Water Users Association and Irrigation Management - Institute for ...

"Provision of drainage is expensIVe and many water resources projects may not be
economically viable, if, this component is added to the cost of new projects. The issue
needs to be resolved quickly" (p 31). Hence, this remains one of the major hidden costs of
many of the dams. However, rcsolving waterlogging and salinity problems entails
significant rehabilitation costs (underestimation of project costs) and loss of productivity
over time (over estimation of benet its).
Second. despite the spread of waterlogging and salinity, the gravity of the problem is often
not gi\'en adequate attention by decision-makers (FAO 1990). In some cases, although
adequate plans for irrigation and drainage operations, maintenance and monitoring are
included. governments lack commitment to perform the necessary corrective tasks. In the
Sinaloa Project in Mexico. incomplete construction of the drainage system in the Left Bank
resulted in increasing salinity problems but at the same time, an irrigation and drainage
project was initiated in the Right Bank. Government policy and farmer pressure to expand
irrigated areas in the Right Bank at the expense of the completion of unfinished works in
the Left Bank prevented the shifting of funds to solve the drainage problems in the Left
Bank (OED data 1989).
Third. drainage infrastructure entails substantial investments where the benetits are realized
only at a later stage. For this reason, many policy makers believe drainage is less politically
advantageous. Also. due to scare financial resources in many developing countries,
drainage development is often postponed. In the case of India, much less emphasis has been
placed on drainage even where such investments are clearly needed and inadequate
provision of funds for maintenance of drains has been made, amounting to as little as 10 to
20 percent of funding requirements in most states (World Bank 1991). In many places,
obstruction of natural drainage by construction of roads, railways and embankments has
disturbed the surface hydrology and aggravated drainage problems.
Poor construction and maintenance
Canal and other intfastructure deterioration IS another important factor contributing to
excessive seepage and the deep percolation of water. Often, it is the result of inadequate
maintenance, but in some cases this can result from the poor quality of construction
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