Assessing the Irrigation Water Management Elements in Amba 1 Irrigation Scheme in Assosa Woreda, Western Ethiopia (Published)
The aim of this study was assessing water management mechanisms used by water users in Amba 1 irrigation scheme. Amba 1 irrigation scheme located in Assosa woreda having a total area of 90 ha irrigated land. Total of 120 households was purposively selected at the head, middle and tail of the irrigation scheme. The required data were collected by interviewing about Amba 1 irrigation management issues. The crop water requirements of the major irrigated crops were calculated by CROPWAT version 8 and the social data were analyzed by SPSS version 20. Water scarcity, conflict, and allocation problems, weak participation, and management challenges were increased from the upper to the lower part of the command area. In Amba 1, 82.2% of irrigators were the dominant user of irrigation water at the head of the scheme. 14.1%, 63% and 74.1% of the respondents said that unfair water distribution and allocation were big problems at the head, mid and tail of scheme respectively. The role of irrigation users in the committee at all scheme classes was generally very low according to farmers’ opinion. This perception of farmers on the participation of water user committee was highest at the lower users of the Amba 1 irrigation scheme. The presence of conflict was 23.9%, 79.8% and 88.9 % at the upper, middle and lower class of the scheme respectively. This study found that the presence of conflict increased from the upper part of the irrigation scheme to the lower with the integration of water scarcity, and water management problems.
Keywords: Crop Water Requirement, major irrigated crops, water scarcity