Spate Irrigation

"Floods are not always a hazard. They may also sustain aquatic life and riverine biodiversity, recharge aquifers, enrich soilds and in some of the world's poorest areas they are the main source of irrigation."

Global Water Partnership (2000) 'Toward water security: a framework for action'

News & Recent Additions

  • News
    • A double degree MSc course on spate irrigation has started between UNESCO-IHE and Haramaya University in Ethiopia, the first of its kind. For more information, contact a.meharihaile@unesco-ihe.org
    • The Annual Report 2011 on the IFAD grant Spate Irrigation for Poverty Alleviation and Rural Growth is available. Click here to download it.
    • Cooperation is being developed with Progressio to work on farmers training and groundwater recharge in spate systems in Yemen.
    • We have started to scan the water and land right records in Pakistan. The first document in the library is Click Spate Irrigation River Kaura, district DG Khan, Pakistan
  • Highlights
    • Pre-digital age documents on spate irrigation from the collection of Phil Lawrence are being scanned and placed in the library - among other Farmers O&M Manual, design studies from Yemen, report on sand dunes in Yemen.
    • Innovative work in the last fifteen years on flood water spreading in Niger has been documented by GIZ. Read the document: Water-spreading weirs for the development of degraded dry river valleys

THE SPATE IRRIGATION NETWORK

is a network of spate irrigation professionals and practitioners. The network stimulates the development of programmes of implementation that improve the livelihoods of those in spate irrigation areas, exchanges experiences and good practices, helps upgrade training, identify priority fields for improvement and research and development. Read more...