Assessments of the experience of long term users of INCA were made in Bangladesh, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Turkey which were used to develop improvements to the functionality of the software. The performance evaluation module was coded to provide the user with a broad range of indicators relating to the equity, adequacy and timeliness of water supply to users. The management information module was developed and field-tested with the National Irrigation Administration of the Philippines.

The tutorial was developed to incorporate experiences gained from staff training on a number of schemes over the duration of the project.

A workshop for senior irrigation professionals was organised in Sri Lanka in February 1996 to disseminate the software and explore the potential for application of improved water management techniques.

Field implementations of the INCA software (Water Management & Supply Evaluation modules) in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Bangladesh demonstrated the potential for improved water scheduling using the INCA software on schemes of differing sizes (2,000 to 120,000 ha).

The software has proved to be robust and has continued to operate successfully for a number of years after inputs by HR staff have ceased. A review of sustainability of the INCA software and associated management procedures in 1995 found that the software continued to operate, but some of the management interventions introduced during implementation of INCA had been discarded. A common factor in the failure to sustain improved levels of management is considered to be the lack of institutionalised procedures to set water management performance targets for system managers. Budgets for operations are limited and operations postings are less popular with irrigation department staff than positions on construction or maintenance projects.

Extensive discussion of the potential for improved water management with practitioners indicates that a lack of institutional focus on water management is the central constraint to improving system performance. Without setting appropriate performance objectives for managers and operators technological advances, such as INCA, will remain under utilised.

INCA is a leading software system for management of irrigation water distribution systems.

The software has proved effective in assisting system operators improve water distribution and seasonal savings of 10 to 40% have been achieved over water issues before implementation of the INCA software. At other sites improved equity of water distribution has been achieved as a result of improved delivery scheduling and related improvements to operational procedures.

The finding that constraints preventing uptake of advances in water management techniques are now more related to institutional problems rather than technical deficiencies point to the need for further initiatives. Such initiatives should aim to implement improved water management practices on numbers of projects whilst concurrently focusing the attention of the senior levels of the agency on setting performance targets.

NCA USER Manual

INCA Demonstration software

INCA Multimedia demonstration software

An intermediate level of data processing for Irrigation Management. Makin, I W, Bird J D. In: Proceedings of Fifteenth Congress of ICID, The Hague, 1993.

INCA: A management information system to improve irrigation performance. Makin I W, Cornish G A, Spark P. In: Proceedings of Asian Regional Symposium on Maintenance and Operation of Irrigation/Drainage Schemes for Improved Performance. Beijing, 1993

Irrigation water management: Experiences with computer aided systems. Makin I W, Cornish G A, Spark P. In: Proc. of Workshop on the use of computer operated models as decision support tools in operation and maintenance of irrigation systems: Sri Lankan Experience. Irrigation Training Institute, Galgamuwa, Sri Lanka, 1993.

Information systems for management of irrigation water distribution. Makin I W. ODU Bulletin No. 27, 1993

Software for management of irrigation systems. Makin I W, Skutsch J C. In: Proceedings of the FAO Expert Consultation on Irrigation Water Delivery Models. Rome, 1993

Farmer participation in the operation and management of irrigation schemes. Makin I W. ODU Bulletin No. 31, 1995

Water savings through improved irrigation management. ODA Water Issue 1. 1995

Analysis helps water supply. In Environmental Software Solutions. Practical expertise from the UK Published by Department of Trade and Industry 1996.

Irrigation scheduling at system level - an analysis of practical application of the INCA software. Makin I W, Cornish G A. Proc. of FAO/ICID workshop on Irrigation scheduling September 1995. (in press)

Information systems for operational management of irrigation distribution. Makin I W, Cornish G A. Proceedings of Sixteenth Congress of ICID, Cairo, 1996.

For the software tools developed under this project to be fully effective in improving the performance of irrigation water distribution systems it is now appropriate to:

Investigate the institutional circumstances of irrigation departments to identify causes of resistance to setting of water delivery performance objectives. Scheme managers are generally set maintenance and budget targets, yet water distribution which should be the key objective of irrigation schemes is rarely accessed in a meaningful fashion by the irrigation agency.

Develop simplified hydraulic models to predict the impact of operational decisions. Operation of irrigation system control structures is generally devolved to relatively junior staff without adequate training. Linking appropriate hydraulic models to the INCA system would provide system managers with an effective mechanism to develop operational instructions for gate operators thus reducing the instances of unstable hydraulic conditions which have detrimental impacts on the physical stability of canal embankments and also degrade irrigation service to water users.

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