Managing groundwater for dry season irrigation

Using groundwater for dry season irrigation has been the preferred strategy of the Bangladesh government for many years. For example, the privatisation of irrigation in the 1990s led to huge growth in the number of shallow tube-wells. However, groundwater must be managed carefully: there is not enough information available on national groundwater resources to understand or predict long-term environmental impacts of continued use.

Researchfrom the Presidency University, Bangladesh, studies the Barind MultipurposeDevelopment Project (BMDP), a 15-district groundwater irrigation project. TheBMDP has a special emphasis on sustainability – environmental, social, economicand technical. It has developed an institutional model that allows the project tobe financially independent. This model of sustainable development has beenreplicated in other parts of the country.

Mostwater projects in Bangladesh have a narrow focus, such as flood control,drainage or irrigation. Social, economic and environmental factors are largelyignored and there is little monitoring or evaluation. BMDP consciously tries toovercome these problems to meet the challenges of creating the physical andsocial infrastructure necessary for groundwater irrigation in a semi-arid area.

Forexample, the project encourages maximum use of carefully spaced deep tube-wells (DTWs) minimises water wastage. BMDP extension officers manage ‘targetareas’ for each well, and they receive incentives for expanding the number offarmers using each DTW. The BMDP also constantly monitors quality and quantityof groundwater and aquifer levels. Thousands of poorly maintained rainwatercollection tanks have been renovated. BMDP covers all its operational coststhrough charging user fees for water through an innovative pre-paid couponsystem.

Theapproach has several positive features:

• Wateruser groups, consisting of users from many different social groups andinstitutions, give feedback to BMDP managers to improve project performance.
• Sixtypercent of BMDP officials and its entire field staff come from localcommunities.
• Thegoverning body of the BMDP includes Members of the Parliament from all 15 districts,who work with other members of government and civil society. This ensurespolitical support to carry out project objectives.
• Alarge afforestation campaign and distribution of medicinal plant seedlings areexamples of the project’s environmental improvement activities.

TheBMDP has encountered several problems, the most significant being when handwells used to collect drinking water began to dry up in DTW target areas. Thishas highlighted a need to integrate the planning of irrigation projects withdrinking water supplies. Several other important issues still need addressing:

• Somewater users feel that fees are too high and are changed too frequently. Thereis a trade-off between meeting the full cost of operations and providing a serviceto the poorest people.
• Therole of water user groups could be expanded to make irrigation managementinstitutions more representative. Instead of being limited to feedback onirrigation services, groups could be included in making management decisions.
• Althoughsuch projects can improve environmental quality in the local project area, manyenvironmental parameters need close monitoring. For example, very little isknown about the environmental implications of shifting from growing mixedwinter crops to a rice monoculture, which groundwater irrigation makes possible.