PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF WATER DELIVERY AND DISTRIBUTION IN SOM KAMLA AMBA IRRIGATION SCHEME † UPMA SHARMA * , MAHESH KOTHARI AND YOGITA DASHORA Department of Soil and Water Engineering, College of Technology and Engineering (MPUAT), Udaipur, Rajasthan, India ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to assess the water delivery performance of the Som Kamla Amba irrigation scheme located in the Dungarpur district of Rajasthan using adequacy, equity and dependability indicators. Three minors each at the head, mid and tail sections of main canals (Right and Left Main Canal) and branch canals (Aspur Branch Canal and Baroda Branch Canal) were selected. The ratio of water delivered (obtained from discharge measured at outlets) and water required (calculated from CROPWAT software) was determined for major rabi crops (wheat, barley, gram and mustard) grown in the command area in 2011–2012. Results had shown good (1.00 to 0.93), fair (0.84 to 0.80) and poor (0.42 to 0.18) adequacy at the head, mid and tail sections of each canal respectively. Also there is poor equity in water delivery as its value varied from 0.35 to 0.92. Dependability was found to be good at head, fair at mid and poor at tail sections. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. key words: adequacy; dependability; equity; water delivery performance; crop water requirement Received 15 December 2016; Revised 20 August 2018; Accepted 21 August 2018 RÉSUMÉ L’objectif de cette étude était d’évaluer les performances de l’approvisionnement en eau du programme d’irrigation Som Kamla Amba situé dans le district de Dungarpur au Rajasthan à l’aide d’indicateurs d’adéquation, d’équité et de fiabilité. Trois canaux tertiaires situés chacun à la tête, au milieu et à la queue des canaux principaux (canal principal gauche et droit) et des canaux secondaires (canal de la branche d’Aspur et canal de la branche de Baroda) ont été sélectionnés. Le rapport de l’eau délivrée (obtenue à partir des rejets mesurés aux sorties) et de l’eau requise (calculée à partir du logiciel CROPWAT) a été déterminée pour les principales cultures rabi (blé, orge, gramme et moutarde) cultivées dans la zone de commande en 2011–2012. Les résultats ont montré une bonne adéquation (1.00 à 0.93), passable (0.84 à 0.80) et médiocre (0.42 à 0.18) à la tête, au milieu et à la queue de chaque canal, respectivement. Il y a également une faible équité dans la distribution de l’eau car sa valeur variait de 0.35 à 0.92. La fiabilité a été jugée bonne à la tête, passable au milieu et pauvre à la queue des sections. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. mots clés: adéquation; fiabilité; équité; performance de la distribution d’eau; besoins en eau des cultures INTRODUCTION To feed an ever-increasing population, it is vital for develop- ing countries like India to secure food independence and self- sufficiency. In order to achieve higher food productivity, crop growing should be aided with favourable conditions and the optimum amount of water for growth. India shows a high degree of spatial and temporal variation of rainfall. Therefore, irrigation development is one way to deal with this variability in rainfall. Since independence, India has done remarkable work to improve and strengthen its irriga- tion sector. A number of irrigation schemes have been pro- posed to meet irrigation requirements in arid and semi-arid regions of the country. Huge investment has been made in infrastructure for irrigation schemes over the last half- century. But there is a perception that many irrigation schemes do not perform up to expectations or achieve their *Correspondence to: Ms Upma Sharma, College of Technology and Engi- neering (MPUAT), Department of Soil and Water Engineering, University Campus. Udaipur, Rajasthan 313001, India. Tel.: +919602219847. E-mail: upmasharma27@gmail.com † Évaluation de la performance de la distribution et de la distribution d’eau dans le projet d’irrigation Som Kamla Amba. IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE Irrig. and Drain. (2018) Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/ird.2298 © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.