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Irrigation in Peru
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0.12m ha (sprinkler irrigation)
0.07m ha (localized irrigation)
|- !align="left" valign="top"|Irrigation efficiency |valign="top"| 35% |- !align="left" valign="top"|Importance of irrigated agriculture (share in agricultural GDP) |valign="top"| n/a |- !align="left" valign="top"|High-value crops (share in irrigated area) |valign="top"| n/a |- !align="left" valign="top"|Water sources for irrigation |valign="top"| Surface water almost 100% |- !align="left" valign="top"|Tariff (US$/ha) |valign="top"| 2.2 25.6 |- !align="left" valign="top"|Annual investment in irrigation infrastructure |valign="top"| n/a |-|}
Irrigation in Peru has been and will remain a major contributor to increasing the country's food security, agricultural growth and productivity, and human development in rural areas.
Water resources and irrigation infrastructure are unequally distributed throughout the country, creating very different realities. About two-thirds of the irrigation infrastructure is in Peru's arid coastal region (Costa), which contains over half of Peru's roughly 28 million inhabitants. Coastal agricultural production includes most of the country's leading commercial and export crops and accounts for two-thirds of agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) and 10% of total exports.
In comparison, the highland region (Sierra) and the Amazon region (Selva) receive much more rainfall annually and are significantly less equipped with irrigation infrastructure. These areas are home to the majority of Peru's poor, many of whom rely on subsistence or small-scale farming.
The Peruvian Government is undertaking several programs aimed at addressing key challenges in the irrigation sector, including: (i) increasing water stress and competing interests, (ii) deteriorating water quality, (iii) poor efficiency of irrigation and drainage systems, including low technology systems and underutilization of existing infrastructure, (iv) weak institutional and legal frameworks, (v) low cost recovery , (vi) inadequate water supply and sanitation, (vii) vulnerability to climate variability and change including extreme weather conditions and glacier retreat.
Relevance of irrigation for agriculture and rural development
After a period of stagnation and limited development in the 1970s and 1980s, irrigated agriculture has become increasingly important in Peru's development and growth. Agriculture employs 30% of Peru's population and accounts for 13% of GDP and more than 10% of total exports (US$1.6 billion in 2005) .
Non-traditional exports account for two-thirds of agricultural GDP. These crops are located mostly on the Costa, a region totally dependent on irrigation due to low rainfall. High-value crops and irrigation technology have had a major impact on the Costa's rural development. In 2001, rural poverty in the region reached 5.2% .
Although Peru's GDP increased on average by more than 5% per year between 2001 and 2006, poverty has not been significantly reduced in the Sierra and Amazon regions, whose rural poverty rates are 45% and 40%, respectively. Agriculture based in the highlands and Amazon regions accounts for one-third of the country's agricultural GDP. Producers are mostly engaged in traditional export agriculture and products for domestic consumption and subsistence. Improving the productivity of agriculture and shifting to high-value crops depend on reliable and cost-effective irrigation services and improvements in water resources management.
Rural and Urban Poverty by Natural Regions in Peru (%)
Source: INEI 2001
Irrigation development
Irrigation infrastructure
The Costa contains 68% of total irrigation infrastructure (approximately 1.2 million ha), the Sierra 26%, and the Selva 6%. About 80% of all water withdrawal in Peru is used for irrigation, yet much of this water (65%) is lost due to reliance on inefficient irrigation systems .
Overall efficiency of water use in irrigation systems is estimated at about 35%, which is considered poor performance and is due mainly to leaky distribution systems and the wide use of unimproved gravity and flooding irrigation methods with an overall estimated efficiency of 50%. Two-thirds of the total rainfall is discharged between January and April, only 25% of which is used for urban and agricultural consumption. Water is rarely metered and fees are mostly based on hectarage rather than on the volume of water used. Inadequate irrigation management together with inefficient irrigation systems lead to pervasive irrigation practices, with farmers applying water in excess of crop requirements and water availability.
Area with Irrigation Infrastructure and irrigated areas (In thousands of hectares)
Source: Portal Agrario (1994)
The coastal region, due to climatic conditions, depends on the water supplied by irrigation systems. Water comes from rivers (surface water) of the Andean Chain, and is managed with dams, intakes, and wells. In 1997, surface water supplied 97% of the fields by gravity irrigation (822473 ha) and 3% by pressurized irrigation (19680 ha) .
The Costa is characterized by large-scale irrigation schemes that supply various communities, where landholdings are relatively large and agriculture is mostly commercialized and devoted to exports.
In the Sierra and Selva, with 97% of Peru's water availability, surface water supplies agricultural fields by furrow irrigation. Irrigation systems consist of an open canal network, generally unlined, with rudimentary water intakes and distribution systems supplying small plots devoted mostly to subsistence agriculture. Less than 5% of irrigated land is equipped with improved on-farm irrigation systems.
Linkages with water resources
Peru has a high availability of water resources with about 106 river basins, and a per capita availability of 77,600 m3the highest in Latin America. The Andes divide Peru into three natural drainage basins: (i) Pacific basin, with 53 rivers, (ii) Atlantic basin, with 32 rivers, and (iii) Titicaca basin, with 13 rivers.
The dry Pacific basin, with 37 million cubic meters (m3) available per year, contains just 1.8% of Peru's water resources. Some 53 rivers, flowing west from the Andes to the coast, supply the bulk of the water used for irrigation. Of these rivers, only about 30% are perennial. Year-round irrigation water supply for about 40% of the irrigated area is unreliable, without some form of regulatory storage.
The Atlantic basin holds 97% of all available water and receives almost 2 billion cubic meters annually. The Lake Titicaca area receives 10 million cubic meters annually. The majority of the rainfall occurs between November and May; the rest of the year irrigation depends on low-tech systems.
Source: INEI (2007)
Environmental impacts of irrigation
Inefficient irrigation systems, poor irrigation management, deforestation, and pervasive practices using water in excess of crop requirements are taking an increased environmental toll. Ineffective irrigation has generated salinization and drainage problems in 300,000 hectares of the coastal valleys , jeopardizing these lands' productivity and the quality of Lima's urban water supply. Drainage problems are also affecting 150,000 hectares in the Selva .
Agricultural runoff, together with mining and industrial waste water, is also having an impact on water quality. Of the 53 rivers in the coastal area, 16 are partly polluted by lead, manganese and iron. Excessive deforestation in upper river basins due to nomadic agricultural practices is causing erosion problems in the Sierra, where 55-60% of the land is affected, and is increasing the amount of soil transported downstream .
History of the irrigation sector
Agricultural land under irrigation/past and present trends
Agriculture in Peru dates back more than 5,000 years when the Chavin culture built simple irrigation systems and canal networks north of Lima. By the 1400s and 1500s, the Inca Empire boasted an advanced irrigation system, supplying water to 700,000 hectares of diverse crops in the fertile coastal zone. For the next 300 years, Spanish colonialists shifted the country's focus to mining, which caused a reduction in agricultural production to 300,000 hectares and stagnation in the development of irrigation infrastructure
The 20th Century represented a period of agricultural stagnation especially during the 1970s and 1980s. In the past 30 years, the Peruvian Government has invested about US$5 billion to improve hydraulic infrastructure, including dams, and irrigation and drainage systems, producing an increase of the land under irrigation mostly in the coastal region.
Today, approximately 1.7 million hectares of Peru's total 2.6 million cultivated hectares have some irrigation infrastructure available. However, only 1.2 million hectares are actually irrigated each year due to poor performance of irrigation systems .
Institutional Development
The 20th Century began with an important institutional development in Peru's irrigation sector with the creation of the Mining and Water Engineering Body (1904) and the Hydrological Service (1911). In 1914, the Peruvian Government contracted US engineer Charles Shutton to advise on public works for irrigation development . However, it was not until the 1920s that the first large-scale State irrigation projects were launched. Public investment in irrigation in 1905 accounted for 8.7% of the total, reaching 18.62% in 1912, a trend that continued in the 1920s and 1930s.
From 1945 to 1948, the Government approved a National Plan for Improving Irrigation. Between 1945 and 1956, public investment reached unprecedented levels with up to 50% of total investment. Examples of the projects implemented at this time and during the 1960s are the water transfers from the Quinoz River to the intermittent Piura River in the Piura Region and from the Chotano River to Chancay-Lambayeque River in the Lambayeque Region, both located in the northern part of the coastal plain . Between 1950 and 1980, 90% of irrigation investment was directed to the coastal region and only 10% to the highlands.
The 1969 agrarian reform expropriated all estates above a certain size, usually 100 hectares. Most Peruvian peasants were independent smallholders and thus continued to farm their land individually after the reforms . The agrarian reform and political instability contributed to the poor performance of agriculture, since they profoundly changed the relationships of production in the countryside, disrupted the organization of productive systems on the best agricultural lands, and forced out part of the entrepreneurial capacity
.In 1989, the Government approved a decree on the organization of water users (Decreto Supremo 037-89-AG), decentralizing operational, maintenance, and management responsibilities of irrigation systems from the national government to water user boards (Juntas de Usuarios-WUBs). The decree aimed to incorporate private investment and spur independence and financial sustainability within water user organizations by establishing water tariffs to cover operational and maintenance costs (O&M). However, low tariffs and collection capacity produced insufficient financial support for WUBs to maintain and develop irrigation systems. The Peruvian Government continued to be the major actor in irrigation development which was focused on the coastal region. Some 76% of investment in the coastal region between 1978 and 1982 was concentrated in three major irrigation projects at Majes (Arequipa Region), Chira-Piura (Piura Region) and Tinajones (Lambayeque Region). This trend was maintained in the 1990s .
In 1996 the government created the Subsectoral Irrigation Program (Programa Subsectorial de Irrigacion PSI), aiming to develop WUBs' capacities, reduce the role of the public sector in irrigation, improve sustainability through increased cost recovery, and increase investment in technical improvement of irrigation systems
.In 2003 the government approved a 10-year irrigation strategy aimed at improving the profitability and competitiveness of irrigated agriculture. The strategy had been prepared by a multisectorial technical commission consisting of representatives from the Ministries of Agriculture; Housing, Construction and Sanitation; Economy and Finance; and the National Association of Users of Irrigation Districts .
Legal and institutional framework
Legal framework
Peru's Constitutional framework establishes sole ownership and managerial responsibility of water resources by the national government. The government allows water use under special conditions and appropriate payment of a water tariff, while maintaining ownership and ultimate control .
The General Water Law 17752 considers water as an agricultural commodity. The 1997 Natural Resources Law 26821 allows the transfer of water rights, including irrigation, from one party to another, which is incompatible with the General Water Law, and presents significant obstacles to the establishment and management of water property rights .
A 2003 National Irrigation Strategy, Ministerial Resolution 0498-2003-AG, aims to improve irrigation and drainage system technologies by creating a framework for national, regional, and local cooperation in the planning and implementation of irrigation projects. The PSI (under the National Irrigation Strategy) aims to increase water user boards' technical and managerial capacities in both the Costa and the Sierra. The Technical Irrigation Program (Programa de Riego Tecnificado-PRT-Law 28585 and its Regulation DS 004-2006-AG), approved in 2006, aims to repair, develop, and improve irrigation systems throughout Peru.
A draft National Water Resources Management Initiative, currently under revision by the Agrarian Committee, (see Water Resources Management in Peru) will recognize water's multisectoral nature and modify the previous institutional and legal framework, including irrigation, to carry out integrated water resources management.
Institutional framework
The institutional reforms of the past decade reduced the technical tasks under the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture and created numerous semi-autonomous executive units and special programs at the national, regional, and local levels.
The National Institute of Natural Resources , under MINAG, promotes and oversees the sustainable use of natural resources, including water. The Intendancy of Water Resourses, under INRENA, is the National Water Authority and is responsible for the design and implementation of sustainable water resources policies and irrigation nationally.
PSI , under INRENA, aims to improve the WUBs' managerial and technical capacities. The National Watershed Management and Conservation Soils Project , under INRENA, promotes integrated water resources management and conservation in river basins, with emphasis on the highlands. The National Institute of Agricultural Research studies innovative and low-cost technologies to improve water resources management and irrigation. The National Meteorological and Water Resources Service studies and disclosures information regarding climate events and their impacts on water resources . The Technical Administration of Irrigation Districts (Administration Tecnica de Riego-ATDR), under INRENA, aims to promote sustainable water use and resolve conflicts at the irrigation district level.
The National Government continues to transfer duties to the regional and local governments, especially after the Decentralization Law and the 2003 law establishing regional governments. Thus, regional and local governments add up to irrigation institutions with responsibilities expected to increase as the National Government approves integrated water management and irrigation policies. One of the newest responsibilities of these bodies consists of the implementation of the Technical Irrigation Program.
Farmers/organizations and on-farm water management
In 1989, the Peruvian Government approved the Water User Boards (WUBs) Regulation (DS 037-89-AG) and transferred irrigation management to the newly created WUBs. Most (90%) of the irrigation infrastructure in coastal areas is managed by 64 WUBs, comprising about 300,000 water users .
WUBs are less numerous in the Andes and the Amazon, where irrigation is undertaken by more traditional organizations, Irrigation Committees (Comites de Regantes)
.WUBs are private, nonprofit, and collectively owned organizations responsible for the O&M of collective irrigation infrastructure and the administration of water tariffs in one particular irrigation district . WUBs consist of representatives of Irrigation Commissions (Comisiones de Regantes) and non-agricultural water users groups which are responsible for water distribution in their irrigation subsectors and must participate financially in the planning and maintenance of the collective irrigation infrastructure. WUBs elect a Board of Directors to administer financial resources and implement WUB agreements and dispositions.
WUBs face several challenges: (i) increased pressure of water resources due to competing demands, (ii) deteriorating irrigation infrastructure, (iii) lack of financial sustainability, (iv) lack of technical capacity to manage irrigation, and (v) ambiguous role of Juntas, Commission, and Committees among themselves and with the Government .
Government strategy on the irrigation sector
In 2003, the Peruvian Government approved a National Irrigation Strategy (Politicas y Estrategia Nacional de Riego en el Peru) Resolucion Ministerial N 0498-2003-AG. The Strategy aims to increase the profitability and competitiveness of irrigated agriculture through sustainable use of land and efficient water use. The main objectives are to:
Clarify institutional roles and responsibilities including: (i) a single National Water Authority with the capacity to regulate and manage sustainable and multisectoral use of water; (ii) a National Irrigation Authority responsible for promoting and monitoring efficiency in water use, irrigation and drainage infrastructure, O&M, and protection of water resources; (iii) the establishment of a network for river basin authorities and regional and municipal governments to collaborate on the management of water use
Increase water use efficiency through the rehabilitation and modernization of irrigation infrastructure and the improvement of its O&M
Promote equitable and sustainable water use through the technical improvement of irrigation and drainage infrastructures
Promote the development of technically and financially self-sufficient WUBs responsible for the O&M of irrigation infrastructure
Promote farmer investment in irrigation infrastructure by regularizing water rights, taking into account water availability and water use efficiency
Promote an integrated water management system aimed at considering multisectoral use of water, river basin conservation, and disaster reduction.
Water tariff and cost recovery
WUBs are in charge of collecting water tariffs. Only 50% of WUBs are financially and technically independent. The remaining WUBs are in the process or in need of assistance to achieve financial and technical sustainability .
Tariffs fluctuate from US$2.2 per ha to US$25.55 per ha, and collection rates vary from 10% in the Amazon to 68% in the Costa region .
The majority (83%) of the tariff revenues fund WUB activities. The remaining returns are allocated to cover O&M costs (8%) and to support the regional water authority, ATDR (8%) . In 2006, the Peruvian Government approved DS 054-2006-AG , by which 2% of the water tariff component aimed at funding WUBs (86% of the total tariff), will now fund the recently created Fondo Nacional de Agua (FONAGUA). FONAGUA, a multisectoral body, aims to promote integrated water use management in Peru .
Investment and financing
According to MINAG, the cost of minor and major irrigation infrastructure in Peru is 11% and 48% higher, respectively, than the world average.
Decentralization, together with the development of water resources management and irrigation institutions, created a multitude of entities responsible for irrigation investments at the national, regional, and local levels. The National Government has been investing in major irrigation infrastructure, mostly located in the coastal region although it plans to extend its efforts to the highlands as well. According to 2000 data, the National Government invested US$3.468 million to develop irrigation schemes in ten coastal projects.
Minor irrigation infrastructure is financed by the National Government in collaboration with the beneficiaries through a cost-sharing system. Since the creation of the Technical Irrigation Program (under PSI), financially sustainable WUBs have improved 5,282 ha of irrigation infrastructure, benefiting 1,085 producers, by raising US$5.5 million of a US$13.6 million project .
NGOs, Municipal Savings and Loan Banks, and Savings and Loan Cooperatives operating in almost all departments of the country are also providing products specifically designed to serve agricultural producers in Peru, including loans for agricultural micro-enterprises and irrigation improvement .
Possible climate change impacts on irrigated agriculture
The effects of climate change in Peru can be seen in more extreme weather conditions such as droughts and floods, El Nino Southern Oscillation, and the retreat of Andean glaciers
. The combined impacts of global warming and extreme weather are likely to severely impact hydrology, decreasing the water flow used by populations downstream in the coastal region and altering the ecology and livelihoods of millions of people. Particular impacts on the irrigation sector are still to be determined.
El Nino hits Peru approximately every seven years, producing economic and environmental damages and loss of life. In 1997-1998 El Nino caused US$2 billion in damages. Climate change is increasing the severity of this and other storms, increasing the vulnerability of Peru's poor, and damaging low technology irrigation infrastructures and agricultural crops.
In the mountains, deforestation and slash-and-burn agriculture increase erosion and the risk of landslides. These effects are felt both at their source and further downstream and include damage to crops, water resources, and irrigation.
Peru contains roughly 71% of the world's tropical glaciers. Some of Peru's perennial rivers are fed by glaciers that are rapidly disappearing due to climate change. Since 1980 Peruvian glaciers have lost 22% of their surface area (500 km2), equivalent to 7,000 million cubic meters of water (about ten years of water supply for Lima). Glacier retreat in the Andes has important repercussions on Peru's water resources, including irrigation production and hydropower generation This trend will continue, and it is believed that the increased runoff will cause Peru to suffer from severe water stress over the next 20 years. Peru's water supply is predicted to then decrease dramatically between 2030 and 2050 .
External cooperation
In 1997, the World Bank contributed US$85 million, out of a total of US$172.4 million, to a Subsectoral Irrigation Project (Proyecto Subsectorial de Irrigacion). The aims of the PSI were (i) increasing water use efficiency through the rehabilitation and modernization of irrigation infrastructure, (ii) institutional strengthening of WUBs, and (iii) improving technical irrigation systems. In 2005, the World Bank increased its involvement with PSI II, by investing US$10.26 million of a US$22 million project, aimed at improving irrigation systems on the coast. In 2007, the World Bank approved PSI III, extending technical and financial support to the Sierra .
In June 2007, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved US$200 million for a water resources reform program (WRRP) that would include irrigation structures and institutional and legal reform. In August 2007, the IDB approved an additional US$5 million to support capacity building efforts contained in the WRRP. The IDB is also implementing a water resources management plan for Peru's Maschon and Chonta watersheds. The objective of this US$1.2 million grant is to define the appropriate measures for improving integrated water resources management.
Annex 1: Lessons learned from the Peruvian model
PSI (Proyecto Subsectorial de Irrigacion) is delivering positive results on the Costa, combining financial support and capacity building with regularization of water rights. The model is being extended to the Sierra.
Government and WUBs share investment responsibilities for irrigation infrastructure improvements through a cost-sharing system. The cost sharing system encourages WUBs to increase tariffs and collection rates in order to raise a percentage of the total investment (15% for large investments and 35% for on-farm investments) which would then qualify for the Government to fund the rest of the project. Since its implementation, 63,730 producers belonging to 19 WUB have improved the irrigation infrastructure of 197,150 ha along the coast, contributing 14% of the total investment. WUBs have also technically improved 5,282 ha of irrigation infrastructure on the land benefiting 1,085 producers by raising US$5.5 million of the US$13.6 million .
Infrastructure rehabilitation and modernization is complemented by improving the management of irrigation schemes to ensure effective and sustainable use of irrigation systems. The capacity-building aspect of the Peruvian model includes strengthening the operation and maintenance requirements of the systems, and improvement of financial performance through increased volumetric metering, water tariff structure, and collection rate. Improving financial performance of the WUBs is linked to increasing farm incomes and therefore farmers' capacity to contribute to O&M costs as well as irrigation improvement investments.
In addition, MINAG began a Special Program for Land Titling (Proyecto Especial de Titulacion de Tierras y Catastro Rural-PETTCR) in 1992 to combat the uncertainty of property rights and the atomization of the agrarian structure. The implementation of PETTCR has increased the number of registered agricultural lands from 7% to 81% in 2005 . PETTCR includes an aggressive regularization of water rights based on water availability. Water security provided by formalized water rights is likely to encourage farmers to invest in their farming systems: for example, in improved on-farm irrigation technologies or conversion to higher value crops.
See also
Electricity sector in Peru
Water resources management in Peru
Water supply and sanitation in Peru
External links
Instituto Nacional de Estadistica e Informatica del Peru
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Irrigation in Peru
