Understanding water delivery performance in a large-scale irrigation system in Peru

Abstract

During a two-year field study the performance of the water delivery was evaluated in a large-scale irrigation system on the north coast of Peru. Flow measurements were carried out along the main canals, along two secondary canals, and in two tertiary blocks in the Chancay-Lambayeque irrigation system. The most important finding was the unexpectedly high accomplishment rate of the actual delivery at field level compared with the on-request schedule. Delivery performance ratios (DPRs) were very close to unity. Three main factors were identified contributing to this good performance: the high degree of accountability of the Water Users' Association towards the water users, the skills and experience of the operators to deal with the-difficult to operate-undershot sliding gates, and the high degree of mutual social control among the water users and their high labour input. It is concluded that the institutional design and skills of operators made a good delivery performance possible, overcoming the difficulties caused by the irregular water supply, infrastructure and on-request schedule. Copyright # 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.key words: water delivery performance; volumetric payment; accountability; large-scale irrigation; Peru RÉ SUMÉ Au cours d'une étude de deux ans sur le terrain, la performance de la distribution d'eau d'un système d'irrigation à grande échelle de la côte nord du Pérou a été évaluée. Des mesures de débit ont été effectuées le long des canaux principaux, de deux canaux secondaires et dans deux blocs tertiaires du système d'irrigation ChancayLambayeque. Le résultat principal a été le quotient étonnamment élevé de la distribution actuelle au niveau du terrain, comparé à la programmation sur demande. Les coefficients de performance de distribution (en anglais: DPR, delivery performance ratios) étaient très près de l'unité. Cette bonne performance est due à trois facteurs principaux: le haut degré de responsabilité de l'Association des Utilisateurs d'Eau envers ces utilisateurs, la compétence et l'expérience des opérateurs à faire fonctionner les régulateurs d'écoulement inférieur, difficiles à actionner, et le haut niveau de contrôle social parmi les utilisateurs d'eau ainsi que la grosse somme de travail qu'ils fournissent. En conclusion, la conception institutionnelle et les compétences des opérateurs ont permis de réaliser une bonne performance de distribution qui a vaincu les difficultés créées par l'irrégularité de la distribution

From central control to service delivery? reflections on irrigation management and expertise

“…One of the main contributors in this particular field is Horst (1996Horst ( , 1998, who discusses the need to simplify irrigation infrastructure as many systems would require too complicated management arrangements. One could question whether this relation is really that direct; Vos (2005), Van der Zaag (1992), Hunt and Hunt (1976) and Hunt (1988) suggest that higher complexity (and larger scale) of infrastructure does not necessarily complicate irrigation management or require central authority. Furthermore, within his basically qualitative analysis, Horst focuses on division structures and leaves out canal behaviour altogether.…”

“…If used, downstream control is adopted for main canals; lower canals remain under upstream control. Whichever is the situation, in many schemes with a central upstream water distribution system, volumetric delivery could be introduced or is already applied in practice (see Vos, 2005). However, in many cases introducing some kind of demand-based delivery would require a shift in the traditional task of any central authority: instead of sending water according to schedule, it has to make sure that all the demands of the farmers in the irrigation scheme can be met as effectively as possible.…”

Evaluation of the Water Allocation and Delivery Performance of Jiamakou Irrigation Scheme, Shanxi, China

“…The results also indicate that this irrigation scheme can provide good service to farmers. Some studies have shown that a flexible water delivery system and good water delivery service capacity are important ways to improve water use efficiency and promote modernization of irrigation schemes [21][22][23]. In recent years, the Chinese government has made efforts to promote the modernization of irrigation schemes.…”

Effectiveness of Weather Derivatives as a Cross-Hedging Instrument Against Climate Change: The Cases of Reservoir Water Allocation Management in Guanajuato, Mexico and Lambayeque, Peru

“…In Peru this this situation could disrupt the water cycle in the glacierdependent basins, affecting water regulation and availability (Servicio Nacional The Tinajones hydrological system is basically a run-off-river system with a relative small off-river storage reservoir, where both structures function complementarily (Vos, 2005).…”

“…Seventy percent of this land operates with permanent licenses and 30 percent with permits. The system is basically a run-off-river system with a relative small off-river storage reservoir (Vos, 2005). Thus, the role of the Tinajones Reservoir is primarily to store water from the Chancay River's surplus during the wet season, which will be reallocated in the valley for irrigation during drier months, July to September.…”