Infrastructure is needed to divert, store, provide/supply and distribute water. Depending on the origin of the irrigation water, the amount withdrawn, the distance of conveyance, and the topography, different structures and sizes are needed.
Infrastructure needs continuous and decent operation and maintenance (O & M). This can be delivered by governmental/public organisations or by private groups/organisations. The latter are in most cases organisations of water users or irrigating farmers.
References
FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 26/1. http://www.sakia.org/cms/fileadmin/content/irrig/flow_measurement/fao_idp26_1_dethridge_meter_pages.pdf
[accessed 19 April 2013]
GIZ (1999): Maintenance as a Service Provision in Irrigation. The Example of the “Neste System” in Southern France.
GIZ (2000): Incentives for financing the maintenance of irrigation and drainage systems.
GIZ (2000): What is Optimal Maintenance in Irrigation?
GIZ (2010): Water User Associations. The story of participative irrigation management in the Jordan Valley.
Loiskandl, W., Strauss-Siebert, A.: Hydraulik von Bewässerungssystemen. Universität für Bodenkultur Wien. Institut für Hydraulik und Landeskulturelle Wasserwirtschaft. http://www.wau.boku.ac.at/fileadmin/_/H81/H815/Skripten/Tropen/tr_hydraulik.pdf [accessed 19 April 2013]
