Study for

Preventing Environmental Damage in Irrigated Agricultural Land due to Poor

Water Management Practices and Recommending Cost-Effective Drainage
Systems

Ethiopian Agricultural Research Council Secretariat (EARCS)

A collaborative study between
Small Scale Irrigation Development Directorate
Ministry of Agriculture (MoA)

December 2020
Addis Ababa

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 1. Introduction

Agriculture is fundamental to Ethiopia’s overall economic growth. The sector is characterized by

low-value and subsistence-oriented, albeit supporting 80% of the working population, contributing
for about 78.5% of export shares and crucial for input provision to a growing agro-food
manufacturing industry. Since most of the poor reside in rural areas, agricultural growth is essential
for attaining food security, broad-based economic growth and improving livelihoods. Because
agriculture growth has been determined to a large extent by climatic factors, food production
remains unstable, albeit steadily growing since recently but incommensurate with population
growth. Rainfall in Ethiopia is highly erratic, and most rain falls intensively, often as convective
storms, with very high rainfall intensity and extreme spatial and temporal variability. The result is
that there is a very high risk of annual droughts and intra-seasonal dry spells which put rain-fed
agriculture at risk and unreliable, thus jeopardizing food security in the country.

Ethiopia has large water resources that could be used for wide range of irrigation developments. It
has 12 river basins with annual water runoff volume of over 122 billion m3. In addition, there is a
huge potential of ground water annually rechargeable resource. Nowadays, the Ethiopian
government gives a special attention for irrigation development and aggressively expands it by
smallholder farmers level. The vision statement of the national smallholder irrigation and drainage
strategy is “Transforming agricultural production from its dependence on rain fed practices by
creating a vibrant irrigation sector in which smallholder farmers/agro pastoralists have access to at
least one option of water source to increase production and productivity as well as enhance
resilience to climate change and thereby sustain growth, ensure HH food security and maintain
increasing HH incomes.” It is estimated that only about 15-20% of the irrigation potential of about
11.1 million hectares of land is under irrigation. However, for number of reasons the irrigation
sector has not yet played a major role to cover the imbalance between food demand and supply, to
benefit farmers and generate jobs for the youth.

Meanwhile, salinity, sodicity, water logging and other similar incidents are becoming an emerging
challenge for the irrigation development. Due to poor irrigation water management and lack of
proper implementation of drainage systems, substantial number of Irrigation schemes especially in
potentially susceptible areas are starting to suffer from these problems. Inadequate attention to
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drainage aspects of irrigation due to the absence of sound objective is challenging this untapped
sub-sector. Unsustainable water management practices and limited technical and institutional
capacity to expand and manage irrigation infrastructure is one of the prioritized bottlenecks. Some
earlier studies identified salt affected surfaces have increased from 6% to 16% of the total land of
Ethiopia in recent years. About 9% of the population lives in the areas affected by salinity. The
semi-arid and arid lowlands and valleys in Ethiopia have major problems of salinity and alkalinity.
About 44 million ha in 36% of the country’s total land is potentially susceptible to salinity
problems. According to the recent researches, out of the 44 million ha, 33 million ha has
dominantly salinity problems, 8 million ha has combined salinity and alkalinity problems, and 3
million ha has dominantly alkalinity problems.

One of the main strategic objectives, in national Smallholders Irrigation and Drainage Strategy is
promoting effective and sustainable use and maintenance of irrigation and drainage technologies,
water resources, and on-farm water / salinity management, by male and female smallholder
farmers. Accordingly, as stated in transformational agenda deliverable, one of the foreseen sub
deliverable is to identify the extent of environmental damage in irrigated agricultural land due to
poor water management practices as well as to promote and enforce the design and implementation
of efficient and cost effective drainage systems. Accordingly, some awareness creation activities to
the concerned key stakeholders has been done as of last year on the severity of poor water
management practice and costly environmental damages. In addition, assessments of the adverse
environmental, economic, and social impacts associated with irrigation are crucial.

Currently, the government is giving more emphasis to problem of salinity more than any time
before to assure sustainable irrigation development. Efforts are being made to improve various
aspects of management of small-scale irrigation systems that include planning, implementation,
and management, particularly, in irrigation water management and compulsory inclusion of
drainage components to manage properly the salinity problem. Meanwhile, a pilot project in the
ministry are being implemented having the following objectives in this aspect.
 Develop database of field mapped soil & water salinities of current irrigated farming
systems, impact of salt-affected soils on livelihood and socio-economic conditions in
selected project sites

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  Develop alternative mitigation and management measures to improve overall production
systems for the salt-affected areas
 Design and recommend area specific cost effective irrigation drainage practices
 Devise policy guidelines/recommendations for the management of salt-affected soils and
share with policy makers

Several milestones achieved with this pilot project such as Baseline Socio-economic survey: Impact
of Salt-Affected Soils on Livelihood and Socio-economic Conditions studied, surface Salinity
Mapping based on secondary data for Tigray, Amhara, Oromia, and Afar Regions completed.
Similar, assessment of Soil and Irrigation Water Salinity, Irrigation Practices and Farming System
in Salt Affected Areas of selected hotspot sites of Tigray (Raya Alamata), Amhara (Kewet), Oromia
(Zeway Dugda) and Afar (Amibara and Dubti) Regions completed. Training and Workshops on
Salt-affected soil management, Method of soil sampling; basics of GIS and GPS conducted.

However, the above pilot project activities are not fully aligned with National Smallholder
irrigation development program rather they are just focused on spot area rehabilitation and
management of Salt-Affected Soils to Improve agricultural productivity without considering
irrigation and drainage technologies

Therefore, this TOR is prepared to conduct study for preventing Environmental Damage in
Irrigated Agricultural Land due to Poor Water Management Practices and to design and
recommend Cost-Effective Drainage Systems. The main theme and skills projected are creating
awareness on rolling environmental damage in irrigated agricultural land due to poor water
management practices as well as to equip the irrigators & irrigation expertise on different
management practices including the design and implementation cost effective drainage systems.

2. Objectives: -
The main objective of this project is to identify, analyse and map salinity level of 100 smallholder
irrigation schemes (small and medium scale irrigation with land holding by farmers) at six
regions (i.e. Oromia, Amhara, Tigray, Afar, SNNP and Somali) due to continued environmental
damage, poor water management practices, and to design and recommend efficient and cost-
effective drainage systems.
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Specific objectives:
The project will be attaining the following specific objectives:
 To assess the extent and impact of soil salinity, identify the root causes of soil salinity
and Sodicity
 In-depth studying the problem and severity of salinity in each selected regions
 To developing model for predicting salt-affected soils and mapping of spatial
distribution in Ethiopia using remote sensing technologies
 Proposed scheme based remedial actions and cost effective drainage management
practices
 Capacity building (training of researchers and development practitioners involved in the
management of SSI schemes in areas where salinity & sodicity are problems

3. Detail Methodologies and Procedures

3.1 Methodology
3.1.1 Identification schemes potentially effected by salinity problems
In this phase, the researchers will conduct a desk review on identification of the potential
schemes to be studies in the subsequent reconnaissance and detail surveys. This desk work may
include the following;
 Review of previous reports
 Consulting bureaus and offices who have been engaged in the development of SSI schemes
 Review of database on SSI schemes from the offices and enlisting the schemes with their
appropriate descriptions
 Linkage with Office of agriculture, zone, district and kebele
 At least 20% more schemes are to be considered during these phase so that the researchers
could come up with appropriate schemes for salinity problem study

3.1.2 Reconnaissance survey

a) Reconnaissance Survey
The reconnaissance survey will be carried out by the research team. The preliminary
investigation will include characterization and description of schemes. The following are very
important;
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  Discussion with the office of agriculture and natural resources
 Observing the salt affected schemes
 Prioritization of salt affected hot spot areas
 Description of the schemes
 Average family size of the beneficiary households
 Average irrigated land holding size
 Topography (slope and DEM)
 Length of growing period
 Estimated command area (ha)
 Production system
 Number of irrigation users or beneficiary (HHs)
 Source of irrigation water (river, lake, spring, ground water etc.)
 Type of irrigation system (e.g. modern, traditional, etc.)
 Irrigation water application method (furrow, border, basin, drip and sprinkler)
 Major soil type and soil color of the scheme
 Indicator of salinity, sodicity and water logging
 Farmers perception about the salinity, sodicity and water logging condition in
the command area
Table 1. Visual characterization of schemes for salinity problem

Problem Symptoms

Saline White crust on soil surface. Water-stressed plants. Leaf tip burn.

Poor drainage. Black powdery residue on soil surface. Black oily

Sodic
soil

Saline-Sodic Grey-colored soil. Plants showing water stress.

Source: Waskom et al., 2010. Diagnosing saline and sodic soil problems. Colorado
State University Extension Fact Sheet # 0.521

Regarding the reconnaissance survey, the detail format of the data collection is given at annex 1.
Based on this reconnaissance survey, at the country level about 100 schemes will be selected for
the detail study. The number of schemes managed by the individual research institutions is
dependent on the salinity problem of the region, capacity of researchers to accommodate the

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 workload. Based on the preliminary assessment we have, the number of schemes to be studied
in detail iby the research institutions is indicated in Table 2.

Table 2. Distribution of Small Scale Irrigation (SSI) schemes to be studied in detail

No. Institute No. schemes Remarks
1 Oromia Agricultural Research Institute 30
2 Amhara Agricultural Research Institute 25
3 Southern Agricultural Research Institute 15
4 Somali Pastoral Agropastoral Research Institute 15
(SoPARI)
5 Afar Pastoral & Agropastoral Research Institute 10
(APARI)
6 Tigray Agricultural Research Institute 10 Not yet decided
Total 95

3.1.3 Equipment and Materials used in the Survey

The survey will require the following equipment/ tools;

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  GPS
 Scoop/Auger
 Hoe, spade, knife, Hammer
 Canvas to mix composite samples
 Plastic sample bags (for soils)
 Plastic bottle (for water samples)
 Sensitive balance (to weigh samples)
 Graduated cylinder or glass tube (to measure the water samples)
 Ruler/ meter to measure depths where the soil samples are taken

3.1.4 Detail Field Studies

a) Surface soil Sample collection
Samples will be determined along a transect line or grid based (100-250m interval) depending on the size of
the command area and variability of the scheme. Coordinates of each sampling points will be determined
using GPS.  Information of the coordinates will be used for the development of maps using GIS.
 Stratify the scheme based on variability, maximum of 3 categories (using DEM, or any other factor)
 At every 100 to 250 meters, take 5 samples with a 15 m radius from a point, with each having 1 kg
 After thoroughly mixing the samples, take 1 kg of composite soil sample for a laboratory analysis
 The sampling will be in a horizontal and vertical transect manner (north-south and east-west
direction of the scheme)
 The number of composite soil samples will be dependent on the size and variability of the scheme.
The number of such a surface soil sampling can be one or more depending on the size and variability
of the scheme.
 At every sampling point (at the center), a GPS data will be collected.

The air dried 1 kg composite soil sample is kept in a plastic bag with an appropriate labeling card in the outer
bag. Therefore, we need two plastic bags for a sample; one to put the soil and the other to put the labeling.
The labeling card could include the following information;
 region, zone, weredas, kebele, scheme name
 code number (that can be corresponding to the details in the data sheet)
 date of sample taking
 responsible Institute & center
 dry weight (1 kg)

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 b) Sampling soils from a pit
Depending on variability a scheme, there will be one to three pits opened to a depth of 1.2 meter.
This pit will be sampled at a depth of 0-30 cm, 30-60 cm, 60-90 cm and 90-120 cm to characterize
the salinity status and dynamics along a soil profile/ depth. A kg of composite soil sample shall be
taken from each depth.

c) Soil Sample Preparation and Analysis

Collected soil samples will be air dried, grinned to pass through 2 mm sieve and stored in clean
sample bag for analysis (Jackson, 1973). Following standard test procedures soil samples will be
analyzed for selected chemical properties.
 ECe, pH,
 CEC
 EX.Na
 Soluble Ca & Mg
 CO3 HCO3-, Cl-
 SAR is a derived parameter
 ESP will be calculated using exchangeable Na
 PBS
Soil pH and EC will be measured using a digital pH-meter and EC mater from saturated past
extract. Cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the soils will be extracted by excess ammonium acetate
(1M NH4OAc at pH 7) solution and determined by atomic adsorption spectrophotometer while
exchangeable Na+ in the extracts will be measured by flame photometer (Okalebo et al., 2002).
CEC (cmol (+)/kg) of the soils will be determined from the ammonium acetate saturated samples
through distillation and measurement of ammonium using the modified Kjeldahl procedure as
described by Okalebo et al. (2002). Finally, PBS & ESP will be computed as the percentage of the
sum of exchangeable bases and exchangeable Na to the CEC of the soil, respectively, as follows:

(2)

(3)

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 Where, concentrations are in cmol (+)/kg of soil.

If finance is not a limit, anions (Cl -, HCO3- and CO32-) will also be measured on a 1: 5 soil water
ratio extract following the methods described by the US Salinity Laboratory Staff (Richards, 1954).
Chloride will be determined by titrating the extract against 0.1N AgNO3 solution using potassium
chromate as an indicator. The CO 3- and HCO32- ions will be determined by titrating with sulfuric
acid (H2SO4) to phenolphthalein and methyl orange end points, respectively.

Soluble Ca and Mg will be read using AAS, whereas the Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR), of the
soil solution will be calculated from the concentrations of soluble Na, Ca and Mg as follows:

(4)

d) Classification method
The soils will be classified into the different salt affected soil classes based on the criteria
established by the US Salinity Laboratory Staff (1954) as given in Table 3.

Table 3. Classification of salt affected soils based on their chemical properties

Salt affected soil type Electrical conductivity of Saturation (%) of cation Reaction
saturation extracts (ECe) exchange capacity with (pH value)
at 25 oC (mmhos/cm) Na (ESP)
Saline > 4 < 15 <8.5
Saline sodic > 4 > 15 <8.5
Sodic (Alkali) < 4 > 15 8.5-10
Non-saline non-sodic < 4 < 15 About neutral

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 3.1.5 Identification of source of salinity
a) Water Sampling and Preparation
Water samples will be taken from all possible sources used for irrigation purpose. The water
sampling will be conducted during the mid of the dry season and during the mid of the short rainy
season where there is short rainy season in the central, east and southeast of the country. Acid-
washed and rinsed polyethylene bottles (2-literes) will be used to collect irrigation water samples.
The samples will be transported to the laboratory and analyzed for their chemical composition
immediately. Generally, the collection and handling of irrigation water samples will be done in
accordance with the procedure outlined by the US Salinity Laboratory Staff (1954). Each of the
water sampling points will be registered using GPS.

Sources of water for irrigation could be the following

 River diversion
 Ground water
 Rainwater harvested at ponds/ micro-dams
 Lakes

b) Water Sample Analysis

 ECw, pH
 Soluble Ca, Mg and ex. Na
 Co3 Hco3-, Cl-
 TDS is a derived parameter from EC
The collected water samples will be subject for the analysis of pH, EC, dissolved cations (Ca &
Mg), Alkalinity (, HCO3- and CO32-) and Cl- contents in the laboratory. Furthermore, TDS, SAR,
RSC and the adjusted RNa will be estimated from the measured parameters. Finally, the quality and
suitability of the water for irrigation will be evaluated based on the outputs.

EC and pH of the water samples will be measured in a laboratory within 24 hours using
conductivity meter and a digital pH meter, respectively (Richards, 1954). Alkalinity (HCO3- + CO32-
ions) will be determined by titrating with standard acid (pH of 4.5) within 12 to 24 hours of sample
collection. Chloride will be measured by the silver nitrate titrimetric method, Okalebo et al. (2002).

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Soluble Ca and Mg will be measured using atomic absorption spectrophotometer, whilst
exchangeable Na will be analyzed using flame photometer.

Irrigation water salinity, as total dissolved salts (TDS), will be determined by summing the
concentration of the individual ions (Wood and Talling, 1988). Moreover, for solutions in the EC
range of 0.1 to 5.0 mmhos/cm, the TDS (mg/l or ppm) may be obtained by multiplying the EC
value expressed in mmhos/cm by 640. The SAR value will be calculated using equation (4) with the
concentrations expressed in meq/l. The residual sodium carbonate (RSC) will be determined from
the concentrations of HCO3-, CO32-, Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions as follows:

(5)

Where, concentrations are expressed in meq/l (US Salinity Laboratory Staff, 1954). Adjusted RNa
(adj. RNa), which is recommended by Suarez (1981) as more acceptable than adjusted SAR and
represents the true picture of the SAR will be calculated as:

(6)

Where Na is the concentration of Na in the irrigation water expressed in meq/l, Cax is a modified
Ca value presented in Table 11 (page 62) of FAO Paper 29 Rev. 1 (FAO, 1989) reported in meq/l.
Cax represents Ca in the irrigation water but modified due to salinity of the water (EC iw), its
HCO3/Ca ratio (HCO3 and Ca in meq/l) and the estimated partial pressure of CO 2 in the surface few
mm of soil (PCO2 = 0.0007 atmospheres) and Mg is the concentration of Mg in the irrigation water
expressed in meq/l (Table 4).

Table 4. General guidelines for salinity hazard of irrigation water based upon conductivity.
No. Electrical use Conductivity (dS/m)*
1 None ≤ 0.75
2 Some 0.76 - 1.51
3 Moderate 1.51 - 3.00
4 Severe 2 ≥ 3.00

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 Source: Salinity mapping (Spatial mapping of Megerssa et.al 2010)

Table 5. Guidelines for assessment of sodium hazard of irrigation water based on SAR and ECw2.
Potential for Water Infiltration Problem
Irrigation water SAR Unlikely Likely
-----------ECw* (dS/m)----------
0-3 > 0.7 < 0.2
3-6 > 1.2 < 0.4
6-12 > 1.9 < 0.5
12-20 > 2.9 < 1.0
20-40 > 5.0 < 3.0
*Modified from R.S. Ayers and D.W. Westcot. 1994. Water Quality for Agriculture, Irrigation
and Drainage Paper 29, rev. 1, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
Source: Salinity mapping (Spatial mapping of Megerssa et.al 2010)

Soil laboratories
Because the soil and water samples from 100 schemes could be large to accommodate at a single
laboratory, relatively better laboratories at each region will be selected based on their capacity
(facility, available chemicals, reagents and human power) and the samples will be analyzed within a
short period of time. Tentatively, the Amhara Design and Supervision Works Enterprise (ADSWE),
the Oromia Water Works Enterprise (OWWE), the Arba Minich University Soil lab in the SNNPR
and the soil lab at the Ethiopian Water Works are listed to be consulted. Because there is no reliable
laboratory in the Afar and Somali Regions, the samples could be sent to either the Ethiopian Water
works or t the OWWE soil lab. Regarding the laboratory issue, appropriate labs will be identified
and contractual agreement is reached ahead of the sample delivery.

3.1.6 Mapping the salinity problem using GIS

Salinity mapping
The spatial mapping of some of the soil quality parameters will be carried out in GIS (ArcGIS 9.2)
following the interpolation techniques successfully utilized by Megersa (2010). Ordinary Kriging
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will be used to estimate the water quality parameters as well as some of the soil quality parameters
at unvisited sites; whereas Inverse Distance Weight (IDW) employed for spatial mapping of the
other soil quality parameters (Megersa, 2010).

Modeling Salinity problems using satellite images and remote sensing technics (optional)
Ground based soil parameters
The following information is important to map the soil salinity problem
• Take geo referenced data using GPS for each soil and water sample with standards setting
• Landsat image
• DEM data 30m * 30m resolution or better resolution
• Because the approach of descriptive statistical may overlook spatial variability, geo-
statistical technique could be better to analyze spatial distribution of soil properties.
• Geo-statistics has been widely used to estimate and map soil properties across spaces.
• Kriging is one of the exact methods of geo-statistics (Lam, 1983) used widely in many
disciplines including soils (Goovaerts; Li & Heap, 2011).
• Among the kriging algorithms, ordinary kriging (OK) that is suitable spatial prediction
models for geostatistical analysis of environmental variables (Hengl, 2007)

Acquiring satellite imagery

Landsat satellite images will be acquired freely from USGS web site. The digital shape file of the
study area will be used to delineate the study area. All visible and infrared bands (except the
thermal infrared) will be included in the analysis. Remote sensing image processing will be
performed using ArcGIS 10 ERDAS IMAGINE 2010 software.
ii. Image Preprocessing
Suitable band selection, layer stacking, image enhancement and noise removal will be applied
before generating the salinity indices. For this purpose, six bands with a spatial resolution of 30m
(i.e. 1, 2,3,4,5 and 7 band combinations) of the Landsat TM 2013-17 images will be selected and
used for extracting salinity indices. Radiometric enhancement technique will be applied on landsat
image in order to improve information content extract from the imagery. The image will be geo-
referenced (Universal Transverse Mercator-UTM, WGS84) from the data set provider.

Data processing and analysis

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The study primarily depends on the use of computer-assisted mapping of soil salinity using an
integrated approach of in-situ salinity parameters indices derived from LandSat imagery. In order to
get the required information from in-situ data and satellite imagery, processing and interpretation
will be made systematically in ERDAS imagine latest version and ArcGIS latest software versions.
In this regard, three main methods of data processing and analysis will be applied in this study.
 Mapping soil salinity using geo-statistical techniques
 Mapping soil salinity using RS (remote sensing) indicators
 Correlation between RS indicators and in situ-salinity parameters

4. Procedures
 Identification of georeferenced SHIS in salinity hot spot areas
 Longlisting of selected SHIS in salinity hot spot areas
 Shortlisting of selected SHIS in salinity hot spot areas for detail investigation
 Collection of available data and previous studies
 Preparation of salinity level map
 Compilation of map of green area using satellite images
 Inventoried all the production wells within the river basin/watershed
 Collection and analysis of a representative groundwater samples all-overs the governorate
 Analyze the irrigation scheme/ well inventory data and prepare specialized maps using GIS (water
sources, irrigation scheme boundary, well location, depth to groundwater, salinity, total depth of
drilling, distribution of groundwater extraction)
 Assess status of salt water intrusion within the governorate in view of available data
 Select the best location and procedure for applying the artificial recharge technique e.g. in Fafem
Basin
 Propose the availability of using low saline groundwater for different sectors (Irrigating the green
areas, agricultural areas, etc....)
 Irrigation scheme specific cost effective drainage technology recommendation and design results
 Progress Reports
 Final Report

5. Project Review procedures

The activities are grouped into seven major components namely:

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 1. Detail of the study methods worked out
2. Reconnaissance survey conducted at each scheme
3. Detail survey of the schemes for their farming system and salinity problems
4. Remote sensing based irrigated area Mapping
5. Recommending alternative drainage and land/ irrigation technologies
6. Capacity building for key partners using the study findings
7. Report writing and submission

6. Expected Beneficiaries

At the pilot phase, an estimated 100 irrigation schemes farming households with average irrigation
scheme size of 50 ha and a total of 5000 ha irrigators will benefit from the activity with an
intervention regions, namely; Oromia, Amhara, Tigray, SNNPR (including Sidama Regional State),
Afar and Ethiopian Somali regional state.

7. Partnership
The project will build partnerships and synergy with other stakeholders in Government institutions
like Ministry of Water Irrigation and Electricity, Ethiopian Agricultural Research Institute,
Regional Agricultural Research Institutions (RARIs) Regional bureau of Agriculture, Regional
Basin Authorities, Regional Governments, and different Irrigation Projects launched in the country,
and non-governmental organizations, consortiums, Consultative Groups such as International Water
Management Institute (IWMI) and Universities.

8. Action plan

Table 6: Implementation plan

Annual Time table remark
Activities
D J F M A M J s
Inception workshop and refining the project protocol x
Signing LoA between EARCS and RARIs involved in the study x
Transferring budget to institutions (1st installment) x
Training of implementing researchers and lab technicians on x
sample collection, analysis technics and mapping using GIS & RS
Preparation of materials required for soil and water sampling x x
Meeting regional bureaus, offices to enlist the SSI schemes in the x x
lowlands and having salinity problems
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 Annual Time table remark
Activities
D J F M A M J s
Conducting desk work on reviewing on available information of x x x
the SSI
Budget transfer (2nd installment) x
Conducting a reconnaissance survey x x
Analysis and preliminary report writing on the data collected x x
during the reconnaissance survey
Selecting schemes for detail studies x x
Capturing satellite images and application software to analyze x
images
Conducting detail studies (collection of soil and water samples) x x
Sample preparation and analysis x x
Processing, analysis & interpretation of laboratory results x x
Mid-term review workshop x
Mapping salinity problems for individual schemes x x x
Modeling salinity using satellite images and remote sensing x x x
technics
Write-shop for report writing x x
Conducting a workshop to evaluate the draft progress report x
Training to development practitioners on the cost effective x
management of SSI schemes to mitigate salinity problems
Submission of final technical and financial reports and x
publications

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18
 Appendixes

I. Data recording sheet for the reconnaissance survey

A. General information about the schemes

1. Name of the scheme _______________ Year of establishment of the scheme _______________

2. Kebele _____________ Woreda__________________Zone__________ Region __________

3. Area under irrigation (command area in ha) __________________ _

4. No of beneficiary households: Total:_____________Male:____________Female____________

5. Average family size of the beneficiary households _______________________________

6. Average holding size: Irrigated__________ Non irrigated__________________________

7. AEZ ___________________ Altitude (range) ____________________________

8. Length of growing period: ________________________

9. Annual rainfall (mm): _________________________________________

10. Soil types (local description and if any, scientific name): _________________________

11. Source of water for the irrigation: _________________________

12. Major irrigated crops:___________________________________________________

13. Name of the researcher recording this data: ___________________________________

B. What are the Major problems in the scheme that need interventions (with or without external
assistance)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------

C. How the salinity in the scheme developed?

1) by the poor use of irrigation water (poor management)

2) a natural problem in the area caused by the soil nature or the water source

3) not known

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 D. Which types of crops are grown to cope with the problem of salinity?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------

E. Have you practiced to reclaim the salt affected land, if any? (Yes/No)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

F. If yes to E, what type of reclamation used in the scheme-------------------------------------------------

G. Information on water abstraction, conveyance and distribution

1) How the water is distributed to each plot of farm land within the scheme?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------

2) Other any innovated water abstraction, conveyance and distribution available, describe it
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

H. Crops and cropping systems

i. Major crops grown in the scheme with their rotation system?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------

ii. Why these crops preferred in this scheme?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

iii. Do you supplement crops with irrigation for the main cropping season?
Yes/No,-----------------------If yes, please describe how frequent this is used
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------

iv. Are farmers use improved crop varieties? Yes/No, --------; if yes what are they?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------

Table 1. Crop yields, comparing rain fed and irrigated systems, purpose of production?

Crop Yield (q/ha) Purpose of production

Rain fed Irrigated Market consumption

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I. Do you use fertilizers for the irrigated crops in the scheme? Yes/No ---------, If yes, what type of
fertilizers and how much per hectare (kg/ha)

1) Types----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2) how much per hectare (kg/ha): ------------------------------------------------------------------------

J. Information on water uses, methods of irrigation, depth and frequency of application

1) Type of irrigation method(s) used for the crops grown in the scheme?
------------------------------------

2) Frequency of application for each crop when water is sufficient and scarce?

3) When there is sufficient water -------------------------------------

4) When there is scarce water------------------------------------------------

5) Depths of application for each crop and how do you know depth of application?
---------------------------------------------------------------------

6) Are there any environmental change as well of health hazards as a result of irrigation
activities? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

K. Water management

1) Who manages the overall irrigation scheme, Yewuha Abat or any other?
------------------------

2) If it is managed by Yewuha Abat: How many are they?------------, how is the

election process?-------------------- how many years he/they serve--------------------how long is
the service? ---------------

3) Do the scheme has bylaws? Written/unwritten? ------------------

4) Who developed the bylaws? -------------------------------------

5) Who controls the water in the primary, secondary and tertiary canals? Only if there
the different canal system in the scheme.

i. At the primary canal ----------------------

ii. At the secondary canal ---------------------

iii. At the tertiary canal -------------------------

L. What are the bases for water allocation to a given member;

1) cultivated land,

2) types of crops grown,

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 3) if any other, mention? ----------------

M. Is there a penalty system for the defaulters of the bylaw? Yes/ No, -----------if yes, describe when
and how the penalty is implemented-------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Annex II. Inception workshop participants

On behalf of the NARS system, the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Council Secretariat (EARCS) took a
contract agreement with the Small Scale Irrigation Development (SSID) Directorate of the Ministry of
Agriculture (MoA) to conduct an exploratory assessment study on the drainage problems and buildup of
salinity of the SSI schemes in Ethiopia.

The main objective of this project is to identify, analyse and map salinity level of about 100 smallholder
irrigation schemes (small & medium scale irrigation schemes) at six regions (i.e. Oromia-, Amhara, Tigray,
Afar, SNNP and Somali) due to continued environmental damage as a result of poor water management
practices and schemes designs so that recommend efficient and cost-effective drainage systems. The
inception workshop has the following specific objectives;
 Assess extents of salinity and sodicity and identify causes
 Develop database and mapping of the salinity and sodicity problems of a particular scheme
 Develop a model in predicting the trends, spatial distributions of the salinity and sodicity
problems
 Assess environmental and economic impacts of the problem
 Recommend alternative solutions
 Capacity building to local SSI users

Agenda of the Inception Workshop

1) Creating a common understanding on the methods, scope, objectives and deliverables of the
project
2) Fine-tuning the methods of the project protocol
3) Outlining action plan
4) Discussing of details of the financial use and reporting mechanism
5) Discussing the content of the letter Agreement (LoU)

Expected outputs of the Inception Workshop

After this workshop the following outputs are expected;

 common understanding about the project will be created among the implementing
institutions
 the project protocol will be fine-tuned to the level that everybody can easily implement it in
the field
 revised action plan of the project outlined
 financial use modality, technical and financial reporting formats will be clear to all
 final LoA format prepared and ready for signature by head of institutions

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