs. However, the action to report to the District secretary for recovering the O&M costs has not been performed as the process of solution needs much time with complicated process. It also should be stressed that the amended Ordinance can be applied only to the major irrigation schemes.

4.2.10 Farmers’ Perception of O&M The farmers pointed out that awareness for water management and maintenance activities have been declined recently. It is closely related to changes in the rural community, such as a high percentage of non-owner cultivation and of owners residing outside the scheme. Those people are not keen to participate in the O&M works because advantages of attending to activities are less than the others. They tend to be absent for the meetings, pay less attention to maintain the irrigation facilities, to attend sramadana, and neglect to pay O&M cost, namely salaris. As far as the Study Team’s observations are concerned, generally, the smaller the scheme is, the higher the farmers’ awareness to O&M. The farmers in minor schemes regard the tank water as the property, like “a stock”. They have been managing such common resources by themselves for a long time even though the activities have declined recently. On the other hand, those who live in major schemes, feel that the water source is like a tap water, like “a flow”, because the water source is located out of their community and are not aware the source should be managed communally.

4.2.11 O&M Equipment There are few O&M equipment in the field offices of ID except some tractors. The shortage of equipment is attributed to poor performance of maintenance works like desilting of main canals.

F - 44 Chapter 5 CONSTRAINTS AND APPROACH TO IMPROVEMENT

5.1 Constraints 5.1.1 General The field survey and investigation for the Study revealed sorts of constraints that the area faced. The constraints in the three focal sectors, malfunction of irrigation facilities, insufficient water supply at headworks, and improper water distribution within on-farm level.

Insufficient rehabilitation works Malfunction of Irrigation facilities Improper O&M works

Insufficient storage capacity of reservoir

Improper irrigation Insufficient water Improper water water supply according supply at headworks management at headworks to a schedule

Gaps between farmers' intention and actual water supply

Ignorance of water distribution rules by Improper water farmers distribution within FO area Insufficient technical skill for FO gate operators

Major Sectoral Constraints on Irrigation

5.1.2 Constraints on Irrigation facilities The constraints in this sector are defined as the physical condition of irrigation facilities which may cause an insufficient rehabilitation works, and improper O&M. The main constraints are as follows:

● No provision of irrigation facilities

● Insufficient reflection of farmers’ request for rehabilitation works

● Insufficient budget for rehabilitation works

● Poor qualities of rehabilitation works

● Insufficient O&M cost

F - 45 ● Insufficient maintenance programme

● Low participation rate for sramadana

● Insufficient O&M equipment

● No preventive maintenance activities

● Improper procedure for O&M handover

Insufficient reflection Insufficient of farmers' request Insufficient feedback Time shortage before rehabilitation works for rehabilitation to farmers rehabilitation works works Improper attitude of Insufficient budget officers to farmers for rehabilitation works Poor qualities for Poor qualities for Improper money rehabilitation works rehabilitation works arrangement for farmers by farmers Poor technology of Insufficient technical rehabilitation works guidance to farmers by farmers No farmers' Improper material participation for supply for farmers supervision Poor qualities for Improper Lack of check system rehabilitation works construction for quality control by contractors supervision Lack of understanding for Insufficient O&M budget necessity to pay salaris by government

Insufficient allocation of No penalty for subsidies by government violator

Insufficient O&M Low collection rate Unclear use for cost of salaris salaris Insufficient Unclear collection maintenance method of salaris programme Lack of penalty Low participation rate for sramadana Lack of understanding of necessity of sramadana Insufficient O&M equipment Non-participation of tenant Lack of guarantee of farmers for sramadana status of tenant farmers Improper O&M works Insufficient daily Excess water flow patrol Existence of non- Lack of consideration No preventive Breakage of irrigation irrigated areas for division of land maintenance activity facilities by farmers Cultivation of Improper location of reservation area farm inlet No action for No protection fence damages for animals No farmers' Lack of information Improper procedure No handover of document consensus for of facilities for for O&M handover necessary for hand over handover farmers Unclear responsibility Insufficient explanation to of O&M farmers

F - 46 5.1.3 Constraints on Water Supply at Headworks The present constraints in this sector consist of technical issues and matters concerning water management in tanks and main canal level as well as communication between government and farmers as shown below.

● Silting in reservoirs

● Insufficient numbers of gate operators

● No execution of discharge measurement

● No execution of flow monitoring

● Gaps between cultivation and water supply schedule

● Few reflection of farmers’ intention for water issue schedule

Insufficient storage Silting in reservoir Deforestation capacity of reservoir

Improper cultivation in upstream of tanks

Insufficient O&M Insufficient number of budget by gate operators government

Improper water Lack of distribution No training course to No estimation of management at programme at each estimate water water demand headworks offtake demand

No execution of Destruction of Unawareness of Malfunction of discharge measuring device by necessity for measuring devices measurement farmers measuring devices

No execution of flow No installation of discharge monitoring measuring devices

Lack of knowledge No training course to for discharge discharge measurement measurement

Gaps between Gaps between Insufficient labour No payment for hired farmers' intention and cultivation and water force labours actual water supply supply schedule

Inactive sramadana

Purchase of farm insufficient income inputs in improper for purchase of farm period input

Few reflection of Insufficient discussion farmers' intention for with farmers water issue schedule

F - 47 5.1.4 Constraints on Water Distribution in On-farm Level The main constraint of his sector is “improper water distribution within on-farm level”. The constraints revealed trough the field investigation and interviews are as follows:

● Insufficient communication with FO members

● Unawareness of water distribution rules by farmers

● Ignorance of leader’s instruction by farmers

● Unawareness of water distribution schedule by FO gate operator

● Unskilled FO gate operator

● Disincentive of FO gate operator

Unawareness of Insufficient Low participation No interest of farmers water distribution communication rate of meeting to meeting rules by farmers within members

Improper Improper communication communication Ignorance of water between ID and FO distribution rules by farmers Improper communication between FO leader Ignorance of leader's and yaya instruction by FO Lack of leadership representatives farmers No legal power for leader's instruction Unawareness of water distribution Poor communication schedule by FO gate with government operator

Insufficient technical Unskilled FO gate Frequent change of skill for FO gate operator FO gate operator operators Insufficient training by government No payment of salaris by farmers

Disincentive of FO No payment for FO Financial difficulty of Insufficient financial gate operator gate operator FO source for FO

Low moral of FO gate operator

5.2 Approach to Improvement On the basis of the previous section, the possible approaches to improve the present constraints are assessed by examination of present circumstances. The following table shows the required measurement for improvement of the circumstances with categories of measurement, such as an installation of facilities (FAC), financial arrangement (FIN), education and training (EDU), organisation (ORG), and institutional aspects (INST).

F - 48 Required Measure for Improvement Outline of constraints Proposed measures Outline of required FAC FIN EDU ORG INST measures 1 Malfunction of irrigation facilities 1.1 Insufficient rehabilitation / improvement works - Insufficient reflection of farmers' requests ● Awareness programme for for rehabilitation works government officers - Poor qualities for rehabilitation works by ● Training to farmers farmers - Poor qualities for rehabilitation works by ● Training to government officers contractors - Insufficient budget for rehabilitation ● Budget arrangement by works Government 1.2 Improper O&M works - Insufficient O&M budget ● Budgetary arrangement by government and farmers - Low participation rate for sramadana ● Awareness programme for farmers - Insufficient O&M equipment ● Procurement of O&M equipment - No preventive maintenance activities ● Training and awareness programme for farmers - Improper procedure for O&M ● Improvement of governmental responsibilities institution 2 Insufficient water supply at headworks 2.1 Insufficient storage capacity of reservoirs - Silting in reservoir ● Budgetary arrangement to farmers - Deforestation ●● Training to farmers Budgetary arrangement to farmers -Improper cultivation in upstream of tank Awareness campaign by farmers 2.2 Improper water management at headworks - Insufficient number of gate operator ● Strengthening of governmental organisation - Lack water distribution programme at ● Training for government officers each off-take - No execution of discharge measurement ●● Awareness programme for farmers Installation of measuring devices Training to government officers - No execution of flow discharge ●● Training to government officers monitoring 2.3 Gaps between farmers' intention and actual water supply - Few reflection of farmers' intention for ● Training to government officers water issue schedule 3 Improper water distribution within FO area 3.1 Ignorance of water distribution rules by farmers - Unawareness of water distribution rules ● Training for farmers by farmers - Insufficient communication within ● Improvement of individual moral members - Lack of leadership ● Training for farmers - No legal power against violator ● Improvement of institution 3.2 Insufficient technical skill for FO gate operator - Unskilled gate operator ● Training for farmers - Unawareness of water distribution ● schedule by FO gate operator - Disincentive of FO gate operator ● Improvement of norm of community Note : FAC (installation of facilities), FIN (financial arrangement), EDU (education and training), ORG (organisation), and INST (institutional aspects)

F - 49 5.3 Concepts for Overcoming the Constraints On the basis of the above analysis on the constraints and approach to improvement, the following concepts are set as follows:

● Irrigation facilities shall be functioned well - Rehabilitation / improvement works shall be carried out sufficiently - O&M works shall be conducted properly

● Irrigation water shall be supplied properly at headworks - Storage capacity of reservoirs will be secured - Water management at headworks shall be carried out properly - Gaps between farmers' intention and actual water supply shall be filled up

● Improper water distribution within FO area - Water distribution rules by farmers shall be followed properly - Technical skill for FO gate operator shall be provided sufficiently.

The typical concepts to improve the constraints for major, medium, and minor schemes are presented below.

F - 50 Basic Concept for Major Irrigation Schemes

Outline of constraints Executing body Government Farmers by Farmers Government Government agencies themselves supported by for farmers for its staff Government 1 Fulfillment of function for irrigation facilities 1.1 Sufficient rehabilitation / improvement works - Sufficient reflection of farmers' requests ●●ID for rehabilitation works - Improvement of qualities for ● ID rehabilitation works by farmers - Improvement of qualities for ●●ID rehabilitation works by contractors - Provision of sufficient budget for ●●ID rehabilitation works 1.2 Proper O&M works - Provision of Sufficient O&M budget ●●ID - Improvement of participation rate for ● ID, IMD sramadana - Provision of sufficient O&M equipment - Execution of preventive maintenance ●●ID activities - Improvement of procedure for O&M ●●ID responsibilities handover 2 Execution of proper water supply at headworks 2.1 Security of sufficient storage capacity of reservoirs - Execution of de-silting in reservoir ● ID - Execution of forestation ● IMD - Restriction of cultivation in upstream of ● IMD tank 2.2 Execution of proper water management at headworks - Assignment of sufficient number of gate ● ID operators - Preparation of water distribution ● ID programme at each off-take - Execution of discharge measurement ● ID - Execution of flow discharge monitoring ● ID 2.3 Fill gaps between farmers' intention and actual water supply - Well reflection of farmers' intention for ● ID, IMD water issue schedule 3 Execution of proper water distribution within FO area 3.1 Obedience of water distribution rules by farmers - Awareness of water distribution rules by ● ID farmers - Improvement of communication within ● members - Strengthening of leadership ● IMD - Authority of legal power against violator ● IMD 3.2 Improvement of technical skill for FO gate operator - Improvement of skills for gate operator ● ID - Awareness of water distribution schedule ● ID by FO gate operator - Consideration of incentive for FO gate ● ID, IMD operator

F - 51 Basic Concept for Medium Irrigation Schemes

Outline of constraints Executing body Government Farmers by Farmers Government Government agencies themselves supported by for farmers for its staff Government 1 Fulfillment of function for irrigation facilities 1.1 Sufficient rehabilitation / improvement works - Sufficient reflection of farmers' requests ●●ID for rehabilitation works - Improvement of qualities for ● ID rehabilitation works by farmers - Improvement of qualities for ●●ID rehabilitation works by contractors - Provision of sufficient budget for ●●ID rehabilitation works 1.2 Proper O&M works - Provision of Sufficient O&M budget ● ID - Improvement of participation rate for ● ID sramadana - Provision of sufficient O&M equipment ID - Execution of preventive maintenance ● ID activities - Improvement of procedure for O&M ●●ID responsibilities handover 2 Execution of proper water supply at headworks 2.1 Security of sufficient storage capacity of reservoirs - Execution of de-silting in reservoir ● ID - Execution of forestation ● ID - Restriction of cultivation in upstream of ● tank 2.2 Execution of proper water management at headworks - Assignment of sufficient number of gate operators - Preparation of water distribution ● ID programme at each off-take - Execution of discharge measurement ● ID - Execution of flow discharge monitoring ● ID 2.3 Fill gaps between farmers' intention and actual water supply - Well reflection of farmers' intention for ● ID water issue schedule 3 Execution of proper water distribution within FO area 3.1 Obedience of water distribution rules by farmers - Awareness of water distribution rules by ● ID farmers - Improvement of communication within ● members - Strengthening of leadership ● DAS - Authority of legal power against violator ● DAS 3.2 Improvement of technical skill for FO gate operator - Improvement of skills for gate operator ● ID - Awareness of water distribution schedule ● ID by FO gate operator - Consideration of incentive for FO gate ● ID operator

F - 52 Basic Concept for Minor Irrigation Schemes

Outline of constraints Executing body Government Farmers by Farmers Government Government agencies themselves supported by for farmers for its staff Government 1 Fulfillment of function for irrigation facilities 1.1 Sufficient rehabilitation / improvement works - Sufficient reflection of farmers' requests ●●PED for rehabilitation works - Improvement of qualities for ● PED rehabilitation works by farmers - Improvement of qualities for rehabilitation works by contractors - Provision of sufficient budget for ● PED rehabilitation works 1.2 Proper O&M works - Provision of Sufficient O&M budget ● PED - Improvement of participation rate for ● DAS sramadana - Provision of sufficient O&M equipment - Execution of preventive maintenance ● PED activities - Improvement of procedure for O&M responsibilities handover 2 Execution of proper water supply at headworks 2.1 Security of sufficient storage capacity of reservoirs - Execution of de-silting in reservoir ● PED - Execution of forestation ● DAS - Restriction of cultivation in upstream of ● tank 2.2 Execution of proper water management at headworks - Assignment of sufficient number of gate operators - Preparation of water distribution programme at each off-take - Execution of discharge measurement - Execution of flow discharge monitoring 2.3 Fill gaps between farmers' intention and actual water supply - Well reflection of farmers' intention for water issue schedule 3 Execution of proper water distribution within FO area 3.1 Obedience of water distribution rules by farmers - Awareness of water distribution rules by ● PED farmers - Improvement of communication within ● members - Strengthening of leadership ● DAS - Authority of legal power against violator ● DAS 3.2 Improvement of technical skill for FO gate operator - Improvement of skills for gate operator - Awareness of water distribution schedule by FO gate operator - Consideration of incentive for FO gate operator

F - 53 Chapter 6 REHABILITATION AND IMPROVEMENT

6.1 Irrigation and Drainage Plan 6.1.1 General The irrigation development plan was formulated taking into consideration the lessons learned in the Study Area and the currently envisaged problems and constraints, aiming to establish a sustainable irrigation system. In the plan formulation, a special focus was given to the following matters:

● Application of the irrigation water requirement estimated based on the actual measurement, soil conditions, and irrigation method.

● Design of the canal system which conveys irrigation water from the main canals to respective field plots through branch canals, distributary canals, and field canals, for easy water management as much as possible.

● Provision of simple irrigation and drainage facilities including measuring devices, for easy operation, maintenance and water management by farmers’ organisations.

6.1.2 Irrigation Water Demand Irrigation water requirement is calculated on a monthly basis on the basis of Design booklet ”Design of Irrigation Headworks for Small Catchments, May 1984” which is published by ID.

(1) Cropping Pattern The following cropping patterns are set to assess the water resources potential and to delineate the irrigation areas.

Cropping Patterns for assessment of Water Resources Potential Type Maha Yala Paddy Type Paddy 100% Paddy 100% Paddy Promoted Type Paddy 100 % Paddy 90% OFC 10% OFC Promoted Type Paddy 90% Paddy 80% OFC 10% OFC 20%

A chilli is represented to estimated the crop water requirement for OFC.

(2) Irrigation Water Requirement

The evapo-transpiration for reference crop (ETo) computed by the modified Penman method, which is available in any part of Sri Lanka, is presented in table below.

F - 54 ETo (Unit : mm) Month Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun. Jul Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. ETo 119.4 127.0 157.5 149.9 162.6 175.3 190.5 193.0 190.5 157.5 109.2 114.3

The growth stage in accordance with crop maturity is considered in four stages, namely Initial (Gi), Development (Gd), Mid (Gm) and Late (Gl). The evapo- transpiration of the crop differs for each growth stage. The difference is calculated by multiplying the ETo by a crop factor (Kc) for each growth stage. The growth stage and Kc are shown in table below.

Crop coefficient Growth Stage Crop Period Gi Gd Gm Gl days 30 40 45 20 Lowland Paddy 135 days Kc 1.00 1.15 1.20 0.90 days 20 30 30 25 Lowland Paddy 105 days Kc 1.00 1.15 1.20 0.90 days 25 25 75 25 OFC (Chillies) 150 days Kc 0.65 0.85 1.00 0.90

Requirement for land preparation consists of land soaking and land tillage in low land, which are required 102mm in five days and 76mm in ten days respectively, 178mm in fifteen days totally.

Effective rainfall is calculated by the formula given below which is on the basis of 75% probability rainfall on agro-ecological regions of Sri Lanka

Pe = 0.67 × ( R – 25.4) Where, Pe : Effective rainfall (mm) R : Monthly 75% probability rainfall on agro-ecological regions (mm) Monthly 75% probability rainfall on agro-ecological regions is presented in the table below.

Effective Rainfall (Unit : mm) Region Item Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Total R 76.2 25.4 50.8 127.0 50.8 12.7 0.0 12.7 25.4 127.0 152.4 127.0 787.4 DL1 Pe 34.0 0.0 17.0 68.1 17.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 68.1 85.1 68.1 357.4 R 38.1 25.4 76.2 127.0 101.6 88.9 50.8 25.4 50.8 190.5 152.4 76.2 1003.3 IL1 Pe 8.5 0.0 34.0 68.1 51.1 42.5 17.0 0.0 17.0 110.6 85.1 34.0 468.0 R 50.8 38.1 50.8 101.6 50.8 38.1 25.4 12.7 38.1 190.5 165.1 88.9 850.9 IL3 Pe 17.0 8.5 17.0 51.1 17.0 8.5 0.0 0.0 8.5 110.6 93.6 42.5 374.4

Net irrigation requirement is computed by subtracting effective rainfall from crop water requirement and land preparation requirement. Finally, gross irrigation requirement is led by dividing net irrigation requirement by overall irrigation efficiency composing of application efficiency and conveyance efficiency. Overall irrigation efficiency depends on the scale of the irrigation scheme or

F - 55 distance of irrigation canal from the tank to the farthest plots. Therefore, value of overall irrigation efficiency of Major, Medium and Minor schemes is assumed as 40%, 50%, and 60%, respectively, in accordance with scale of the schemes.

(3) Irrigation Water Demand for Each Cropping Pattern

The gross water requirement for each cropping pattern are shown in Table P.6.1 and summarised below.

Irrigation Water Demand (Unit : m3/ha/year) Agro-ecological Zone DL1 IL1 IL3 Paddy Type 22,000 – 33,100 20,800 – 31,200 21,900 – 32,800 Paddy Promoted Type 21,600 – 32,400 20,200 – 30,300 21,400 – 32,100 OFC Promoted Type 20,900 – 31,400 19,400 – 29,200 20,600 – 31,000

6.1.3 Water Resources Assessment (1) Purpose of Water Resources Assessment The water resources assessment is carried out to assess the water resources potential and to provide the information needed for deciding proposed cropping. The crop intensity obtained by the inventory survey is verified through the result of the water balance study. In addition, the following two items are assessed by using the result of water balance study and the inventory survey. a) Adequacy of water resources amount relative to gross command area b) Improvement of water resources utilisation through the implementation of the programme

(2) Method of Water Balance Study

A water balance study is executed for each scheme and equation is expressed as follows:

Qs = Qs1 + Qin1 + Qin2 – Qout – Qep – Qs – Ql where,

Qs ：Storage volume (MCM) Qs1 ：Storage volume in previous month (MCM) Qin1 ：Inflow to tank by precipitation (MCM) Qin2：Spilled discharge and/or return flow from upper stream irrigation scheme (MCM) Qout ：Water release for irrigation (MCM) Qep ：Evaporation (MCM) Qs ：Spilled discharge (MCM) Ql ：Seepage loss (MCM)

F - 56 Description of Parameters for Water Balance Study Mark Calculation Method Q Initial storage and irrigable are is decided as equating initial storage and final s1 storage by iteration method. Qin1 Specific discharge by Iso-Yield method is used Qin2 Amounts of 100% of spilled discharge and 20% of return flow are assumed. Qout Multiplying gross water requirement per ha by irrigation area Qep Multiplying pan evaporation by 60% of tank water surface area Qs In case of inflow exceeding net storage, spilled discharge is calculated. Ql 0.5％ of storage

(3) Assessment Method of Water Resources Potential

The water balance study is carried out on the monthly inflow and outflow on the basis of 75% probability. The water resources potential is evaluated by irrigable area and/or cropping intensity which are results of the water balance study and the inventory survey.

1) Adequacy of water resources potential to gross command area Larger value of cropping intensity either following two cropping intensity i) or ii) is used for assessment of water resources potential to gross command area. a) 75% probable cropping intensity obtained from previous five years cultivation records in the inventory survey, b) 75% probable cropping intensity obtained from water resource assessment study The value of either i) or ii), which ever is greater, is used to assess adequacy of water resources potential as shown below.

Assessment of Water Resources Potential Cropping Intensity Assessment Over 150% H 100% - 50% M Less than 100% L

2) Improvement of water resources utilisation through the implementation of the programme The possibility to improve water resources utilisation through the implementation of the programme is assessed subtracting ii) from i). The classification of the irrigation schemes by incremental cropping intensity is shown as follows.

F - 57 Assessment of Water Resources Utilisation Improvement Incremental Cropping Assessment Intensity Over 50% H Less than 50% M Nearly 0% L

(4) Result of Water Balance Study and Assessment of Water Resources Potential Result of water balance study and assessment of water resources potential are discussed in the following table and in Table P.6.2. The result of water balance study is expresses in “With Project”, and the result of 75% probability cropping intensity obtained from the inventory survey is expresses in “Without Project”. From these results comprehensively, amount of water resources in major schemes is more abundant comparing with medium and minor schemes, amount of water resources is showing a tendency to decrease in proportion as the scale of schemes diminish. As for water resources utilisation, the effects such as increasing cultivation area through improvement of water resources utilisation are expected much in medium scheme where irrigation facilities are not provided.

Result of Water Balance Study and Assessment of Water Resources (1) (2) (3) (4)=(2)-(3) Assessment Gross With Without of Water Cluster Code Command Increase Project Project Resources Area 2) 3)

(ha) CI 1) CI CI (a) 4) (b) 5) Nachchaduwa 1MA-01 2,540 200% 140% 60% H H Nuwarawewa 1MA-02 1,134 107% 100% 7% M L Tissawewa 1MA-03 365 104% 100% 4% M L Rajangana 2MA-01 5668 165% 165% - H L Palukadawewla 4MA-01 956 Attaragallewea 4MA-02 462 157% 157% - H L

Major Schemes Major Abakolawewa 4MA-03 410 Magalle Wewa 5MA-01 2,632 158% 158% - H L Thuruweli Wewa 1ME-01 227 160% 160% - H L Eru Wewa 1ME-02 34 202% 202% - H L Uttimaduwa 1ME-03 93 180% 100% 80% H H Periyakulama 1ME-04 91 150% 118% 33% H M Ｍａｍｉｎｉｙａ Wewa 1ME-05 211 142% 111% 30% M M Mahabulankulama 1ME-06 90 139% 100% 39% M M Angamuwawewa 2ME-01 Mahananeriya 4ME-01 158 198% 105% 93% H H Mahagalgamuwa 4ME-02 193 50% 50% - L L Medium Schemes Medium Hulugalla Wewa 5ME-01 121 200% 150% 50% H H Meddeketiya 6ME-01 98 200% 110% 90% H H Moragoda Anicut 6ME-02 194 230% 230% - H Nachchaduwa I 303 70% 70% - L L Nachchaduwa II 278 76% 20% 55% L H Nachchaduwa III 412 140% 140% - M L Kala Oya 1 IV 349 101% 47% 55% M H Kala Oya 2 V 179 134% 134% - M L Mi Oya VI 318 88% 88% - L L Mi Oya VII 260 123% 43% 80% M H

Minor Schemes Minor Deduru Oya 1 VIII 271 111% 97% 14% M M Deduru Oya 2 IX 139 131% 131% - M L

Notes 1) Cropping Intensity 4) Assessment of water resources amount 2) Result of Water Balance Study 5) Assessment of water resources utilisation 3) Result of Inventory Survey

F - 58 6.1.4 Delineation of Irrigation Area A water balance study is carried out to assess irrigable area under the Master Plan, applying the cropping pattern for each scheme in accordance with criteria indicated in the agricultural development plan. The results are shown in Table P.6.3 and summarised below. Comparing the area obtained from the water balance study with the cultivated area obtained from the inventory survey, the one, that is greater, is adopted. The result of the water balance study indicated that the estimated irrigable area of six schemes such as Maha galgamuwa (4ME-02), Minor-I, Minor-II, Minor-III, Minor-V, Minor-VI is smaller than gross command area. Careful attention should be paid for such schemes to decide rehabilitation area.

Result of Water Balance Study (Unit : ha) Scheme Category Commanding Area Maha Yala Total Major Irrigation Scheme 14,167 13,828 8,448 22,276 Medium Irrigation Scheme 1,509 1,403 1,102 2,505 Minor Irrigation Scheme 2,509 2,242 745 2,986 Total 18,185 17,473 10,295 27,767

6.2 Rehabilitation and Improvement Plan of Irrigation Facilities and Farm Roads 6.2.1 General Since rehabilitation projects funded by foreign aid such as MIRP, ADB, ISMP, etc., have been implemented for all major schemes in the last decade, the conditions of the existing facilities, in general, are not deteriorated remarkably. However, the rehabilitation works for such projects have only treated a selected portion of facilities due to the restricted fund. Therefore, deteriorated facilities are still found in the schemes. In addition, since effectual rehabilitation works have been not implemented because of the restricted fund, some facilities appear to be damaged soon after being rehabilitated. On the other hand, few rehabilitation projects have been implemented for medium and minor schemes except Thuruwila. The standards of existing facilities are still low. Earth canals are dominant even in the main canals, and turnout gates are not introduced in most of the medium and minor schemes. Therefore, these facilities should be rehabilitated, applying the improved standards of rehabilitation compared with previous rehabilitation projects. The expansion of lined canals and introduction of division and measuring facilities should be adopted for all the schemes. The expansion of lining canals is needed

F - 59 since that would contribute to alleviate O&M cost after rehabilitation. The existing condition of major and medium schemes and the rehabilitation plan for respective schemes are presented in Table P.6.4 and Table P.6.5, respectively.

6.2.2 Irrigation Facilities (1) Tank Rehabilitation works for most of the tanks will be necessary. Main civil works are bund earth works, riprap protection, desilting, removing watergrass, improvement of sluice, and sluice gates and spillway. The possibility of raising the bund height by filling is analysed for irrigable area expansion. The condition of the scheme which are expected the effects by the bund height rising is designated as following: a) Spilled discharge is conformed every year through water balance study and the inventory survey. In addition, amount of spilled discharge is sufficient relative to the command area. b) Present cropping intensity is low. Out of 80 minor schemes, seven schemes, namely 2MI-6, 2MI-9, 3MI-6, 3MI-9, 3MI-10, 4MI-13, 5MI-5, may meet those two conditions. However, further studies for raising the bund height would be required since it may bring adverse impact, such as inundation of the upstream commanding area or less inflow into the downstream reservoir. Several medium schemes have drainage problems because the inadequate cross section of the drainage canal is inadequate and does not have a capability for spilling water properly. Consequentially, unnecessary spilling water is flowing to the command area. Improvement of spill tail canal is needed for such schemes. In addition, there are a few constraints that the spilled water in the upstream scheme is not flown into the downstream reservoir owing to poor condition of spillway tail canal. This may lead to water shortage in the downstream irrigation schemes. For a more functional cascade system, it is necessary to improve these spillway tail canals.

(2) Canal System

Provision of a masonry or reinforced concrete retaining wall is recommended for irrigation canal rehabilitation except for field canals. The canal gradient must be carefully selected in accordance with canal lining materials to prevent slope failure owing to high velocity.

F - 60 Turnout facilities with not only water distribution function but also measuring devices are desirable in order to distribute water fairly. In addition, installation of measuring facilities at the head of main canals to manage released water from the tank are proposed in medium and minor schemes. It is also desirable to facilitate bathing steps.

6.2.3 Farm Road In most of the major irrigation schemes, farm roads have been already facilitated along the main canal for O&M of irrigation facilities, and they are rather maintained well. Therefore, the needs of rehabilitation and improvement for these roads are not so high at present. However, in the area far from the canals, farmers are obliged to convey agricultural production as well as input by manpower because of poor accessibility to their fields. Construction of farm roads based on farmers’ intention are recommended for contributing to labour saving and marketability improvement. It is noted that, however, careful attention is to be paid to road construction because it could lead to reduce farmland. From the findings of the site investigation and the inventory survey, farm roads are proposed for five schemes, namely Nuwarawewa, Magalle Wewa, Maminiyawa, Maha bunankulama, and Mahananneriya.

6.3 Strengthening of Farmers’ Participation in Rehabilitation / Improvement Works 6.3.1 Needs of Farmers’ Participation in Rehabilitation / Improvement Works The government officials of ID and PED as well as the farmers in the irrigation schemes will be involved in the rehabilitation / improvement works. All of the on-farm facilities of D-canal and below will be managed by the farmers themselves, in accordance with the government’s policy. However, it will be difficult to achieve successful O&M by the farmers themselves if the restoration works are implemented under a top down system and without their understanding. It is essential especially that the rehabilitation / improvement works of the irrigation facilities and farmers’ participation in those works should be implemented under the farmers well understanding and full consensus. In addition, it works would be required to train farmers on skills required in the O&M of them, and to bring up their self reliance for O&M.

F - 61 6.3.2 Getting Consensus of Farmers to Formulate the Rehabilitation Plan As mentioned in Section 4.5, the approaches how to get consensus of farmers for formulation of the rehabilitation plan have been established in the previous project, such as ADB and IDA funded project. The system would also be applied to the Master Plan, strengthening links between the government officials and the farmers throughout the awareness programme indicated in the preceding section. The meetings held three times during the survey, investigation, and design period are featured by the workshops, in which components of the rehabilitation works with its cost will be discussed and decided. All farmers are entitled to attend the meetings so as to express their intention for the works. The decisions should be documented and presented in the public area to ensure the transparency of the process of the works.

6.3.3 Survey, Investigation, and Design The survey and investigation, such as the inventory survey of the existing facilities, canal route survey, will be conducted by the government staff in co-operation with the farmers as much as possible. The farmers intention where the facilities are rehabilitated / improved shall be collected throughout the survey and the workshops and they will be incorporated in the plan. Once the basic consent by farmers to the plan is obtained, the design with cost estimate will be carried out and discussed in the workshop, where a decision will be made how the total cost will be shared between the government and farmers.

6.3.4 Tendering and Contracting In the major and medium irrigation schemes, the rehabilitation / improvement works of the distributary and field canal systems will be carried out by farmers while those of headworks and main canal systems will be carried out by a private contractor while those for the distributary and field canals will be contracted to a farmers’ organisation. The minor irrigation schemes will be rehabilitated / improved by the farmers’ organisation. The contract for 10% contribution by the farmers will also be made like the other foreign funded projects.

6.3.5 Monitoring Progress of Rehabilitation Works The progress of the rehabilitation / improvement works will be monitored by ID and PED in each Province. The monitored data will be forwarded and compiled to the Sub-unit Construction of PMU to grasp overall status of the programmes, such as:

F - 62 a) Overall progress of rehabilitation / improvement of scheme facilities, b) Quality of rehabilitation works done by the farmers’ organisations, and c) Cost invested to the programmes.

6.3.6 Quality Control for Rehabilitation Works In line with the concept for the participatory approach, the rehabilitation / improvement works for the distributary and field canals will be contracted out to farmers’ organisations as much as possible, with some of the costs covered by them providing labour. In such case, it will be required that the government staff would takes necessary quality control measures to keep the works implemented by farmers up to a normally acceptable level. The following points shall be taken into consideration, a) The design of on-farm facilities necessary for restoration work should be standardised as much as possible, and no complicated rehabilitation method should be adopted from the stand point of farmers’ works. b) Before awarding to farmers’ organisations, the training programme for rehabilitation works will be implemented to them. c) The quality of the farmer’s rehabilitation works will be monitored with those progress through the monitoring system. Then, based upon the result of monitoring and evaluation, necessary technical guidance will be provided to farmers’ organisations during the rehabilitation works.

6.3.7 Joint inspection and Operation for irrigation facilities In case that the rehabilitation works are carried out by a private contractor, as soon as the works is completed and water issue is commenced, a joint inspection should be carried out by a team consisting of the Engineer’s Representative, who is responsible for supervision of the rehabilitation of irrigation facilities, and farmers’ representative so as to check irrigation defects and clarify work to be done during the defects liability period. The inspection results should be agreed mutually and record kept in proper manner. This inspection is essential for turnover of O&M to the farmers. At first, for about one year, the irrigation facilities would be operated and maintained jointly by both the government staff and farmers’ organisations. Throughout such operation, the O&M skills should be transferred to the farmers.

On the other hand, in the case of the irrigation schemes, which rehabilitation works are carried out by farmers themselves, the period of joint operation would be not considered but O&M by farmers will commence immediately.

F - 63 Chapter 7 OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF IRRIGATION FACILITIES AND FARM ROADS

7.1 General As described in the Chapter 4, the operation and maintenance of irrigation facilities are carried out independently by the ID or the FOs, or as joint operations of the ID and FOs. Although their activities, in general, come up to the expected standard, to some extent, there are some areas that need to be improved in both technical and institutional aspects as shown below.

● Responsibilities of O&M between the government and FOs,

● Improvement of mechanisms for settlement of irrigation disputes,

● Preparation of O&M plan by FOs themselves,

● O&M cost borne by FOs considering affordability, and

● Monitoring of O&M activities. The responsibilities of O&M in the medium and minor irrigation schemes should be handed over to FOs as the activities are at present being carried out by them in some schemes anyway. The proposed responsibilities of O&M are as follows.

Responsibilities of O&M Description Major Medium Minor Water Distribution - Tank Sluice ID FO FO - Main / Branch Canals ID FO FO - Distributary Canals Head Gate ID FO FO - Field canals Head Gate FO FO FO Maintenance - Tank ID FO FO - Main / Branch Canals ID FO FO - Distributary Canals FO FO - - Field Canals FO FO FO

The turnover is carried out carefully taking progress of outstanding works and capability of the farmers’ organisation into account. The documents necessary for the turnover, such as description of the canals with their related structures, water issue trees, shall be compiled by the engineers attached to the ID and PED offices.

7.2 Water Management 7.2.1 Irrigation Scheduling and Planning Efficient operation of an irrigation system should ensure that the right amount of water is supplied to crops at the right time. The irrigation schedule will be decided

F - 64 at the Kanna Meeting. The regular operation of the irrigation facilities will be performed in accordance with the irrigation schedule prepared. During the cultivation season there are meetings organised when occasion arises to discuss any water distribution problems. If any changes are needed in the quantity of water released at the Branch and Distribution canal, it must be taken up with the project operation and maintenance division (O & M). On the basis of the cultivation schedule, a turnout irrigation schedules for the whole season should be prepared by EA in the Block Office in co-operation with agricultural staff before the commencement of the water issue. The turnout irrigation schedule comprises of weekly irrigation water requirement for each F- canal turnout and duration and frequency of water issue during the period of rotational water issue as well as the land preparation. The schedules are indexes for daily water orders, and is subject to be modified so s to suite the actual cultivation progress and any agricultural activities, such as application of fertilisers and pesticides, and short drainage during mid-vesitative stage.

7.2.2 Water Distribution To realise effective and equitable water distribution to each farmer, the turnout and farm inlet should be operated properly. The Jalapalaka or the person employed by the ID and FOs, and the staff involved in the system’s operation, are responsible to operate daily all irrigation facilities in the Study area. They should distribute water through the system, clarify and evaluate variations between scheduled and actual flows, and modify settings of control facilities as required. Off-take discharge from the parent canal should be checked at the turnout, by reading the water level at the staff gauge placed, and adjust it by controlling the gate opening as necessary. The water inflow to farms should be made on a basis of the irrigation schedule. Proper setting of gate opening at the turnout can be done by watching the water level at the staff gauge, which is installed just at the upstream portion of crested weir. Every turnout has the combination of the staff gauge and the weir as a measuring device. Gates of regulators are adjusted in order to discharge required water to an off-branched canal.

7.2.3 Operation under Emergency Condition Unusual conditions such as the discrepancy of demand and supply, droughts, floods and bank failures, may occur from time to time during the long run of the operation works. Such conditions shall be therefore given to special treatment.

F - 65 7.3 Maintenance Works 7.3.1 General Proper maintenance of the Project facilities as well as appropriate operation of the Project is indispensable for keeping the project function properly and constantly. The main functions to be undertaken for maintenance service are i) planning the maintenance service, I) implementing the maintenance activities planned, and iii) monitoring the above mentioned activities. General description for basic rule on maintenance works are summarised as follows

1) Any damage, injury, worn-out of the facilities that hampers the functioning of facilities should be repaired, rehabilitated and maintained. 2) The repairing and rehabilitation works with heavy equipment should be done on contract basis under the supervision of the Project Office, while minor repairing works and routine maintenance works should be made with light equipment and manpower by the direct management of the Project office. 3) Regular maintenance works within the D-canal block are to made by the Farmers’ organisation with the technical instruction by the Project. 4) Repair and maintenance works are broadly divided into following three categories. i) Emergency repair for serious damage that likely full stoop of irrigation in one or more service area. ii) O the spot repair for damage that results in obstruction of irrigation or drainage flow, and iii) Regular maintenance and rehabilitation. 5) The conditions of the facilities should be inspected regularly through day-to- day operation and periodically. 6) Annual maintenance works should be well programmed by the O & M section and mainly be carried out in the maintenance period when water supply is cut- off. 7) Maintenance works should be recorded properly and the records should be kept in the O & M section.

7.3.2 Inspection and Patrol The Jalapalaka and its supervisor are responsible for a daily inspection through operation. In case that some damage or trouble are observed, it should be reported to the office and repaired as soon as possible.

F - 66 Regular patrol for the Main and Branch canals will be carried out at least once a week for maintenance in order to find damages, such as seepage and leakage to be nipped in the bund. Such a patrol will be carried out by the field party under the responsibility of the maintenance staff in charge and the maintenance staff will have inspections as required. Regular patrol for D-canals and F-canals will be executed by farmers themselves through daily farming, and all emergency treatment will be carried out by farmers. After the stoppage of the irrigation operation, canal water should be evacuated through spillway gate for regular maintenance. Before the maintenance period, O & M section should make a patrol for inspection.

7.3.3 Maintenance Planning Proper planning is the most important component in the execution of proper maintenance. The ID officials should provide technical support to the FOs, so that they are able to prepare the plan by themselves. Timely repair of malfunctioning facilities will insure continuous functioning of the irrigation system, and this can be accompanied by good planning. A preventive maintenance plan is worked out in the following steps. a) make an inventory survey of all facilities regularly, b) compare the survey results with deficiency levels and maintenance cycle for each facility or a part of facility, and check the necessity of the maintenance work, c) estimate quantities and costs required for the maintenance work according to the maintenance standard, d) determine the work procedures to be used, and machinery and manpower requirements to undertake the maintenance work, and e) to prepare the budget requirements and establish the maintenance priori- ties. In a normal case, head sluices of main canals are closed twice a year, i.e., at the end of Maha and Yala, to clean canals and related structures. These activities should be executed during these periods, taking advantage of the opportunity.

7.3.4 Maintenance Activities (1) Tanks The tanks will be maintained and repaired by the ID staff or the farmers. Special attention must be paid to seepage, piping, and leakage of water from bunds of the

F - 67 tanks to prevent bunds from sliding, for destruction of bunds may cause the damages downstream. Regular patrol of the bunds of tanks is essential so as to find abnormal conditions in bunds as early as possible. In case an abnormal condition is located, emergency repairs must be carried out immediately until permanent repairs are done later.

(2) Irrigation canals

The principal components of maintenance activities in a canal comprises silt removal (de-silting), removing earth weeds (secondary growth clearing), aquatic weeds removal, and repairs to erosion of the bund. Among the various kinds of structures, proper maintenance of diversion structures such as regulators, turnout, and farm inlets is essential to control the facilities for the optimum use of irrigation water. The principal components of maintenance activities in the canal structures comprise:

● Removal of materials deposited on the bed of the structure,

● Repairs to erosion of canals immediately upstream and downstream of the structures,

● Repair or replacement of gates,

● Repair of concrete work, and

● Repair of staff gauges.

(3) Operation and Maintenance Roads Operation and Maintenance roads (O & M roads) are constructed along the irrigation canals for the operation and maintenance of irrigation facilities by the MASL staff. Because O & M roads are generally paved with gravel or natural soils, maintenance of the roads is frequently required, especially during the rainy season. The principal components of the maintenance works to O & M roads are grading, crack sealing, filling potholes, weed control, and material hauling.

7.3.5 Execution of Maintenance Works The maintenance works should be executed with the following procedure; a) After annual maintenance program has been approved with a necessary budget, urgent repair should be defined. b) Generally, maintenance and repair works should be carried out during the period of canal closures mentioned before. Any additional urgent works should timely be completed by closing the canal. c) The equipment necessary for maintenance and for repairing minor works

F - 68 should always be kept workable. The regular inspection must be paid for by the Block officers and the O & M section in RPM’s office. d) For execution of large scale repair works beyond the capacity for the equipment owned by the office, it should be carried out on contract basis. The O & M section is responsible for supervising such works and for the inspection of the completed works should be also be kept by the O & M section. e) The FOs are responsible for the maintenance and repair of the F-canal within their area and similarly the DCOs bear the responsibility for the maintenance and repair of the D-canals. The officers involving water management should advise and supervise their works.

7.3.6 Emergency Repair Damages to the project facilities will hamper the normal practices of the irrigation. Therefore, repair of damaged facilities should be quickly and effectively carried out under the category of the emergency repair. The damages to the project facilities may be resulted from flood, heavy rainfall, violation acts and destruction by animals and vehicles.

7.4 Data Collection, Monitoring and Reporting Systems 7.4.1 General For proper O & M of the irrigation schemes, it is important to keep basic data and operation records obtained through regular O & M activities. The records of every field in the scheme operation should be collected regularly and kept neatly in the Flow Monitoring Unit. The review of the records should be made to evaluate the achievements and reflect it in the operation works in the next season.

Data relevant to water management can be classified in two categories, data relating to routine monitoring and data relating to special studies. Data for routine monitoring comprises meteorological data, cultivation progress, water distribution and system operation data, and so on. Data for special studies focusing on particular parts of the water management, comprises of field water requirement, percolation losses, canal losses, stage-discharge curves of measuring devices, return flow rate, and so on. The data are collected by the ID and FO and compiled in the Project Management Unit.

The Project Management Unit has the responsibility of preparing seasonal and annual reports covering the irrigation season, to account for the water distribution

F - 69 affairs throughout the season. Items to be included in such a report are as follows:

● General provision (meteorology, irrigated area, cropping pattern, and so on)

● Irrigation schedule

● Actual diversion discharge at each turnout

● Water management activities

● Maintenance activities with summarised records of maintenance

● Observed problem and action taken

7.4.2 Data Collection Data relevant to the water management can be classified in two categories. One is data related to routine monitoring and the another is data related to special studies. Data for routine monitoring comprises meteorological data, cultivation progress, water distribution and system operation data, and so on. These data should be reported timely by the IE in MCU and BIE to the IE in FMU so as to evaluate the overall effects of the water management activities in the Project area. Data for special studies focusing on particular parts of the water management comprises field water requirement, percolation losses, canal losses, stage- discharge curves of measuring devices, return flow rate, and so on, which should be obtained by the FMU.

(1) Meteorological data It is proposed to establish one meteorological observation station in the Project area in order to obtain more reliable data which will be useful for the review of irrigation requirement, O & M, agricultural extension, research works, and so on. Data to be observed on a daily basis are, rainfall, temperature (max. and min.), relative humidity, wind velocity, sunshine hours, and pan-evaporation. The BIE is responsible for ensuring the data collection. The data will be compiled on a weekly basis, and be sent to the IE in the FMU.

(2) Cultivation progress Amount of water to be delivered depends on the actual farming activities. So, progress monitoring of cultivation activities is very essential to work out cultivation schedule. The progress of cultivation activities and crop planting, showing a cultivated area per each crop, in not only paddy but also OFC should be monitored weekly by FA to the BIE through UM using the Unit Cultivation Report. The report form should be compiled for each D-canal for a week. Block cultivation Progress Report should be prepared by BIE and sent to IE in FMU.

F - 70 (3) Water distribution and system operation Discharge measurement distributed to each canal is the most important aspect to the irrigation system monitoring. All diversion structures and turnouts on the main and branch canals as well as D- and F-canals have a measuring devices. The Jalapalaka should observe gauges by himself. The measurement should be made and recorded daily at all diversion structures and turnouts at the same time. This record should be sent to the Flow Monitoring Unit weekly. Discharge and tank storage should also be monitored by the Jalapalaka / FO member daily and reported to the BIE weekly. It should be emphasised that the return flow rate is to be verified continuously, monitoring inflow into a field, drainage out of the field, inflow into a tank, and so on, because effectiveness of the tank cascade system utilising the return flow would be main issue for success of the Project.

(4) System maintenance The O & M Unit in the RPM’s Office as well as the Block Offices should keep the data on inspection and maintenance works, regardless of type of works, made by the project

(5) Other data System character of facilities, such as stage-discharge relation of measuring devices, canal losses, roughness coefficient of canal, and so on, should be checked periodically since the character may change with the passage of time.

7.4.3 Data Processing and Reporting Since collected data are usually compiled on daily basis, it is necessary to process to calculate the monthly and seasonal total and/or average. For the purpose of calculation and filling, computers will be fully utilised. The FMU has responsibility to prepare seasonal and annual report covering the irrigation season to account for the water distribution affairs throughout the season. Items to be included in such a report are as follows. i) General provision (meteorology, irrigated area, cropping pattern, and so on) ii) Irrigation schedule iii) Actual diversion discharge at each turnout iv) Water management activities v) Maintenance activities with summarised records of maintenance vi) Observed problem and action taken

F - 71 7.4.4 Review of Operation The FMU should review their operation works based on the record obtained periodically. The result of review works should be reflected on the operation in next season and future improvement in the period of the construction stages Review of operation should be made by following manner.

Review of irrigation schedule - Comparison of the actual farming activities and irrigation schedule - Checking of the case of delay or advance in the progress of works to the original schedule - Adjustment required for planning or coming irrigation schedule

Review of irrigation water requirement and diversion discharge - Comparison of the calculated and actual water requirement - Re-evaluation of effective rainfall - Evaluation of canal conveyance loss and overall efficiency in the system - Adjustment of the diversion discharge for each irrigation block

7.5 O&M Costs All O&M costs of irrigation facilities on D- and F-canals in major irrigation schemes and all facilities in medium and minor irrigation schemes are covered by the Irrigation Service Fee (ISF) collected from the farmers. The amount of ISF is estimated by each FO, taking into consideration the affordability of the farmers, and includes operation cost, maintenance cost, and collecting cost, such as, the transportation costs of collectors and treasurers. In order to minimise the labour cost, it is proposed that maintenance works should be carried out by farmers as communal work, which is already in use by farmers (Sramadana). The procedure of O&M cost allocation should be improved. The contract should be given only to farmers who prepare the annual maintenance plan with cost estimates. Thus, the guidance for O&M allocation, contracting, as well as, its invoicing system should be carried out by the government officials. The preliminary analysis by the JICA Study Team estimates that the annual O&M cost is some Rs. 2,000/ha.

7.6 Training for O&M Works The proposed training programme for proper and efficient operation and maintenance of irrigation facilities are as follows:

F - 72 Proposed Training Programme for O&M

Category of Scheme Major schemes Medium schemes Minor schemes Gov. Farmers Gov. Farmers Gov. Farmers 1. Awareness programme for O&M ●●●●- ● 2. Communication ●●●●- ● 3. Irrigation scheduling and planning ●●●●- ● 4. Water distribution ●●●●- ● 5. Maintenance ●●●●- ● 6. Field research ● ----- 7. Monitoring and evaluation ●● ---●

The TA and WS as well as farmers, who are engaged in the O&M work in FOs, will attend the training courses. The lecturers will be entrusted to the Training Institutes of the Irrigation Department in Galgamuwa or any external organisations.

It should be stressed that the awareness programmes for the government officer as well as the farmers should be carefully implemented to let them the importance of water management and maintenance by farmers themselves. The programme will be carried out in two steps. First, the programme for the government office will be carried out in order to let them understand the participatory planning approach, and method and attitude to communicate with the farmers with a proper manner. Consequently, the workshops, in which the officers, the external staff, and the farmers participate, are held so that the farmers are aware of the importance of water management and maintenance of the D-canals and F-canals, which should be carried out by farmers themselves. The following issues would be taken into consideration in terms of above:

● irrigation schedules and methods, ● attendance to FO meeting, ● attendance to preventive maintenance activities, ● participation in maintenance work of irrigation facilities. ● paying salaris (O&M charge), and ● participation in training course undertaken by the government. It is proposed to carry out the workshops simultaneously with the process to get consensus for rehabilitation and improvement work plan of irrigation system. Further, the training for irrigation scheduling and panning, preparation of maintenance programme, water distribution skills, monitoring and evaluation will be conducted during the construction period or after completion of the works.

F - 73 Chapter 8 RESEARCH PROGRAMME FOR CASCADE SYSTEM AND SUBSURFACE WATER

Planning of rehabilitation or improvements to any tank system requires assessing and understanding the entire hydrology of the cascade. Up to now, with a few exceptions, such as, the International Irrigation Management Institute (IIMI) study conducted in the Anuradhapura District, there is no data on cascade hydrology in Sri Lanka. Neither the government nor others have attempted to systematically collect hydrological data on small-scale irrigation systems, including tank cascades.

Thus, it is recommended that a research programme for hydrology in the cascades be initiated, so as to formulate the optimum basin wise water management, consisting of:

● Data collection of hydrology, such as rainfall, flow into tanks, diverted water to downstream, evaporation from tank, evaporation and percolation in paddy field,

● Preparation of a simulation model for water balance within the cascade,

● Formulation of optimum water management plan,

● Institutional building of farmers to realise optimum results, and

● Conduct of a field awareness programme for the water management plan. In addition, research on subsurface water is proposed in the Study area. The subsurface water plays an important role in meeting crop demands when the irrigation intervals are stretched beyond the required limits during droughts. This also gives the much-needed flexibility in water delivery for raising OFC. Main research items will be i) pumping test, ii) permissive sustained yield, iii) environmental effect by the use of subsurface water, and so on.

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