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Interesting question and quite a challenging objective to achieve. The first step would be in establishing the design demand volume of the proposed system. This will be determined partially by the types of crop and the type of farm water management selected (e.g. flood irrigation, drip irrigation etc.), and partially by the how much of the crop water demand is to be supplied by irrigation. For your interest the following link provides an outline of the procedures that could be used for this. Unless you are a hydrologist I would skip the mathematics and detail. I am a hydrologist and sincerely wish I could have skipped the mathematics and detail!https://www.fao.org/docrep/x0490e/x0490e00.HTMAllen • It is important to realise that irrigation is as much about timing as quantity, so it would be preferable to get someone with experience of participatory methods to work with your communities in developing seasonal and cropping calendars at this stage. The following link gives a flavour of some of the participatory tools and approaches available (I could not find one on irrigation, but the principles are the same, even if the desired outcomes are different). https://www.unisdr.org/we/inform/publications/2299 • It is also important to note that the type of farm water management technology is determined as much by the communities capacities, traditional norms in land and water rights as it is by technical constraints. Irrigation on a meaningful scale uses large volumes of water and consequently infrastructure. The communities you are working with will be required to develop and maintain quite sophisticated institutions for your irrigation scheme to be successful. I cannot stress strongly enough the need to employ participatory approaches. • Once the design demand is established then you need to establish the supply volume available from your water source. Definitely hire an experienced hydrologist for this, it will be a critical determinant of the overall cost of your scheme. Water storage is expensive.
• In general the cost of your system will be determined by the efficiency required, which is a function of the ratio of supply to demand, storage and management arrangements. You should also carry out an EIA early in the project as irrigation in arid areas carries a high risk of soil sodicity and potential toxicity. For an overview of the issues you could check out https://www.fao.org/docrep/003/t0234e/T0234E00.htm#TOC. • For more specific guidance get in touch with the ministry of agriculture, ministry of the environment and natural resources. These ministries are likely to have carried out feasibility studies based on the hydrology and soil types in the area. I would suggest these as your first port of call, as they are also likely to have registers of engineering and professionals licensed to work on irrigation schemes. In my experience poorly planned irrigation projects with poorly executed feasibility studies are generally a waste of money. I hope the above helps to get you started. There is no standard approach to irrigation, as each scheme has to be produced from an analysis of hydrological, agricultural and hydraulic factors. I am happy to provide more information but it is difficult to do so in general, as the links above may serve to demonstrate.

Best regards

John Cody

Interesting question and quite a challenging objective to achieve. The first step would be in establishing the design demand volume of the proposed system. This will be determined partially by the types of crop and the type of farm water management selected (e.g. flood irrigation, drip irrigation etc.), and partially by the how much of the crop water demand is to be supplied by irrigation. For your interest the following link provides an outline of the procedures that could be used for this. Unless you are a hydrologist I would skip the mathematics and detail. I am a hydrologist and sincerely wish I could have skipped the mathematics and detail!https://www.fao.org/docrep/x0490e/x0490e00.HTMAllen detail!https://www.fao.org/docrep/x0490e/x0490e00.HTM • It is important to realise that irrigation is as much about timing as quantity, so it would be preferable to get someone with experience of participatory methods to work with your communities in developing seasonal and cropping calendars at this stage. The following link gives a flavour of some of the participatory tools and approaches available (I could not find one on irrigation, but the principles are the same, even if the desired outcomes are different). https://www.unisdr.org/we/inform/publications/2299 • It is also important to note that the type of farm water management technology is determined as much by the communities capacities, traditional norms in land and water rights as it is by technical constraints. Irrigation on a meaningful scale uses large volumes of water and consequently infrastructure. The communities you are working with will be required to develop and maintain quite sophisticated institutions for your irrigation scheme to be successful. I cannot stress strongly enough the need to employ participatory approaches. • Once the design demand is established then you need to establish the supply volume available from your water source. Definitely hire an experienced hydrologist for this, it will be a critical determinant of the overall cost of your scheme. Water storage is expensive.
• In general the cost of your system will be determined by the efficiency required, which is a function of the ratio of supply to demand, storage and management arrangements. You should also carry out an EIA early in the project as irrigation in arid areas carries a high risk of soil sodicity and potential toxicity. For an overview of the issues you could check out https://www.fao.org/docrep/003/t0234e/T0234E00.htm#TOC. • For more specific guidance get in touch with the ministry of agriculture, ministry of the environment and natural resources. These ministries are likely to have carried out feasibility studies based on the hydrology and soil types in the area. I would suggest these as your first port of call, as they are also likely to have registers of engineering and professionals licensed to work on irrigation schemes. In my experience poorly planned irrigation projects with poorly executed feasibility studies are generally a waste of money. I hope the above helps to get you started. There is no standard approach to irrigation, as each scheme has to be produced from an analysis of hydrological, agricultural and hydraulic factors. I am happy to provide more information but it is difficult to do so in general, as the links above may serve to demonstrate.

Best regards

John Cody

Interesting question and quite a challenging objective to achieve. The first step would be in establishing the design demand volume of the proposed system. This will be determined partially by the types of crop and the type of farm water management selected (e.g. flood irrigation, drip irrigation etc.), and partially by the how much of the crop water demand is to be supplied by irrigation. For your interest the following link provides an outline of the procedures that could be used for this. Unless you are a hydrologist I would skip the mathematics and detail. I am a hydrologist and sincerely wish I could have skipped the mathematics and detail!https://www.fao.org/docrep/x0490e/x0490e00.HTM detail! https://www.fao.org/docrep/x0490e/x0490e00.HTM
• It is important to realise that irrigation is as much about timing as quantity, so it would be preferable to get someone with experience of participatory methods to work with your communities in developing seasonal and cropping calendars at this stage. The following link gives a flavour of some of the participatory tools and approaches available (I could not find one on irrigation, but the principles are the same, even if the desired outcomes are different). https://www.unisdr.org/we/inform/publications/2299 • It is also important to note that the type of farm water management technology is determined as much by the communities capacities, traditional norms in land and water rights as it is by technical constraints. Irrigation on a meaningful scale uses large volumes of water and consequently infrastructure. The communities you are working with will be required to develop and maintain quite sophisticated institutions for your irrigation scheme to be successful. I cannot stress strongly enough the need to employ participatory approaches. • Once the design demand is established then you need to establish the supply volume available from your water source. Definitely hire an experienced hydrologist for this, it will be a critical determinant of the overall cost of your scheme. Water storage is expensive.
• In general the cost of your system will be determined by the efficiency required, which is a function of the ratio of supply to demand, storage and management arrangements. You should also carry out an EIA early in the project as irrigation in arid areas carries a high risk of soil sodicity and potential toxicity. For an overview of the issues you could check out https://www.fao.org/docrep/003/t0234e/T0234E00.htm#TOC. • For more specific guidance get in touch with the ministry of agriculture, ministry of the environment and natural resources. These ministries are likely to have carried out feasibility studies based on the hydrology and soil types in the area. I would suggest these as your first port of call, as they are also likely to have registers of engineering and professionals licensed to work on irrigation schemes. In my experience poorly planned irrigation projects with poorly executed feasibility studies are generally a waste of money. I hope the above helps to get you started. There is no standard approach to irrigation, as each scheme has to be produced from an analysis of hydrological, agricultural and hydraulic factors. I am happy to provide more information but it is difficult to do so in general, as the links above may serve to demonstrate.

Best regards

John Cody