Water 2018, 10(4), 509; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10040509
Water Pricing and Implementation Strategies for the Sustainability of an Irrigation System: A Case Study within the Command Area of the Rakh Branch Canal
Muhammad Uzair Qamar 1, Muhammad Azmat 2,3, Azhar Abbas 4,*
, Muhammad Usman 1,5, Muhammad Adnan Shahid 6 and Zahid Mahmood Khan 7
, Muhammad Usman 1,5, Muhammad Adnan Shahid 6 and Zahid Mahmood Khan 7
1
Department of Irrigation & Drainage, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, University of Agriculture, 38040 Faisalabad, Pakistan
2
Institute of Geographical Information Systems (IGIS), School of Civil & Environmental Engineering (SCEE), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), IGIS Building (2nd Floor), 44000 Islamabad, Pakistan
3
Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Irchel Winterthurerstr. 190 CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland
4
Institute of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Agriculture, 38040 Faisalabad, Pakistan
5
Department of Remote Sensing, Institute for Geography and Geology, Julius Maximillian’s University Wuerzburg, Oswald Külpe Weg 86, 97074 Wuerzburg, Germany
6
Water Management Research Center, University of Agriculture, 38040 Faisalabad, Pakistan
7
Department of Agricultural Engineering, Bahauddin Zakariya University, 60800 Multan, Pakistan
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 21 March 2018 / Revised: 9 April 2018 / Accepted: 17 April 2018 / Published: 19 April 2018
(This article belongs to the Section Water Resources Management and Governance)
Abstract
The command area of the Rakh branch canal grows wheat, sugarcane, and rice crops in abundance. The canal water, which is trivial for irrigating these crops, is conveyed to the farms through the network of canals and distributaries. For the maintenance of this vast infrastructure; the end users are charged on a seasonal basis. The present water charges are severely criticized for not being adequate to properly manage the entire infrastructure. We use the residual value to determine the value of the irrigation water and then based on the quantity of irrigation water supplied to farm land coupled with the infrastructure maintenance cost, full cost recovery figures are executed for the study area, and policy recommendations are made for the implementation of the full cost recovery system. The approach is unique in the sense that the pricings are based on the actual quantity of water conveyed to the field for irrigating crops. The results of our analysis showed that the canal water is severely under charged in the culturable command area of selected distributaries, thus negating the plan of having a self-sustainable irrigation system. View Full-TextKeywords:
irrigation pricing; value of water; distributary; culturable command area; sustainable irrigation system
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Qamar, M.U.; Azmat, M.; Abbas, A.; Usman, M.; Shahid, M.A.; Khan, Z.M. Water Pricing and Implementation Strategies for the Sustainability of an Irrigation System: A Case Study within the Command Area of the Rakh Branch Canal. Water 2018, 10, 509.
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