ABE 3205

Introduction
INTRODUCTION TO IRRIGATION
AND DRAINAGE PRINCIPLES
 Introduction
Irrigation is defined as the application of water into
the soil by artificial means in order to provide
sufficient moisture and which could be stored
by the soil for the purpose of keeping the
plants well applied with water at all times
during their growth period, for them to
produce satisfactory yields.
Irrigation water will mean only those that are
artificially applied into the soil.
It should be understood therefore, that
irrigation comes into play only as a
means to supplement water deficits
in the fields due to inadequate rain or
other forms of precipitation.
The science of irrigation is essentially an
absorbing study.
The need for it is felt as one decides to
farm. The study requires sufficient
working knowledge of the different
characteristics of several types of soil
and terrain, the behavior of the weather,
the kind of crop to raise and the
sequence of planting, the construction
and maintenance of irrigation facilities to
convey water from a given source to the
field.
A logical inter-relationship and
management of these items may be
arranged systematically to minimize
the recurrent problems of crop
failure due to drought.
 Importance of Irrigation
Definition
“the supply of water to crops and landscaping
plants by artificial means”
Estimates of magnitude
world-wide: 544 million acres (17% of land  1/3 of
food production)
U.S.: 59 million acres (10% of land  25% of crop
value)
annual water withdrawal (world-wide): 870
trillion gallons (6X Miss. River)
 Purpose
Raise a crop where nothing would grow
otherwise (e.g. desert areas)
Grow a more profitable crop (e.g. alfalfa vs.
wheat)
Increase the yield and/or quality of a given
crop (e.g., fruit)
Increase the aesthetic value of a landscape
(e.g. turf)
 Reasons for Yield/Quality Increase
Reduced Water Stress
Better Germination And Stands
Higher Plant Populations
More Efficient Use Of Fertilizer
Improved Varieties
 Other Benefits of Irrigation
Leaching of salts
Frost protection
Plant/soil cooling
Chemical application
Wind erosion control
Waste disposal
 An Historical Perspective
Nile River Basin (Egypt) - 6000 B.C.
Tigris-Euphrates River Basin (Iraq, Iran, Syria) - 4000
B.C.
Yellow River Basin (China) - 3000 B.C.
Indus River Basin (India) - 2500 B.C.
Maya and Inca civilizations (Mexico, South America) -
500 B.C.
Salt River Basin (Arizona) - 100 B.C.
Western U.S. - 1800’s
Involvement of federal government - 1900 (only about
3 million acres then)
 Historical Background in the
Philippines
• The development of irrigation in the Philippines
had been a slow process. Disruptions of what
might have been progressively flourishing irrigated
agriculture may be largely attributed to the foreign
colonization which altered land tenures and
improvements from time to time.
• Even before the coming of the Spaniards in the 16th
century, the Filipino farmers were already utilizing
springs, rivers, and mountain streams to
supplement rainfall in the growing of rice.
The world-famous rice terraces around Banaue,
Bontoc and other areas in the Mountain
Province are the most significant and
monumental achievement of the early
Filipinos. Reportedly covering an aggregate
area of some 25,000 hectares, these rice
terraces withstood the ravages of time to
prove their worth as the "Eight Wonder of the
World.”
With the coming of the Spaniards, new demands
arose which put forth new developments. New
systems were constructed during the Spanish
regime primarily through the leadership of the
Religious for the irrigation of church estates called
Friar lands. Such systems served 20,000 hectares.
• The period of American Occupation (1901-1936) was
characterized by slow expansion of irrigation facilities. The
heavy requirement of government operations had
precedence to and priority over the construction of
irrigation systems.
• From 1937-1965, the obvious increase in population
entailing correspondingly high food requirements too be
satisfied forced the different administrations to install
different national irrigation projects all over the country.
• Pump systems were also introduced. This pattern of
development would give us a picture of rapidly increasing
irrigation activities in the Philippines.
 Irrigation Development in the
Philippines
• The Irrigation Division under the Bureau of Public
Works was created as a corporate entity in 1947.
However, even if enjoyed corporate powers and
functions it encountered difficulties to cope with
its increased activities, demands and needs.
• This was complicated by the proliferation of
government agencies. (PACD, ISU-DPWTC and
Agricultural Productivity Commission) engaged
partly or mainly with Irrigation Development
resulting in duplication and overlapping of
functions.
• In 1963, the National Irrigation Administration was
created by RA 3601, it has been considered a
milestone in the national efforts to boost
agricultural production through irrigation
infrastructure.
• Its predecessor the Irrigation Division of BPW was
abolished and its personnel, functions, duties
unexpected appropriations, equipment and
records were transferred and assigned to the NIA.
This law also provided for the transfer of the Irrigation Unit of
the Bureau of Lands and Friar Land Irrigation Systems under
it to NIA.
At this stage, NIA is primarily responsible for assisting the
national irrigation development.
Its work primarily involved two types of irrigation systems:
nationals, which are owned, operated and maintained by the
government and generally serve over 1,000 hectares, and
communals, which are owned, operated and maintained by
the farmers and generally serve less than 1,000 hectares.
• While communal systems are often initiated by the
farmers, NIA assists them by constructing
improved structures such as concrete diversions,
canals and canal structures.
• With these irrigation development tasks of NIA, it
started to venture into foreign agreements; the
first of which is the NIA-ADB technical assistance
agreement in 1968, which call for the
establishment of eight water management pilot
projects throughout the country.
These pilot projects were established,
• to demonstrate the most suitable water management
practices of increasing the crop area;
• to demonstrate a more practical cropping pattern to
increase production and income;
• to organize irrigators' associations for the successful
implementation of well-coordinated water distribution
scheme; and
• to adopt a pilot area as a training center for on-the-job
training of NIA personnel and farmers.
The pilot projects has documented substantially in
the Angat River Irrigation Systems (ARIS) and Upper
Pampanga River Projects.
The users, the administrative delegation of
responsibility to water users for water
management is within the Rotational Area
(RA).
In ARIS these associations are called compact
farms and in UPRIIS they are called irrigators’
groups.
• The first water users' association was set up in ARIS Pilot Area
in August 1969.
• In ARIS, organization of water users was undertaken by the
Agricultural Development Division, while in UPRIIS, by the
Water Management Technicians (WMTs).
• According to the study, of D. Robinson, the early organizations
of water users conducted by WMT's were likely identified than
organized.
• In defense of the organizers (WMT's) Robinson guessed that
the short cuts in organizing farmers were due to their lack of
experiences and training in this activity and probably receiving
pressures from supervisors to report the formation of the
groups quickly.
• Results of the initial project experience led to some
innovations, like training of WMTs in farmer
organization methods, and utilization of Irrigation
Association Workers in ARIS as organizers.

• Among the changes was the Agricultural Development

Division assumption of organizing responsibilities
which led to the formation of compact Farm
Associations in turn-out levels. However, due to the
lack of organizing personnel of the project the effort
did not exhibit higher degree of impact to the farmers.
Among these reasons are:
• lack of clear guidelines and motivation in organizing
farmers;
• lack of personnel to maintain and sustain the association
after its organization;
• non-recognition of farmers capacity and involvement in
planning, decision-making and other irrigation activities;
• in compliance to the project requirement, hasty and
quantity conscious organizing was undertaken without
considering the needs of the farmers being organized; and
• non-registration to SEC of most associations organized.
• Learning from the experience of organizing efforts
in the national levels, NIA ventured into another
scheme in the communal system in 1975.
• Since NIA had limited institutional and staff
capacity for strong irrigators’association, it
entered into contract with the Farm Systems
Development Corporation, to organize the farmers
on communal systems while the NIA concentrated
on physical construction.
• This arrangement was based on the
assumption that organizing the farmers and
constructing physical facilities were separate
tasks, appropriately carried out by different
agencies.
• It was assumed that problems in
coordination at the field level would be
minimal and that most of the organizing
could be done during or after construction.
• Subsequent experience showed that these
assumptions were wrong. The agency realized that
farmers organizing and engineering tasks are
closely integrated.
• Hence, the launching of participatory approach in
1976 with partial assistance from Ford Foundation.
• The project was first piloted in one municipality in
Central Luzon, with the basic concept of fielding
full-time community organizers to the project area
well before the expected initiation of construction
assistance.
• The CO's would live in the project area and help the
farmers build and/or strengthen their association,
using the intensive activities of planning, design
and construction to develop the skills of the
association and to gain the farmers full
commitment and involvement of their own
irrigation system.
• With the experience in the pilot area, NIA
expanded the "participatory approach" to other
communal systems in the country.
• In 1983, the participatory approach had
become the standard procedure in all CIS.
• In 1980, NIA piloted the Irrigation
Community Organization Program in the
National Systems.
• Circumstances in National Systems differed
from communal systems, since NIA were
best with high O & M costs and low ISF
collection.
In spite of these problems, the ICOP pilot experience
yielded the following results.
 Organization of functional and cohesive Irrigators
Associations capable of systems maintenance,
reduced O & M cost through reduction of O & M
personnel.
 Farmer's partial or full management of the
irrigation system, equitable water distribution,
and effective resolution of internal conflicts.
 Scope of Irrigation
• The science of irrigation extends from the
watershed to the farm and on to the drainage
channel. The watershed yielding the irrigation
water, the stream conveying it, and the possible
drainage problems arising from irrigation practices
are all of major concern to the irrigator.
• Taking care of one portion of an irrigation system
without considering the other components will
lead to a faulty design and inadequate preparation.
• The nature of vegetable and the absorptive and
the retentive capacity of the soil and the sun-soil
are essential in watershed management in order to
insure its constantly adequate yield of irrigation
water.
• Likewise, the management of water-conveying
channel including flow measurements, diversion
structures build on it, and provisions to reduce any
form of losses along the channels are equally
important to recognize.
• The layout of the irrigation system in the farm to
insure efficiency and uniformity of distribution of
water, and other components to facilitate better
control and regulation of excess water and
provisions to provide mobility of animal drawn or
mechanized equipment performing operation
within the farm boundary is also vitally significant.
• In the disposition of excess water, it is just as
important as the acquisition of irrigation water.
There must be a hydrologic balance in the soil,
especially within the root zones of plants at all time.
For better utilization, the surface or sub-surface
waste water should be used to serve the
lower lands of the project or pumped to the
higher lands for re-use as long as it is
feasible and the water is still suitable for
agricultural purposes.

Measurement of flow within an irrigation system

does not only give an idea on how much water is
available within a section of the farm.
• More important than this is the fact that it gives a
measure of conveyance efficiency along a channel; it
enables a farmer to know exactly how much water is
readily available for use, hence the extent of area
which can be adequately could be pre-determined well
in advance, and the program of land preparation and
schedule or irrigation for any part of the cultivated
area may be systematically arranged to avoid
duplication of activity with other farmers.
• This would result to a more efficient use and
distribution of water within the system.
 Phases of Irrigation
• Irrigation may be visualized as endless chain
of activities that is composed of links each
representing some set of specified functions
of men, either in a government or in private
irrigation enterprise.
• The following are the functions and activities
each of this in turn may embrace some
integrated activities:
• Investigation and survey of water resources
• Planning and design of irrigation structures
• Financing and construction
• Operation and maintenance of the system
• Use and management of water
• Organization and management of irrigated
crop enterprises.
• Research
• These activities clearly indicate that irrigation, as a
practice is not the monopoly of one man or group
of persons having the same kind of specialized
fields.
• The services of other persons of other trainings are
equally important. In fact, it can be stated that the
effectiveness of the irrigation program of a country
depends on the performance of the different
offices represented by the links in the chain
of activities.
The group that are generally considered to handle
these chain or irrigation activities are
classified into three phases, namely:
»the Engineering phase
»the Agricultural phase
»the Socio-Economic phase
 Irrigation Problems
• One of the biggest problems often
mentioned in irrigation water utilization and
management is the low efficiency of water
use.
• Implied in correcting this situation is the
upgrading of existing irrigation facilities to
make them functional and the provision of
qualified, trained and dedicated personnel
and farmer-irrigators.
• Another related problem involves irrigation fees.
Questions of how much, how to collect, criteria
for setting the level and who should pay, are
constantly being raised.
• The claim is that not only farmer-users are
beneficiaries of irrigation investment.
• Other sectors of the economy as well should
therefore share the burden of repayment directly
or indirectly.

•
• It used to be that the quality of irrigation water has
generally been good for agricultural purposes.
• However, in recent years, water flowing in some
rivers is deteriorating in terms of sediment loads.
• With the increasing volume of sediment entering
the irrigation systems, diversion facilities are
getting clogged and canals are heavily silted.
• Under such situation, irrigation works are unable to
supply the required volume of water at creation
periods due to reduced capacities.
• This eventually results to a decrease in service
areas of the irrigation systems. The increased
sediment load is attributed to the deteriorating
conditions of watersheds resulting in accelerated
soil erosion.
• Another problem affecting irrigation water is mine
tailings.
To meet the requirements of future irrigation systems, there is
a need among others to:
• Improve the collection, processing and dissemination of
technical data,
• Promote closer coordination among water resources
planning and implementing agencies,
• Accelerate training programs for irrigation personnel,
• Safeguard the watersheds to improve water yield, and
• Manage and utilize the water resources properly.
 References
• Caoili, Abraham A., et al. 1967. Irrigation and
Drainage: Principles and practices. Department of
Development Communication College, Laguna.
• The Philippine Recommends for Irrigation Water
management. Vol. 1. 1983. PCARRD: Los Baños,
Laguna.
• Training Handout for Irrigators Organization
Worker. 1987. Iloilo: National irrigation
Administration, Region VI.