In the short water supply environment of Pakistan, farmers try to minimize the gap between demand and supply of canal water extracting groundwater for irrigation purposes. However, saline groundwater upconing may occur in response to fresh groundwater withdrawals from unconfined aquifer underlain by salty groundwater. Skimming well technology can help controlling this upconing phenomenon. However, in most cases, the small discharges of such wells cannot be efficiently applied on surface irrigated croplands. Pressurized irrigation application systems use small discharge effectively, but the cost and availability of equipment in the local market is a significant constraint. Root zone salinity is also expected to increase if this skimmed groundwater is used for irrigation purposes, particularly in the absence of proper salinity management practices. To address these issues, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), and Water Resource Research Institute (WRRI) of National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), Mona Reclamation Experimental Project (MREP) of Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) are collaborating to undertake an applied research under the Project, Root Zone Salinity Management Using Fractional Skimming Wells with Pressurized Irrigation.
This Inception Report provides information and progress of the activities of the project entitled, "Root Zone Salinity Management Using Fractional Skimming Wells With Pressurized Irrigation". Details of the implementation plan covering methodology, technical interventions and field research studies are included in this report.
The report computes different components of potential crop water demand at the canal command level in Indus Basin. Major contribution is update of water demand based on several years of climate data, which improves the estimation of reference evapotranspiration for developing refined crop coefficients based on the latest cropping patterns. The water demands of major crop and fully developed standard unit for each canal command is presented for direct comparisons and adjustments, if required. The report is part of Indus Basin performance study, which aims to identify the scope for integrated land and water management by evaluating current practices to propose sustainable alternatives.
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