Performance assessment of water delivery to a smallholder irrigation scheme in Zimbabwe: Nyanyadzi case study

A research paper illustrating how potential benefits from smallholder irrigation schemes are rarely realised due to unsatisfactory performance of their water delivery systems in rural Zimbabwe.The potential benefits from smallholder irrigation schemes are rarely realised due to unsatisfactory performance of their water delivery systems. A study was conducted to quantify and evaluate water delivery performance indicators of adequacy (Ad), equity (Eq) and dependability (Dp) in three sub-blocks of Nyanyadzi smallholder irrigation scheme using water requirement analysis and a questionnaire survey. The water delivery performance evaluation was carried out between October 1996 and January 1997 for two maize crops under supplementary irrigation and for two consecutive irrigation cycles. Water supply adequacy (ratio of supply to demand) in the first cycle was good (Ad>1.21) and became marginally good (0.96 to 1.01) and poor (Ad0.2) at 73 percent of the 42 locations studied in the canal network. Results of a questionnaire survey revealed that the performance of the water delivery system was consistently low. Poor adequacy, equity and reliability of water supply were perceived respectively by 57 percent, 53 percent and 77 percent of the 30 irrigators interviewed. It was concluded that management input should be intensified in head block A to ensure better water deliveries to the scheme

Fits and misfits of linked public participation and spatial information in water quality management on the Great Barrier Reef coast (Australia)

Public participation is experiencing increasing recognition as an indispensable component of effective communication and engagement between resource users and managers in natural resource planning and management. To bridge a gap between communication, information and participation, natural resource management agencies have increasingly used the visual capability of spatial decision support tools, such as geographic information systems. Nevertheless, both participation and the use of spatial technologies have been promoted without much consideration of how particular stakeholder groups participate and use existing decision support tools. This paper analyses the current state of public participation and the extent to which spatial data and geographic information tools are used by stakeholder groups to facilitate access to information and to support communication in water quality management on the Great Barrier Reef coast. Data were collected via document analysis, participant observation at stakeholders' meeting, face-to-face interviews and questionnaires. Qualitative data were coded for themes using coding analysis processes, whereas quantitative data from the surveys were analysed using standard exploratory and descriptive statistical techniques. Results reveal that reliance on the natural resource management officer, established networks and personal relationships, and provision of property-scale spatial information are important aspects of a meaningful public participation process