WATER MANAGEMENT AT MESQA LEVELUNDER COLLECTIVE PUMPAND IMPOVED IRRIAGTIONIN NILE DELTA-EGYPT

Abstract

Tested, implemented, developed and modified along the last three decades, irrigation improvement projects in Egypt have attempted to respond to a number of identified constraints in irrigation water management. They have proposed interventions concerning the branch canal level (continuous flow, automatic gates, branch canal water user associations.), the mesqa level (collective pump stations), and the on farm or marwa level (distribution networks down to the plot). This study goal was to investigate the outcome of the irrigation improvement project (IIP) in Nile Delta area of Egypt and define its impact on the performance of the farmer's practice in the field.The study achieved their targets by comparing three mesqas, along the Abu-Mustafa branch canal, near KafrEl-Sheikh, Egypt. The study showed that the water distribution in the Abu-Mustafa canal was still based on a rotational system and the re-use of drainage water in the tail-end of the canal, which is against IIIMP project goals. The water level varied from 0.5 m at the head to around 2.5 m at the tail/end of the canal, which showed there are still large differences in water availability along the canal, especially the mid-section losing out, and no equity in water distribution. The number of irrigation events increases from 4:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., then decreases at the mid of the day. The majority of pumping operations last less than one hour, with a very large proportion lasting less than five minutes (45% in that particular case); this shows problems of water availability in the canal and the high frequency of cases where farmers attempt to pump residual water to the last drop.