Assessment of irrigation water demand in Pangani river basin and its effect on Pangani river flow
Loading...
Date
1997
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
university of Dar es Salaam
Abstract
Irrigation is the application of water to the soil for plant use either to supplement rainfall and groundwater contributions of fully supply the required moisture. Water requirement way be defined as the quantity of water, regardless of its source, required by a crop or diversified pattern of crops in a given period of time for the crops normal growth under field conditions at a place. Water required is therefore a demand which can be met by supply from various sources of which irrigation is one. This work attempts to assess in details the total potential irrigation demand in Pangani River basin which is one of the nine major drainage basins in Tanzania. Pangani basin has eight sub-catchments which are comprised of about twenty three water sources. Each of these water sources has been considered in developing the irrigation demand. Irrigation has been a traditional activity in the Pangani River and the acreage under production has continued to expand with time. Secondly the water resources within the Pangani river basin has attracted massive hydropower investments in terms of plants. Conflicts in water use between irrigation and hydropower production is therefore expected in future if not now. Under standing how irrigation development will affect the flows in the basin is therefore an important aspect of this study. In conclusion, the effect of irrigation demand in Pangani River flows is found to be small due to the uneven distribution of irrigation land along the various water sources. That is, those rivers with high irrigation potential in terms of water have general low potential of irrigable land while those rivers with low volume of flows have, in general, high potential of irrigable land.
Description
Available in print form, EAF Collection, Dr. Wilbert Chagula Library, (THS EAF TC919.T3A26)
Keywords
Irrigation farming, Social aspects, Pangani river basin, Tanzania
Citation
Abonyo, O.N.J (1997) Assessment of irrigation water demand in Pangani river basin and its effect on Pangani river flow, Masters dissertation, University of Dar es Salaam