Water management challenges at Mushandike irrigation scheme in Runde catchment, Zimbabwe
Mushandike Irrigation Scheme, constructed in 1939, is located in Masvingo District and is one of the oldest irrigation schemes in Zimbabwe. Since 2002, the scheme has experienced severe water shortages resulting in poor crop yields. The low crop yields have led to loss of income to the smallhold...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2018-05-01
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| Series: | Proceedings of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences |
| Online Access: | https://www.proc-iahs.net/378/73/2018/piahs-378-73-2018.pdf |
| Summary: | Mushandike Irrigation Scheme, constructed in 1939, is located in
Masvingo District and is one of the oldest irrigation schemes in Zimbabwe.
Since 2002, the scheme has experienced severe water shortages resulting in
poor crop yields. The low crop yields have led to loss of income to the
smallholder farmers who constitute the irrigation scheme leading to water
conflicts. The water stress at the scheme has been largely attributed to
climate change and the uncontrolled expansion of the land under irrigation
which is currently about 1000 ha
against a design area of 613 ha. This study sought to determine the actual causes of water shortage
at Mushandike Irrigation Scheme. Hydro-climatic data was analysed to
establish if the Mushandike River system generates enough water to guarantee
the calculated annual yield of the dam. Irrigation demands and efficiencies
were compared against water availability and dam releases to establish if
there is any deficit. The Spearman's Rank Correlation results of 0.196 for
rainfall and 0.48 for evaporation confirmed positive but insignificant
long-term changes in hydro-climatic conditions in the catchment. Water
budgets established that the yield of the dam of
9.2 × 10<sup>6</sup> m<sup>3</sup> year<sup>−1</sup>
is sufficient to support the expanded area of 1000 ha provided
in-field water management efficiencies are adopted. The study concludes that
water shortages currently experienced at the scheme are a result of
inefficient water management (e.g. over-abstraction from the dam beyond the
firm yield, adoption of inefficient irrigation methods and high channel
losses in the canal system) and are not related to hydro-climatic
conditions. The study also sees no value in considering inter-basin water
transfer to cushion the losses being experienced at the scheme. |
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| ISSN: | 2199-8981 2199-899X |