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Guidelines & Manuals

Spate Irrigation Guidelines

The ‘Guidelines for Spate Irrigation’ has appeared as Irrigation and Drainage Paper 65 of the Food and Agricultural Organization. The Guidelines bring together ideas and practices on improving different aspects of spate irrigation: the social organization, the engineering, the water management, the water rights, agronomy, economics and links with river management. The Guidelines are the result of a ten year process of documentation of experiences and local practices. The main message is that though risk inherent to spate irrigation, in many parts of the world it is the ‘only thing around’ and there is a lot of scope to improve the livelihoods and productivities in spate irrigation. Download the Guidelines on spate irrigation.

An earlier version was prepared by HR Wallingford and MetaMeta under support by DFID’s Knowledge And Research Program. Download the earlier guidelines.

Design Manual

A design manual was prepared on the basis of the work in IIP and Tihama Project.

New design manual prepared based on work in Horn of Africa. This manual Engineering Manual Spate Irrigation– is intended to both provide an introduction to the engineering of spate irrigation schemes and provide a practical guide for selection and designing of interventions.

The Quick Start Design Manual for Spate Works (Yemen) was primarily prepared by Manohar Singh (GSCP/ NIP) for refreshing the Yemeni Engineers involved in the field of development of Spate Works.

Design Guidelines for Lowland Spate Irrigation Systems, prepared by Engr Noman Latif, Director of Arid Zone Research Institute D.I. Khan., look at the design criteria of lowland spate irrigation systems in Pakistan with a special focus on the design criteria and use of earthen bunds.

The Guide book on Spate Irrigation in Pakistan was prepared by the Pakistan Spate Network.