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8 - Agriculturethrough irrigation systems and this, in combination with over-use of irrigation water, has led toconstruction of reservoirs that are three to five times larger than necessary. 30 There are also problemsfinancing irrigation schemes. These include: a lack of mechanisms for control and measurement ofwater use; user fees that are not high enough to encourage efficiency improvements; and a lack offinancial resources to adequately maintain and manage systems. 31Irrigation fees are being introduced selectively, but are meeting with mixed success. In Thailand,for example, attempts to introduce an irrigation service fee have resulted in mass protests. There arealso institutional problems related to the management of schemes. These include: a “top down”approach to planning and managing schemes that involves little farmer participation; a lack of legalauthority for water user associations; a lack of mechanisms for transferring management responsibilityto user associations; poor extension services; and a lack of coordination among concerned governmentagencies and user groups. 32 Although management of irrigation systems is now being handed overto farmer groups in order to increase participation, little data is available on the effectiveness ofsuch transfers. Finally, irrigation systems tend to be designed specifically to suit rice production,which makes it difficult for farmers to diversify into non-rice crops. 33The table below gives details on the extent of irrigation across the LMB. The data are drawn fromthe MRC Irrigation Database and cover only schemes recorded by local authorities and thus omitmany small, unrecorded schemes. The data refer to the potential area under irrigation if the schemeswere operating to full capacity, which is not always the case (See Figure 9, Chapter 3 for a mapshowing the distribution of irrigation schemes in the basin).Table 4. Irrigated areas in the Mekong River Basin, 2001LocationNumber ofSchemesArea of WetSeasonIrrigation(ha)Area of DrySeasonIrrigation(ha)Area of 3 rdSeasonIrrigation(ha)IrrigatedArea(ha) 1Lao PDR*Thailand*- Royal IrrigationDept(med/large)- RID(other)- RID(small)- Department ofEnergy DevelopmentPromotion- Ministry of InteriorCambodia*Viet Nam DeltaViet Nam Highlands2532876444129154971072146310128576224,232-330,056----248,8421,683,09436,008151,940-72,140----181,5061,417,5497,2900-0----0351,506-224,232 2941,425330,056--517,20594,164392,1171,683,09436,008Total 312,469---3,276,876Notes: Dash (-) indicates no information. (*) – except for Viet Nam, all data are for the whole country.1 Where there is no comprehensive wet or dry season cropping data available, the irrigated area hasbeen taken as the common measure of the irrigation area.2 The total irrigated area in Lao PDR has been recorded at 280,000 ha, the difference being manysmall schemes which have not been formally inventoried or mapped.3 Total of schemes and areas where data is available.Source: MRC LRIAD database 2002153