The maintenance of agricultural irrigation canal and use of farm land: A case study of Khokana irrigation system in Kathmandu Valley [Nepal]

This paper analyzes the management practices in farmer managed irrigation system (FMIS) in Kathmandu Valley based on 112 randomly selected farmers' fields. Such aspects as formation of Water Users' Group, its management system, water distribution pattern and users' participation were covered by the study. The Khokana irrigation system, which has recently been rehabilitated with the technical and financial assistance of the government of Nepal, with a command area of 250 ha located in southwest of Lalitpur District of Kathmandu Valley, was selected for the purpose of the study. The findings of the study indicated that the Water Users' Group (WUG) has been maintaining and operating the irrigation system by following the traditional practices through employing canal operators locally known as Dhalpas on a contract basis. The Dhalpas, who are presently associated with a local religious cultural group, are responsible not only for cleaning the canal but also to look after the smooth distribution of water for irrigation purpose. Presently, while the WUG has been taking care of the social and institutional system of the irrigation canal, the religious cultural group has been running the entire physical system. In the past, the farmers organized themselves in an informal group. Recently the water users formalized their group by registering with the government's District Irrigation Office (DIO) , from which the former obtained some financial assistance for canal rehabilitation. The study observed a change in the cropping pattern, i.e., paddy-vegetable, which is more profitable after the rehabilitation, from its traditional pattern of paddy-wheat. This is an indication of the fact that the canal rehabilitation has increased the performance of the canal in terms of both adequacy and timely supply of water as demanded by the farmers for farming activities.