Irrigation management project

The project will create two new entities within the Department of Irrigation, Hydrology, and Meteorology (DIHM) - the Systems Management Division (SMD) and the Irrigation Management Center (IMC) - and will establish 3 DIHM-operated, and farmer-managed IS"s and evaluate 6-10 farmer-operated IS"s for improvements and/or lessons to be learned by government systems. A permanent, multidisciplinary staff of irrigation, agriculture, and social science professionals will be recruited and given specialized training to form an SMD within the DIHM. The SMD will: (1) implement systematic operations and maintenance (O&M) procedures to improve existing irrigation structures and channels and develop and continually update a plan for equitable water distribution; (2) build local capacity for IS management by hiring association organizers (AO"s) to help develop farmer-run water users" associations (WUA"s) which will be built upon existing informal groups and be given progressively greater roles in IS management and decisionmaking (including authority for collecting water fees); and (3) develop regularized data gathering, assessment, and reporting mechanisms for purposes of monitoring, evaluation, and feedback. These three thrusts will primarily be focused on field activities at 3 the DIHM-operated sites (2 in the Terai, 1 in the hills), although small SMD support units will also be created at the Regional Directorate and at DIHM Headquarters. Government of Nepal (GON) and one or two private sector IS personnel will form the IMC, which will train: (1) overseers and engineers from DIHM and the Department of Agriculture; (2) the AO"s; (3) (3) senior local, district, and regional-level GON officials involved with irrigated agricultural production systems; and (4) future IMC trainers. IMC training will primarily be in-country; other project training will include study tours to Sri Lanka and the Philippines, overseas short courses, and M.S. study in Asia for IMC professional staff. The IMC will also conduct short- and long-term policy-related applied research at the three DIHM-operated and the 6-10 farmer-operated IS"s (for a total irrigated area of about 5,000 HA) and develop processes for improving hill IS"s.