ICID News 2011/2

1

Message from the PresidentMessage from the PresidentMessage from the PresidentMessage from the PresidentMessage from the President

International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage(ICID) was established in 1950 as a scientific, technicaland voluntary not-for-profit non-governmentalinternational organization. The ICID News is publishedquarterly by ICID Central Office, New Delhi, India.

IN THIS ISSUE• ICID prepares for the WWF6 2• Tehri dam: An Indian success story 3• Challenges facing groundwater 4

management• What does efficient irrign. really mean? 5

2011/22011/2

• SonTek – Believe in infinite possibility 6• Sustainable development of rainfed

areas 7• IRNCID Invites to Tehran Congress 8• 3rd AfRC, Bamako, Mali, Dec. 2011 8

Dear colleagues and friends of ICID,

As I write this message, I am in themidst of analyzing the flooding, rainfall,snowmelt and hydrographic data of amajor agricultural watershed close to myhome in Montreal. The Richelieu Riverwhich starts in the Green Mountains ofVermont and Adirondack Mountains ofNew York, feeds into Lake Champlain,passes through the province of Quebecand enters the St. Lawrence River about50 km or so from Montreal. Since earlyApril, the watershed has suffered fromsevere flooding and there is no let up insight. Over 3,000 homes are flooded anddamaged, and several thousand hectaresof prime cropland are under water. Theoptimum time for seeding of crops isMay 23-27, given our very short growingseason. It is evident that farmers will beunable to seed their crops or will seedlate. Crops will not achieve maturity,and consequently yields will besignificantly reduced. I have visited theflood affected lands and am left aghastat how some of the world’s mostproductive lands and its agriculture arereduced to nothing at this point in time.

This situation of flooded cropland isequally devastating for hundreds offarmers in Manitoba, Canada andperhaps several thousand in theMississippi basin of the US. No amountof money can replace the damage,misery, suffering and personal andemotional loss.

As President of ICID, I am acutely awarethat many of our member countries areaffected in worse ways annually duringthe monsoons, typhoons and hurricanes.And here I refer not just to India,Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Indonesia

and South East Asia, but also tocountries such as Australia last year, andto Colombia at this very moment. I ameven more aware that in many of thesecountries lives and jobs are lost, damageis permanent, families are uprooted, andthe vicious cycle of poverty, misery andsuffering is further entrenched.

It is obvious that the financial meansto provide either complete structural ornon-structural measures to flood proofvillages, towns and watersheds are non-existent. We simply could not do it,even if we wanted. I am reminded ofthe enormous damage and destruction,and loss of life caused by the recenttsunami in Japan. Our Japanesecolleagues and National Committee weredeeply appreciative of the support andsympathy of the ICID family worldwide.

Flooding has plagued human civilizationsfor millennia. Floods and the resultantfamines left indelible marks oncivilizations. We must be concerned

that despite our hydrological andtechnological advances, the question offloods and their impact on lives andproperty, and local, national andinternational food supplies remains un-resolved.

Perhaps the time has come for the ICIDfraternity to share experiences, lessonslearned, and best practices from ourcollective actions and responsibilitiesof having to manage floods in ourrespective countries. I would be pleasedto receive your comments on this topic,and to see whether a special sessionought to be planned either for ourTehran Congress or at an upcoming IEC.

I close by thanking our Indian, Frenchand Dutch National Committees forhosting me during their recent localand regional meetings. It was indeed anhonour to participate in the deliberationsand meet a wide cross section ofexperts. ICID is stronger because of suchevents, the breadth of the participants,and the richness of the dialogue.

I trust that you are making plans toattend the Tehran IEC and Congress,October 15-23, 2011. Our hosts, theIranian National Committee are workingvigorously to ensure that we have avery successful Congress, and I urgeyou to attend and support the NationalCommittee. I look forward to seeingyou in Tehran.

Yours truly,

Chandra A. MadramootooPresident, ICID

C M

Y K

ICID

01-06-11ICID News 2011/2

2

General forum focus of the WWF6 ison “Time for Solutions.” The forum is

organized along with 3 Strategic Directions,12 Priorities for Action, and 3 Conditionsfor Success. The 3 Strategic Directionsviz., (i) Ensure everyone’s wellbeing, (ii)contribute to economic development, and(iii) Keep the planet blue, are in line withthe 3 pillars of sustainable development.The 12 Priorities for Action are groupedunder 3 Strategic Directions. For eachPriority for Action a specific Goal hasbeen formulated providing additionalguidance for the implementation of targetsand solutions. Solutions are the concreteactions required to achieve the targets.This goal and its related targets is intendedto become an important contribution tothe global water agenda and in particularto the Rio+20 Summit to be organizedby the UN.

The focus of WWF6 is on targets andsolutions. In order to achieve this in thepast there have been various meetings anddiscussions leading to draft documents thatwill be further elaborated and improved inthe coming period up to WWF6. There isa thematic process, a regionalprocess and a political process.A schematic representation ofthe process involved in thedevelopment of ‘solutions’ forWWF6 is shown in the figure.

During mid April, theInternational Forum Committeepublished its decisions on theTargets, the Core Groupsand the Target and SolutionGroups. All details can befound on the Forum website:www.worldwaterforum6.org.

For Thematic Priority 2.2 the coordinatorof the Core Group is FAO - PasqualeSteduto - and co-coordinator ICID – BartSchultz. For thematic Priority 2.1, AFEID -Francois Brelle - is the coordinator. WithinThematic Priority 2.2 there will be eightTargets as follows:

(i) By 2020, sustainably increase byxx percent - as compared to 2005 -2007 baseline - land and waterproductivity (yield per ha and per m3)of rainfed agriculture (for specific cropcategories);

(ii) By 2020, sustainably increase byX percent - as compared to 2005 -2007 baseline - water productivityper unit land and per year (yield perm3 per ha and per year) of irrigatedagriculture (for specific cropcategories);

(iii) Increase productivity and lower costsof irrigated agriculture (yield per ha,per m3 of water and per $$ ofproduction cost) in such a way thatby year 20yy there is food securityat affordable prices for all;

(iv) By year 20yy, increase by x percent -as compared to 2005 - 2007 baseline- the safe use of non-conventionalwaters, either (treated) wastewater orother low-quality water, in agriculture;

(v) By year 20yy increase by xx percentthe capacity of water storages insupport of irrigated agriculture(either supplementary, deficit, or fullirrigation) - within the framework ofan environmentally sufficient andsocially sound management;

(vi) By 20yy, develop and adopt two“regional” (e.g. West Africa; Europe /Euro-Med) visions for food securityand water, and 200 local sustainableagriculture plans;

(vii) By 20yy, develop national strategicaction programmes for key ‘hotspot’aquifers exploited by intensive agricul-tural use (percent aquifer depletion,percent pollution), including a localdefinition of maximum admissibledrawdown (MAD) and local definitionof maximum admissible pollutionlevels (MAP) for agricultural uses; and

(viii) By 2015, define water-relatedcomponents of a strategy that willimprove food supply chain efficiencyby 50 percent and promotesustainable diets, including steps forits implementation by 2025.

For each of the Targets, a Target andSolutions Group has been formed. ICID isthe coordinator of the Target and SolutionsGroups III – Jacques Plantey and BartSchultz, and for the Group V - Pres.Chandra Madramootoo. A BackgroundNote has been made that was recentlyupdated, based on the latest decisions.There are draft descriptions of the Targetsand a Metaplan showing the provisionalcomposition of the Core Group and thedifferent Target and Solution Groups. Therevised Background Note and the Metaplancan be viewed at <http://www.icid.org/wwf6/wwf6_bg_note.pdf>.

During the coming period, the Target andSolution Groups are expected to makeaction plans and to compile an overviewof interesting solutions. In addition, basedon the Background Note and the other

documents, a report on theThematic Priority as well as aprogramme for the sessionswill be prepared. The sessionswill be based on the Targets.All relevant documents will beposted on the ICID websiteas well.

Within ICID, the Task ForceWWF6 is coordinating thedifferent activities in closecooperation with Central Office.During the meetings inYogyakarta, Indonesia, Orleans,

France and Groningen, the Netherlandsspecial sessions have been held on WWF6.During the Congress in Tehran there willalso be a Special Session on WWF6.

We hope that in this way we can present astrong case on the optimal use of water forfood security. Any additional input from allwill be most welcome.

For further queries please contact: Prof. dr.Bart Schultz at: <schultz1@kpnmail.nl>and / or Dr. S.A. Kulkarni at:<icid@icid.org>.

The stepwise approach for ‘solutions’ for6th World Water Forum (Modified from Braga)

ICID Prepares for the 6ICID Prepares for the 6ICID Prepares for the 6ICID Prepares for the 6ICID Prepares for the 6ththththth World Water Forum World Water Forum World Water Forum World Water Forum World Water ForumThe 6th World Water Forum (WWF6) will be held during March 2012 in Marseille, France. ICID is partnering with FAO especially inpreparation of Thematic Priority 2.2 on Contribute to Food Security by Optimal Use of Water, as well as 2.1 on Balance MultipleUses through IWRM. President Hon. Bart Schultz, Chairman Task Force to Guide ICID Inputs to World Water Forum 6and the Coordinator Thematic Priority 2.2 provides an overview of the Forum process and an update on ICID preparations.

ICID News2011/2

3

In 2009, Tehri Dam received an ICOLDAward as an International Rockfill Dam

Milestone Dam. An earth and rockfillstructure, Tehri Dam is 260.5 meters highand is located on the Bhagirathi River inthe Himalayan Mountains northeast ofNew Delhi, India. Construction began in1978 and was completed in 2006. Theconstruction cost was about US$1 billion.Tehri Dam Project is a joint venture of theGovernment of India and the state of UttarPradesh. The Central Water Commission(CWC) in New Delhi was the Project CivilWorks Design Consultants.

The reservoir created by Tehri Dam has alive capacity of more than 2.6 billion cubicmeters (3.54 billion cubic meters as gross).The multi-purpose project includes peakinghydropower, water for irrigation and watersupply for several rural and urban area,including India’s capital city of New Delhi,and flood control. In addition to thestabilization of 604,000 hectares ofexisting irrigable areas, about 270,000hectares will receive water for additionalirrigation; 270 million gallons per day ofdrinking water will be provided for bothrural and urban needs.

The Tehri Dam powerplant currently has1,000 MW capacity, and in the Stage IIPumped Storage Plan, an additional 1,000MW of capacity will be installed. With therecent completion of the downstreamKoteshwar Dam, the Tehri HydropowerComplex will add an additional 400 MWof capacity to the grid. Last January, I hadan opportunity to visit Tehri Dam andPowerplant and Koteshwar Dam, accom-panied by Engineer M. Gopalakrishnan,the Secretary General of the International

Commission on Irrigation and Drainage.Gopalakrishnan was a design engineer withthe CWC and was directly involved withdesign of Tehri Dam features. He provedto be an excellent guide, showing me anumber of features of the dam includingsome novel concepts, like galleries throughthe core of the embankment dam, and twoshaft spillways, 12 meters in diameter andnearly 200 meters deep, each handlingflows of about 1,900 m3/sec. The shaftspillways augment the chute spillwaywhich can handle about 5,500m3/sec. Wevisited the Tehri Dam Powerplant, whichwas constructed in the hill side on the leftabutment of the dam, since there was notenough room in the canyon below thedam to include the Powerplant. I was quite

Tehri Dam: An Indian Success Story Tehri Dam: An Indian Success Story Tehri Dam: An Indian Success Story Tehri Dam: An Indian Success Story Tehri Dam: An Indian Success StoryIndian Government, during last five decades has made massive investment in development of water resources through multipurposeriver valley projects. Tehri Dam is one such modern water storage project. VPH Larry D. Stephens, Executive Vice President, U.S.National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (USCID) and USSD Executive Director during his visit to the ICID Central Office,New Delhi in last January also took time to visit Tehri Dam. Mr. Stephens shares his impressions of this civil engineering marvel.

impressed with Tehri Dam and powerplant,noting especially the high level ofmaintenance. We also visited the underconstruction Koteshwar Dam. We watchedas the diversion tunnel gates were beingclosed, an unique opportunity to see thenewly completed upstream dam face —project engineers told us that the re-regulating reservoir, just downstream fromTehri Dam, would fill within three days.The highlight of the Tehri Dam trip wasthe opportunity to visit the office of R.S.T.Sai, Chairman and Managing Director ofTehri Hydro Development Corporation Ltd.He was obviously proud of the Project andthe ICOLD recognition. The award isprominently displayed in his office.

My India visit included a very positivemeeting with the Indian Committee onLarge Dams. We discussed the USSD bidto host the 2013 ICOLD Annual Meetingand INCOLD’s plans to bid for the 2014Meeting. I reviewed USSD preparatoryactivities and showed the video wepresented during the 2010 ICOLD Meetingin Hanoi. The INCOLD officials were quitesupportive of our plans to host in 2013;they suggested that INCOLD and USSDmake plans for a MoU to further technicalexchanges between the two NationalCommittees.

VPH Larry Stephens can be contacted at<stephens@uscid.org>.

Stephens Receives India Power AwardUSSD Executive Director Larry D. Stephens wasnamed a recipient of a 2010 India Power Award.The Awards are presented by the Council ofPower Utilities and recognize significant contri-butions in the fields of power and energy.Stephens was named in the InternationalCategory, and was recognized for his contribu-tions to energy development in underdevelopedand developing countries. The award was presen-ted by ICOLD Honorary President C.V.J. Varma,in the ICID office, New Delhi, on January 19.

The 2010 Awards mark the third year for theIndia Power Award Program, which was established on the occasion of the 25th anniversary ofthe Council’s official journal, India Power.

Tehri Right Bank Shaft Spillway (Morning Glory) in operationevacuating floods above the Full Reservoir Level

Photo: Tehri Hydropow

er Developm

ent Corporation

ICID News2011/2

6

ICID News 2011/2

7

Globally, 80% (1.25 billion ha) ofarable land is rainfed with varying

importance with the region (95% in sub-Saharan Africa, and 60% in South Asia)and produces most food for poorcommunities. These areas are the hot-spotsof poverty, malnutrition, severe waterscarcity, prone to severe land degradation,and have poor infrastructure.

Agriculture is the world’s second largestconsumer of the water after the forestry,and is also a cause of depleting soilquality. Growing need to produce morefood, feed as well as biofuel for energymeans increasing pressure on scarce waterand land resources. Simultaneously, the percapita availability of land and freshwaterhas been declining since 1950 due toincreased human population These inter-linked and multiple challenges can’t besolved with business as usual approach,without enhancing the efficiency of water,land and other natural resource use,without crossing the safe operating spacefor the humankind.

The current global population that has bluewater stress is estimated to be 3.17 billionand expected to reach 6.5 billion in 2050.If both green and blue water are consi-dered, the population currently experien-cing absolute water stress is only a fractionof projected (0.27 billion), and will onlymarginally exceed today’s’ blue waterstressed in 2050. Large parts of China,India, and sub-Saharan Africa areconventionally water scarce, but still havesufficient green and blue water to meet thewater demand for food production.

Large yield gaps with farmers’ yieldsbeing about 2 to 4 times lower than theachievable yields for major rainfed cropsare observed in Asia, Africa and CWANA(Central and West Asia and North Africa)regions. There is an urgent need todevelop a new paradigm for upgradingrainfed agriculture and the business asusual approach can no longer achieve thegoal of food security. Vast scope exists tounlock the potential of rainfed agriculturethrough sustainable management of naturalresources through integrated watershedmanagement (IWM) approach. The IWMapproach provides a framework for

unlocking the potential of rainfedagriculture to improve livelihoods throughknowledge-based and participatory methodfor sustainable intensification withincreased efficiency of natural resource use.

The ICRISAT-led consortium developedan innovative farmers’ participatory IWMconsortium model that espouses theintegrated genetic and natural resourcemanagement (IGNRM) approach where

Integrated Watershed Development forIntegrated Watershed Development forIntegrated Watershed Development forIntegrated Watershed Development forIntegrated Watershed Development forSustainable Development of Rainfed AreasSustainable Development of Rainfed AreasSustainable Development of Rainfed AreasSustainable Development of Rainfed AreasSustainable Development of Rainfed Areas

For the greater part of the world, water stress is primarily a blue water issue, and large opportunities exist in the management ofrainfed areas, i.e., the green water resources in the landscape. Dr. Suhas P. Wani, Principal Scientist (Watersheds) and ProjectCoordinator (IWMPs), Resilient Dryland Systems, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Indiaexplains as how an integrated watershed development approach can increase the crop yields 2 - 4 times in rainfed areas.

activities are implemented at thelandscape level. The entire process revolvesaround the four E’s (empowerment, equity,efficiency and environment), which areaddressed by adopting specific strategiesprescribed by the four C’s (consortium,convergence, collective action andcapacity building).

The IWM consortium model has producedmultiple benefits such as increasing cropproduction by 2 to 4 folds, doubling of thefamily incomes, increasing groundwateravailability, reducing runoff to less thanhalf and soil loss by 1/7th, conservingbelowground and above-ground bio-diversity, building social and institutionalcapital in the benchmark watersheds inIndia, Thailand, Vietnam, China andPhilippines. The Integrated WatershedManagement approach in Kothapally isrevolutionalizing agricultural productivityand incomes. The crops yields haveincreased by two to four folds as comparedto the best land crop yields and havebridged the yield gap substantially.

The scaling-up of the IWM is taken upby the Government of India and othercountries in Asia. Through South-Southcollaboration, the IWM approach is beingevaluated in southern and eastern Africathrough ASARECA (Association forStrengthening Agricultural research inEastern and Central Africa).

Dr. Suhas Wani can be contacted at<s.wani@cgiar.org>.

Important components of theICRISAT’s New Model

• Collective action by farmers and theirparticipation from the beginning throughcooperative and collegiate mode in placeof contractual mode. Participatory researchand development (PR&D) approach.

• Principle of “users pay”, no free rides inthe program.

• Demand-driven approach, and no supplydriven technologies.

• Integrated water resource management andholistic approach for improving livelihoods.

• A consortium of institutions for technicalbackstopping.

• Knowledge-based entry point to buildrapport with community and enhancedparticipation.

• Tangible economic benefits to individualsthrough on-farm interventions enhancingthe efficiency of conserved soil and waterresources and targeted income generatingactivities for women and vulnerable groups.

• For equitable benefits to small farmers, low-cost and environment-friendly soil and waterconservation measures throughout the topo-sequence.

Phot

o: S

uhas

Wan

i

Women empowerment in a watershed, Andhra Pradesh, India

ICID

New

s1 -- B

ICID News 2011/2

3

In 2009, Tehri Dam received an ICOLDAward as an International Rockfill Dam

Milestone Dam. An earth and rockfillstructure, Tehri Dam is 260.5 meters highand is located on the Bhagirathi River inthe Himalayan Mountains northeast ofNew Delhi, India. Construction began in1978 and was completed in 2006. Theconstruction cost was about US$1 billion.Tehri Dam Project is a joint venture of theGovernment of India and the state of UttarPradesh. The Central Water Commission(CWC) in New Delhi was the Project CivilWorks Design Consultants.

The reservoir created by Tehri Dam has alive capacity of more than 2.6 billion cubicmeters (3.54 billion cubic meters as gross).The multi-purpose project includes peakinghydropower, water for irrigation and watersupply for several rural and urban area,including India’s capital city of New Delhi,and flood control. In addition to thestabilization of 604,000 hectares ofexisting irrigable areas, about 270,000hectares will receive water for additionalirrigation; 270 million gallons per day ofdrinking water will be provided for bothrural and urban needs.

The Tehri Dam powerplant currently has1,000 MW capacity, and in the Stage IIPumped Storage Plan, an additional 1,000MW of capacity will be installed. With therecent completion of the downstreamKoteshwar Dam, the Tehri HydropowerComplex will add an additional 400 MWof capacity to the grid. Last January, I hadan opportunity to visit Tehri Dam andPowerplant and Koteshwar Dam, accom-panied by Engineer M. Gopalakrishnan,the Secretary General of the International

Commission on Irrigation and Drainage.Gopalakrishnan was a design engineer withthe CWC and was directly involved withdesign of Tehri Dam features. He provedto be an excellent guide, showing me anumber of features of the dam includingsome novel concepts, like galleries throughthe core of the embankment dam, and twoshaft spillways, 12 meters in diameter andnearly 200 meters deep, each handlingflows of about 1,900 m3/sec. The shaftspillways augment the chute spillwaywhich can handle about 5,500m3/sec. Wevisited the Tehri Dam Powerplant, whichwas constructed in the hill side on the leftabutment of the dam, since there was notenough room in the canyon below thedam to include the Powerplant. I was quite

Tehri Dam: An Indian Success StoryTehri Dam: An Indian Success StoryTehri Dam: An Indian Success StoryTehri Dam: An Indian Success StoryTehri Dam: An Indian Success StoryIndian Government, during last five decades has made massive investment in development of water resources through multipurposeriver valley projects. Tehri Dam is one such modern water storage project. VPH Larry D. Stephens, Executive Vice President, U.S.National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (USCID) and USSD Executive Director during his visit to the ICID Central Office,New Delhi in last January also took time to visit Tehri Dam. Mr. Stephens shares his impressions of this civil engineering marvel.

impressed with Tehri Dam and powerplant,noting especially the high level ofmaintenance. We also visited the underconstruction Koteshwar Dam. We watchedas the diversion tunnel gates were beingclosed, an unique opportunity to see thenewly completed upstream dam face —project engineers told us that the re-regulating reservoir, just downstream fromTehri Dam, would fill within three days.The highlight of the Tehri Dam trip wasthe opportunity to visit the office of R.S.T.Sai, Chairman and Managing Director ofTehri Hydro Development Corporation Ltd.He was obviously proud of the Project andthe ICOLD recognition. The award isprominently displayed in his office.

My India visit included a very positivemeeting with the Indian Committee onLarge Dams. We discussed the USSD bidto host the 2013 ICOLD Annual Meetingand INCOLD’s plans to bid for the 2014Meeting. I reviewed USSD preparatoryactivities and showed the video wepresented during the 2010 ICOLD Meetingin Hanoi. The INCOLD officials were quitesupportive of our plans to host in 2013;they suggested that INCOLD and USSDmake plans for a MoU to further technicalexchanges between the two NationalCommittees.

VPH Larry Stephens can be contacted at<stephens@uscid.org>.

Stephens Receives India Power AwardUSSD Executive Director Larry D. Stephens wasnamed a recipient of a 2010 India Power Award.The Awards are presented by the Council ofPower Utilities and recognize significant contri-butions in the fields of power and energy.Stephens was named in the InternationalCategory, and was recognized for his contribu-tions to energy development in underdevelopedand developing countries. The award was presen-ted by ICOLD Honorary President C.V.J. Varma,in the ICID office, New Delhi, on January 19.

The 2010 Awards mark the third year for theIndia Power Award Program, which was established on the occasion of the 25th anniversary ofthe Council’s official journal, India Power.

Tehri Right Bank Shaft Spillway (Morning Glory) in operationevacuating floods above the Full Reservoir Level

Phot

o: T

ehri

Hyd

ropo

wer

Dev

elop

men

t C

orpo

rati

on

ICID News 2011/2

4

Of the 300 million ha of irrigated landin the world, some 113 million ha

presently depend on groundwateraccounting some 25% of the total irrigationwater withdrawals. The overall groundwaterextraction has gone up from 100 millionkm3 in 1950 to about 1000 km3 in 2000.Of which 70-75% extraction goes foragriculture. It is estimated thatgroundwater-based systems generate$210–230 billion of revenue and areeconomically and socially more efficientthan surface water systems. The low costsof installing and operating tubewells alongwith the resulting groundwater revolutionhave been the main reasons for this rapidgrowth. Groundwater irrigation covers themajor irrigated area in France; half of theirrigated areas in South-Asia and is crucialin North-Africa. But, unlike surface water,groundwater is not easily measurable andmanageable. In most cases it is used bya large number of independent users,including farmers, who have direct accessto water. The same goes for diffusepollutions. The complexity of aquifersfunctioning on large time and space scaleshampers collective action as well as theperception of the impacts on theenvironment.

Despite these challenges, ICID so far hasnot focused enough on issues related togroundwater. The Conference hosted byAFEID is therefore of significance. TheBeauce region is an important region forgrain production in France. Here farmershave tested an innovative volumetricmanagement system to manage thegroundwater. A return from experienceby stakeholders and users of the Beaucegroundwater was presented and discussed.

President Madramootoo in his keynoteaddress spoke on global trends in theusage of the groundwater reserves andresulting pressures from overexploitation.Dr Margat, a world-renowned hydro-geologist presented key data on the usageof the groundwater for irrigation, noting itsrapid development during the past 50 yearsand the difficulties in managing acollective resource for which thousands ofindividuals have liberal access. Pr Ghislainde Marsily, an eminent hydrologist andmember of the French Academy ofScience, presented a case study on aquifermanagement in the French region of

Marais-Poitevin whichcalls into question thenecessity for extensiveknowledge of waterresources for its manage-ment. Dr. Marcel Kuper,on behalf of Dr. T Shah,senior fellow at IWMIdescribed howcommunities in Indiahave responded toaquifer development andoverexploitation, notingtwo distinct responsesbased on the abundanceand accessibility of waterresources. Pr B Barraqué,political scientist andeconomist with theFrench CentreInternational deRecherches sur l’Environnement et leDéveloppement, described the evolution ofwater management in Europe, as the statusof groundwater resources move from athing that is privately owned to a commonresource under Public Trust.

Key Issues

• Irrigation withdrawals are causing theimbalance of groundwater in theMediterranean region. The groundwaterquality has deteriorated due to veryhigh nitrate concentrations (sometimeshigher than 400 mg/l).

• While conjunctive use of groundwaterin irrigated schemes is desirable, it canalso be the source of new inequitiesbetween those who can invest in aborehole and other farmers. It wouldtherefore be important to know if acollective appropriation of groundwaterand its management is appropriatethrough allowance policy, collectivedrillings.

• There are a few cases of successfulgroundwater management implemen-tation and also a few cases ofuncontrolled “tragedies of thecommons.’’

• The Water Framework Directive 2000/60/CE (WFD) requires Member Statesto protect, enhance and restore waterswith the ultimate objective of achieving“good status” for both surface andgroundwater bodies. While “good

quantitative status” is clearly defined inthe WFD, this is not the case for thecomplex “good chemical status.” So thelessons learned in the last 10 yearswere presented.

• Economic approaches of groundwatermanagement discussed were (i)dynamics of, economic activities andgroundwater resources, (ii) assessingand comparing the economic cost and/or benefits of different groundwatermanagement options, and (iii) designingand testing groundwater regulationinstruments such as prices, (abstraction/pollution) charges or taxes and marketsof water rights.

• Groundwater pollution is not only theresponsibility of agriculture with ahighly variable ratio betweenagricultural/non-agricultural pollutionsources, but also other users. It is thusnecessary to involve all the parties tofind solutions at the local scale. Thetypes of action (preventive like localarrangements between water suppliersand groups of farmers or curative likewater treatment or alternative resource)should be analysed in context totechnical and economic criteria.

The proceedings/presentations of theconference are accessible through thewebsite: http://www.groundwater-2011.net/program_and_proceedings.Sami Bouarfa can be contacted at<sami.bouarfa@cemagref.fr>.

Challenges Facing Groundwater ManagementChallenges Facing Groundwater ManagementChallenges Facing Groundwater ManagementChallenges Facing Groundwater ManagementChallenges Facing Groundwater Management24th European Regional Conference of ICID was held during March at Orléans, France. The theme of the conference was‘Groundwater Management’ and gathered 300 participants from 20 countries. More than 100 papers were presented and discussedin two plenary sessions and six parallel topics. Sami Bouarfa, President of the Technical Committee of AFEID provides summaryand key highlights of the event

Delegates at the field visit organized by theagricultural chambers of the Beauce region

Phot

o: A

FEID

ICID News 2011/2

5

What Does Efficient Irrigation Really Mean?What Does Efficient Irrigation Really Mean?What Does Efficient Irrigation Really Mean?What Does Efficient Irrigation Really Mean?What Does Efficient Irrigation Really Mean?The South African National Committee hosted the 2010 SANCID Symposium in Upington in the Northern Cape. The theme forthe symposium was “Efficient water use for food production.” A total of 26 papers were presented on sub-themes of irrigationscheduling, soil nutrient management, irrigation strategies, water management at catchment scale, irrigation efficiency, waterproductivity and modelling water use. Dr Richard Stirzaker, Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO, Canberra was the keynotespeaker and gave a very interesting presentation on the perception of efficient irrigation. He conveyed the following message tothe delegates:

Depending on how you look at things,the task of feeding the world in 2050

can seem hopeless. Population increases at200,000 individuals per day, water suppliesare diminishing, land is degrading, food isdiverted to biofuels and diets are changingto consume more water per person. Canwe really double food production whenthe macro indicators are all going in thewrong direction?

But if you look at the business of turningwater into food step by step from the smallscale upwards, things might not look quiteso bleak. Let’s start with 100 liters of waterin the dam, which we want to turn intofood on a farm. When the water isdelivered to the farm through open unlinedchannels, 20% of the water can easily belost through evaporation and channelleakage before reaching the farm gate. Onreaching the farm, the water may be storedin a small dam before being moved aroundthe farm in earthen canals. Evaporationfrom the dam and leakage from the farmcanals means only 70% of the remainingwater reaches the edge of the field.

Then we apply this water to the crop byflooding the field. Sometimes water runsoff the far end of the field and it iscommon for more water to infiltrate intothe top end of the field and drain belowthe roots. We may only get 60% of theavailable water into the root zone, ofwhich 50% evaporates from the soilsurface. Do the calculations - (0.8% x0.7% x 0.6% x 0.5%) and we see only17 liters of our original 100 liters aretranspired by the plant.

There are several points here where wecan intervene. Let’s suppose we can get95% of the water to the farm gate andpipe the remaining 95 liters of wateraround the farm to each field, again at95% efficiency. Five more liters are lostsomewhere on the farm and the remaining90 liters reaches the sprinklers in the field.We manage to get 85% of the 90 litersstored in the root zone, leaving 77 litersavailable for the crop to use of which 65%of the water was transpired and 35 %evaporated. The amount of water used bythe plant is now 65% of 77 liters, or 50liters (0.95% x 0.95% x 0.85% x 0.65%)

of the 100 liters that left the dam. Movingfrom a poor system to a better one cangive us three times the amount of usefulwater – from 17 to 50 liters. There is acaveat here because not all theinefficiencies result in a net loss of water.Water draining below the root zone ofcrops reaches the ground water and mayfind its way back to the river, or bepumped up and reused by anotherirrigator.

A well grown crop can produce 1 kg ofgrain from a thousand liters of water,whereas a poorly grown crop would beunlikely to be one third as productive. Wehave seen above that we can increase thewater transpired three times (from 17 to 50liters) and with the right kind of investmentin farmer training and support we couldincrease the crop productivity of waterthreefold as well. Putting the engineeringand the biological sides together gives us3x3 or a nine fold improvement. This isnot to say that the ninefold increase iseasily attainable – just that it is withinreach and is in fact being achieved in bitsand pieces all over the world. The questionis ‘why do we not learn much faster?’

In order to achieve higher water useefficiency, new technologies must becoupled with the development of new

institutions that are capable of managingwater effectively. It is necessary to useadaptive management to deal with thecomplexity by involving professionals frommany disciplines and through the processof ‘learning by doing.’ Which in turn shallbe based on simple monitoring programsthat include observation, evaluation, andrevision of decisions and projections tosustain continuous improvement of wateruse efficiency in agricultural systems.

When we look again at the big picture,the need for new institutions and a trans-disciplinary approach to managing water atappropriate scales is clear. But at the otherend of the spectrum, many small bygains can be made through systematicapplication of adaptive learning, based onthe use of simple tools. Some examples ofthis in practice can be seen at http://www.thescientistsgarden.com and at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cyj6BzdUllI.To double food production by 2050, wewill have to double our efforts at bothends of the water management spectrum.

Dr Richard Stirzaker is the winner of ICIDWatSave Technology Award 2003 and he maybe contacted: <Richard.Stirzaker@csiro.au>.Thanks are due to VPH Felix Reinders,Chairman, SANCID, South Africa forfacilitating publication of this article.

Phot

o: E

dito

r

ICID News 2011/2

6

ICID News 2011/2

7

Globally, 80% (1.25 billion ha) ofarable land is rainfed with varying

importance with the region (95% in sub-Saharan Africa, and 60% in South Asia)and produces most food for poorcommunities. These areas are the hot-spotsof poverty, malnutrition, severe waterscarcity, prone to severe land degradation,and have poor infrastructure.

Agriculture is the world’s second largestconsumer of the water after the forestry,and is also a cause of depleting soilquality. Growing need to produce morefood, feed as well as biofuel for energymeans increasing pressure on scarce waterand land resources. Simultaneously, the percapita availability of land and freshwaterhas been declining since 1950 due toincreased human population These inter-linked and multiple challenges can’t besolved with business as usual approach,without enhancing the efficiency of water,land and other natural resource use,without crossing the safe operating spacefor the humankind.

The current global population that has bluewater stress is estimated to be 3.17 billionand expected to reach 6.5 billion in 2050.If both green and blue water are consi-dered, the population currently experien-cing absolute water stress is only a fractionof projected (0.27 billion), and will onlymarginally exceed today’s’ blue waterstressed in 2050. Large parts of China,India, and sub-Saharan Africa areconventionally water scarce, but still havesufficient green and blue water to meet thewater demand for food production.

Large yield gaps with farmers’ yieldsbeing about 2 to 4 times lower than theachievable yields for major rainfed cropsare observed in Asia, Africa and CWANA(Central and West Asia and North Africa)regions. There is an urgent need todevelop a new paradigm for upgradingrainfed agriculture and the business asusual approach can no longer achieve thegoal of food security. Vast scope exists tounlock the potential of rainfed agriculturethrough sustainable management of naturalresources through integrated watershedmanagement (IWM) approach. The IWMapproach provides a framework for

unlocking the potential of rainfedagriculture to improve livelihoods throughknowledge-based and participatory methodfor sustainable intensification withincreased efficiency of natural resource use.

The ICRISAT-led consortium developedan innovative farmers’ participatory IWMconsortium model that espouses theintegrated genetic and natural resourcemanagement (IGNRM) approach where

Integrated Watershed Development forIntegrated Watershed Development forIntegrated Watershed Development forIntegrated Watershed Development forIntegrated Watershed Development forSustainable Development of Rainfed AreasSustainable Development of Rainfed AreasSustainable Development of Rainfed AreasSustainable Development of Rainfed AreasSustainable Development of Rainfed Areas

For the greater part of the world, water stress is primarily a blue water issue, and large opportunities exist in the management ofrainfed areas, i.e., the green water resources in the landscape. Dr. Suhas P. Wani, Principal Scientist (Watersheds) and ProjectCoordinator (IWMPs), Resilient Dryland Systems, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Indiaexplains as how an integrated watershed development approach can increase the crop yields 2 - 4 times in rainfed areas.

activities are implemented at thelandscape level. The entire process revolvesaround the four E’s (empowerment, equity,efficiency and environment), which areaddressed by adopting specific strategiesprescribed by the four C’s (consortium,convergence, collective action andcapacity building).

The IWM consortium model has producedmultiple benefits such as increasing cropproduction by 2 to 4 folds, doubling of thefamily incomes, increasing groundwateravailability, reducing runoff to less thanhalf and soil loss by 1/7th, conservingbelowground and above-ground bio-diversity, building social and institutionalcapital in the benchmark watersheds inIndia, Thailand, Vietnam, China andPhilippines. The Integrated WatershedManagement approach in Kothapally isrevolutionalizing agricultural productivityand incomes. The crops yields haveincreased by two to four folds as comparedto the best land crop yields and havebridged the yield gap substantially.

The scaling-up of the IWM is taken upby the Government of India and othercountries in Asia. Through South-Southcollaboration, the IWM approach is beingevaluated in southern and eastern Africathrough ASARECA (Association forStrengthening Agricultural research inEastern and Central Africa).

Dr. Suhas Wani can be contacted at<s.wani@cgiar.org>.

Important components of theICRISAT’s New Model

• Collective action by farmers and theirparticipation from the beginning throughcooperative and collegiate mode in placeof contractual mode. Participatory researchand development (PR&D) approach.

• Principle of “users pay”, no free rides inthe program.

• Demand-driven approach, and no supplydriven technologies.

• Integrated water resource management andholistic approach for improving livelihoods.

• A consortium of institutions for technicalbackstopping.

• Knowledge-based entry point to buildrapport with community and enhancedparticipation.

• Tangible economic benefits to individualsthrough on-farm interventions enhancingthe efficiency of conserved soil and waterresources and targeted income generatingactivities for women and vulnerable groups.

• For equitable benefits to small farmers, low-cost and environment-friendly soil and waterconservation measures throughout the topo-sequence.

Phot

o: S

uhas

Wan

i

Women empowerment in a watershed, Andhra Pradesh, India

ICID News 2011/2

8

Editor: Dr. S.A. Kulkarni, Executive Secretary, DTP: K.D. Tanwar, ICID Central Office, New Delhi, IndiaTel: +91-11-2611 6837/5679, E-mail : icid@icid.org

In a fewmonths from

now the IranianNationalCommittee onIrrigation andDrainage(IRNCID) willhost the ICID’s21st Congresson Irrigationand Drainage,62ndInternationalExecutiveCouncil at themagnificent cityof Tehran. The theme of the Congress is“Water productivity towards food security.”The 8th International Micro IrrigationCongress on the theme “Innovation intechnology and management of microirrigation for enhanced crop and waterproductivity”; Special session onmodernization of water managementschemes; Symposium on climate changeimpacts on soil and water resources,History seminar and many otherInternational meetings like FAO organizedsession on modernization of Irrigation,special session on modernization and watermanagement experiences in Australia,technical exhibition of irrigation anddrainage related equipments/ products.ICID Office in New Delhi has receivedlarge number of technical papers for theCongress. We hope delegates will bebenefited by the variety of Internationalevents, technical exhibition and postconference tours.

Iranian National Committee of ICID (IRNCID)Iranian National Committee of ICID (IRNCID)Iranian National Committee of ICID (IRNCID)Iranian National Committee of ICID (IRNCID)Iranian National Committee of ICID (IRNCID)Invites all to Tehran Congress in October 2011Invites all to Tehran Congress in October 2011Invites all to Tehran Congress in October 2011Invites all to Tehran Congress in October 2011Invites all to Tehran Congress in October 2011

M.R. AttarzadehDeputy Minister of Energy forWater and Wastewater Affairs,

and Chairman, IRNCID

IRNCID is fullyprepared to makethis event the mostsuccessful andmemorable. Aspecial strategic highlevel council withthe Chairmanship ofMinister of Energy,an Executive Boardhas been setup tosteer the technical,organizational,financial,promotional activitiesof the event. IRNCIDfully ensures thecomfortable stay andsafety, of all thehonorable delegatesduring the entireperiod of the event.

Organization oftechnical and sightseeing tours to seehistorical monuments, beautiful coasts ofCaspian Sea in the North, Historical andModern Water Structures of Khuzestan inthe South, as well as, tours to historicalcities of ISFAHAN and SHIRAZ for thehonorable guests. Accompanying personsshall also enjoy themselves in their freetime by participating in the attractiveTehran tours.

The Executive Board has facilitated issuingvisas with the cooperation of Ministry ofForeign Affairs (MFA). The participants arerequested to fill the registration formand visa application form by accessing theCongress website. We encourage delegates

to initiate visa related formalities at theearliest. The Executive Board has madeagreements with many reputed hotels withreasonable prices and hope thatparticipants’ will find it satisfactory.Information of such hotels can be found onthe Congress Website.

IRNCID is eagerly looking forward toreceiving delegates from all across theworld and to enjoy the Iranian hospitalityin a friendly atmosphere, as well as, toexperience technical, social and culturalheritage of Iran. For further information,please refer to the Congress Website<http://www.icid2011.org>, or write toE-mail: <irncid@gmail.com>.

3rd African Regional Conference, Bamako, Mali3rd African Regional Conference, Bamako, Mali3rd African Regional Conference, Bamako, Mali3rd African Regional Conference, Bamako, Mali3rd African Regional Conference, Bamako, Mali29th November to 5th December 201129th November to 5th December 201129th November to 5th December 201129th November to 5th December 201129th November to 5th December 2011

The 3rd ICID African RegionalConference will be held during 29th

November to 5th December 2011 atBamako, Mali. The theme of theConference is ‘Food security in Africa andclimate change: Improve Irrigation anddrainage contribution’. The main objectivesof the Conference are - (i) To sharedocumented experiences and knowledge onclimate change and how to scale upexperiences; (ii) To suggest strategies for

improving water productivity; and (iii) Toadvise policy makers on how irrigationcould contribute to food security inAfrica. Following are the sub-themes:Theme 1: Effects of climate change on thedevelopment of irrigation and drainage inAfrica, Theme 2: Policies and strategies toimprove the contribution of irrigation anddrainage to food security in Africa underclimate change context, and Theme 3:Water use productivity in agriculture and

the challenges of climate change. The lastdate for receipt of the abstracts (500 words)is 15 June 2011; and for submission of fulllength papers is 15 August 2011. For moreinformation please contact: ConferenceSecretariat, E-mail: secretariat3.craf@amid-mali.org or gueyekeita@yahoo.fr,Tel: +22320287521 / +22320227192;website: http://www.amidmali.org.

The Congresses and various meetings will be held in the magnificent, modernand fully equipped venue in Tehran. The venue has glorious halls, modern audio– visual equipments, and simultaneous translation facility. The entire organization

of the event is handled by a high level internationally experienced organizer.

Phot

o: I

RN

CID