Review of the hill areas land and water development project

Although implementation was slow at the start, there is clear evidence of significant impact and progress toward realization of the project's potential. The project has had a major impact on irrigation design - evaluation of scheme investments, scientific determination of water requirements, distribution system planning, working relationships with users, and establishment of irrigation as a profession are significant changes introduced by the project. There is also potential for higher-impact efforts in related watershed forestry and conservation interventions. However, there is little institutionalization of these changes due to very slow progress in technical training, socioeconomic analysis, technology adoption, and system research. Although there are indications of high returns to irrigation in Himachal Pradesh, the internal rate of returns (IRR's) of some of the surface water high-lift schemes appear questionable due to high capital and recurrent costs (particularly for the increasing numbers of high-lift pump systems). Further, given the low charges for water and particularly high operating costs, the recurrent costs of project investments will become increasingly burdensome to the State. Three steps may resolve the economic questions: (1) technical selection of optimal, less difficult sites, (2) increased community/farmer control and responsibility, and (3) ex-post analysis of actual benefit streams. The project is substantially overfunded given its timeframe and the size and experience of the implementing departments' cadre. Options for the remainder of the project range from completing as pilots those schemes already committed (approx. $20 million) to continuing with schemes in an extended timeframe with concentration on watershed protection and the addition of the development of a major institution (approx. $45 million). The current commitment to the State and the obvious impacts and potential argue strongly for an option which strengthens and extends the project's activities. At the same time, the large number of schemes planned should be reduced and emphasis put on planning, training, analyses, applied research, and feedback monitoring. The project's substantial management demands are due less to its apparant complexity, than to the limited staffing, technical, and institutional resources in the State in relation to the project's size and objectives. Successful implementation will require considerable assistance to the State's field staff, Project Cell, and universities from a multidisciplinary team of U.S. and Indian specialists in resource planning, hydrology, hydraulics, soil conservation, water resource engineering, monitoring/evaluation, training, and rural organizationa. With this supplemental assistance, the project can be managed by the current personnel. (Author abstract)