Environmental Impacts of Irrigation

Engineering
INTRODUCTION
 Environmental Impact is any alteration of environmental
conditions,
 Creation of a new set of environmental conditions,
adverse or beneficial, caused or induced by the action or
set of actions under consideration.
 Irrigated agriculture has been the backbone of increased
food production and improved quality of life.
Environmental Impacts of Irrigation
Engineering

Courtesy: Dr. Iqbal Ali and internet resources

While designing different projects, such as
1. Buildings,
2. Hydro electric Dam,
3. Factories, etc.
If necessary steps are not taken at the time of planning,
these produce ill effects besides a lot of benefits for
which these are planned/designed.

Similarly, Irrigated agricultural development also have

negative environmental impacts, and nowadays, there is
an increasing trend to make it accountable for its
impacts on the environment.
HISTORY
 The concepts on sustainable development or development in
relation to environment had started after 2nd world war, but it
could be fully achieved in 1970 in U.S.A. with the passing of
NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act).

 Obviously, when Pakistan’s Irrigation was started 150 years back,

such concepts were not bornd. The result is the total
environmental degradation and disaster in the form of vast areas
going to barren due to water logging and salinity built up over
the last 150 years.

 So, to control the environmental impacts there has been

introduced a department namely, “Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA)”.
EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment)
 It is a process to assess the side effects, so that necessary
measures are planned at the design stage to reduce and
minimize the ill-effects.

 It is a process to identify the ways to

minimize/reduce/mitigate the short term and long term
Environmental impacts.

 Development projects go hand in hand with environmental

impact and hence before any project is under taken the
damages in relation to the benefits should be measured.
NEED OF EIA
 Economic, social and environmental change is inherent to
development. Whilst development aims to bring about positive
change it can lead to conflicts and thus needs to avoid adverse
impacts.
 In order to predict environmental impacts of any development
activity and to provide an opportunity to mitigate against
negative impacts and enhance positive impacts, the
environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedure was
developed in the 1970s.
 An EIA may be defined as: a formal process to predict the
environmental consequences of human development activities
and to plan appropriate measures to eliminate or reduce adverse
effects and to augment positive effects.
EIA thus has three main functions:
1. To predict problems,
2. To find ways to avoid them, and
3. To enhance positive effects.
Objectives of EIA
 Modify and improve the design of project proposal
 To ensure that natural resources are used efficiently
 Identify key impacts and providing alternatives for
mitigation measures
 Avoid serious and irreversible impacts which cause
damage to the environment
 To protect human health and safety
 To support the goals of sustainable development
EIA Process
The main steps in the EIA process are:
1. Screening
2. Scoping
3. Prediction and mitigation
4. Management and Monitoring
5. Audit
1. Screening

Process of deciding on whether an EIA is required or

not.
 This may be determined by size (i.e. area of
irrigated land that would be affected)
 The output from the screening process is often a
document called an Initial Environmental
Examination /Evaluation (IEE)
2. Scoping
Process of identifying the key environmental issues
• the most important step in an EIA
 Scoping is important for two reasons:
1. To pinpoint the problems for early mitigation and changes in
design before expensive detailed work is carried out
2. To ensure that detailed prediction work is only carried out for
important issues
 The main EIA techniques used in scoping are:
1. Baseline studies; 2. Checklists;
3. Matrices; and 4. Network diagrams.
There are four categories of checklists viz;
i) Simple checklist- This is a list of environmental parameters.
No guidelines are provided on how environmental parameters
are to be measured, and interpreted.
ii) Descriptive checklist- This includes an identification of
environmental parameters and guidelines on how parameter
data are to be measured.
iii) Scaling checklist- This is similar to descriptive checklist, but
with the addition of information basic to subjective scaling of
parameter value.
iv) Scaling weighting checklist- This represents scaling
checklist with information provided as to subjective evaluation
of each parameter with respect to every other parameter.
Typical check list of Environmental Impacts for an Irrigation Project
3. Prediction & Mitigation
 This stage forms the central part of an EIA. Several major
options are likely to have been proposed either at the
scoping stage or before and each option may require
separate prediction studies.
 This phase of an EIA will require good management of a
wide range of technical specialists with particular emphasis
on:
1. prediction methods;
2. interpretation of predictions, with and without
mitigating measures; and
3. assessment of comparisons.
4. Management and Monitoring
 The part of the EIA covering monitoring and
management is often referred to as the Environmental
Action Plan or Environmental Management Plan.

• Established by law
 between individuals and government.
 Between individuals and groups involved in
economic transactions.
 Developed to express legal, financial and
administrative links among public agencies.
5. Audit
 The last stage of an EIA is to carry out an
Environmental Audit some time after completion of
the project or implementation of a program.
 Usually done by a separate team of specialists to that
working on the bulk of the EIA.
 The audit should include an analysis of the technical,
procedural and decision-making aspects of the EIA.
 Technical aspects include:
 the adequacy of the baseline studies,
 the accuracy of predictions and
 the suitability of mitigation measures.
Major Impacts of Irrigation Engineering
 Different types of irrigation will have different impacts and it
should not be assumed that modern methods will have fewer
impacts.

 They may significantly increase energy consumption and

lead to social problems due to reduced employment in
agriculture.

 Health and other social risks due to an influx of migrant

workers living in temporary and unsanitary accommodation.
 Once the project has been operating for several years,
cumulative impacts may begin to present serious
environmental constraints to project sustainability. Such
issues must be predicted by the EIA and mitigation measures
prepared.

 Diseases caused due to excess water is stored at one place, like

Malaria, Fever, etc

 Water logging.

 Salinity.
Main problems of irrigation and drainage schemes
and appropriate mitigation measures
Problems Mitigation Measures
1. Degradation of • Improve Irrigation & Drainage operation
irrigated land: to match demand
• Water logging • Provide drainage including disposal of
• Salinization water to evaporation ponds or the sea if
• Alkalization quality of river flow adversely affected by
• Soil acidification drainage water
• Maintain channels to prevent seepage,
and reduce inefficiencies resulting from
siltation and weeds
• Analyze soils and monitor changes so that
potential problems can be managed
Main problems of irrigation and drainage schemes
and appropriate mitigation measures

Problems Mitigation Measures

2. Reduced socio-
economic conditions: • Manage Irrigation & Drainage to
• Increased incidence of prevent disease spread
water-related disease • Educate about causes of disease
• Increased inequity • Improve health facilities
• Weaker community • Allow sufficient time and money for
infrastructure extensive public participation to ensure
that plans are optimal
Main problems of irrigation and drainage schemes
and appropriate mitigation measures

Problems Mitigation measures

3. Poor water quality: • Define and enforce return water quality

• Reduction in irrigation levels
water quality • Control industrial development
• Water quality problems • Designate land for saline water disposal;
for downstream build separate disposal channels
• Educate for pesticide or sewage
contamination dangers
• Monitor irrigation water quality
Main problems of irrigation and drainage schemes
and appropriate mitigation measures
Problems Mitigation measures
4. Ecological degradation: • Define ecological requirements.
• Reduced bio-diversity in • Operate dams to suit downstream
project area requirements and encourage wildlife
• Damage to downstream around reservoirs
ecosystems due to • Designate land (in law and supported
reduced water quantity by protection institutions) for flood
and quality plains; wetlands; watersheds;
drainage water disposal; river
corridors
 Environmental impacts of reduced flow in the lower Indus River
Component Observed impact
1. Forests • Reduction in size of forests
• Decrease in biodiversity (5 species lost in last 20 yrs)
• Desertification due to loss of forests

2. Fisheries • Decrease in reproductive success of fishes

• Reproduction of Fishes is decreased day by day
3. Water quality • Reduction in water quality following the use of
pesticides and fertilizers from the irrigation plots
• Chemicals found in the water include nitrates,
phosphates, iron, manganese, H2S, etc.
•These chemicals increased salinisation of the Lower Indus
has resulted in a decline of fish species sensitive to changes
in temperature and salinity

4. Sea encroachment • The reduction in freshwater inflow has led to severe

encroachment of the sea into the Delta area
• Saline water has intruded 64 km inland and 1.2 million
acres of farmland have thus far been lost
Two major Impacts of I.E
The two major Environmental impacts on Irrigation
Engineering are,

1. Water logging.

2. Salinity.
1. Water logging

 When water table rises to such heights that the soil pores
in the root zone become saturated, thus displacing the air,
the land is said to be water logged.
 The process of Water logging starts even when water table
is quite below the surface.
 Water rises on the surface due to capillary action.
Capillary action depend upon the type of soil, being small
height for coarse and sandy soil and large for fine grained
soil.
 Other factor is root-zone depth, that varies from crop to
crop.
Environmental Impacts of Water Logging:

Environmental Impacts of water logging is caused by un-

thoughtful planning of irrigation system and causes:
 Spread of Malaria
 Loss in Crop yield
 Destruction of Roads due to reduced bearing capacity of
water logged soil
 Rise of water in Buildings due to Capillary action
 Causing dampness and therefore diseases
 Appearance of salts on the walls
 Coming down of Plasters in the buildings
 Destruction of Vegetation and Crops
 Serious damage to crops/plants because plant roots
absorbs the moisture from the soil solution which is
water logged
 Suppressing of the useful crop cultivated in the area
because certain weeds grow very fast in the water
logged soil as compared to normal crops.
 Reduction of bearing capacity of the soil, hence,
agricultural machinery cannot operate in the fields
and agricultural operations cannot be carried out
Remedial Measures of Water logging
There are two possible ways to get rid of the water
logging;
1. Vertical Drainage system.
2. Horizontal Drainage system.

1. Vertical Drainage System

It implies installation of large numbers of high
capacity and heavy duty wells in the water logged
area. The capacity of tube wells will be designed first
than it can be installed at the site.
2. Horizontal drainage system

Open Surface Drains:

 Tube wells are not economical solution of water
logging.
 So, Artificial open surface drains or Sub surface drains
are installed.
 It needs constant maintenance to check weed growth
in the bed of the open drains, if not removed at time it
will destroy the drain system.
Moen-jo-Daro

 In sindh Moen-jo-daro is very badly affected by water

logging.

 Tube wells were installed at the site to remove water

logging.

 But these tube wells were removed from the poor

people of surrounded area. They took that and sell it in
market.
2. Salinity
 Other environmental impact is Salinization of Soil.
 When water table is close to the surface, and ground
water, rises to or very close to the surface due to
capillary action, it evaporates, leaving behind
dissolved salts in the soil pores and ultimately on the
surface.
 The whitish salts appearing on the surface usually is
Sodium chloride (NaCl).
 Where ever water logging occurs salinity is also
produced.