Water Resources

The Government has also been paying adequate attention to other requisites- and water resources remains an important aspect. Precipitations in annual rainfalls vary; posing difficulties for all-year round crop production, or success without supplementary irrigation. Successful crop production accordingly demands availability of stored water from rivulets and ponds. The four principal rivers in Myanmar, namely, the Ayeyarwady, Chindwin, Sittaung and Thanlwin, and their tributaries can be considered national water assets. Their total annual inflow works out to 876 million acre-feet, while their drainage areas are also spread widely over the country. However, only around 6 percent of the total inflow is currently utilized.

Again, even if all potential irrigable areas of Myanmar, reckoned as around 26 million acres were subjected to irrigation, only 200 acre-feet or just a mere 25 percent of projected availability could be utilized.

Irrigation as an important aspect, had been in process for agricultural as well as human utility, since the reign of the Myanmar Kings, Alaungphaya and Anawwahta, round about the Pagan dynasty, AD 10-11.The systems were mostly diversion processes- and the source being tributaries of the Ayeyarwady river.

The ancient systems were modernized and extended and then operated in the traditional manner under the British administration. After Myanmar attained independence, medium scale storage and diversion schemes were further constructed and also many major and medium size projects were identified. But construction was accelerated only after 1970s and 1980s when the Irrigation Department undertook bigger and more complex projects. New forms water irrigation such as pump irrigation were also undertaken and irrigated areas have increased significantly.

The area of crop production under irrigation had stood at only about 19% of net sown area for many years. There was a significant increase of 1.9 million acres (0.77 million hectares) during the two decades spanning 1980 and 2000.The area under irrigation increased from 2.6 million acres (1.07 million hectares) to
5.34 million acres (2.16 million hectares) and it was due to the large scale dam constructions taken up during those decades.

The availability of adequate water for agriculture is a critical factor, and remains crucial in enhancing per unit yields. The Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation has accordingly adopted five measures with a view to raise irrigation coverage to 25 percent of the net sown area in near future. Emphasis is to be placed on the five following measures in the provision of adequate water for agricultural purposes:-

     1.   the construction of new reservoirs and dams;
     2.   the renovation of existing reservoirs for raising storage capacity and efficient delivery of irrigation water;
     3.   the diversion of water from streams and rivulets, during high water levels into adjacent ponds or depressions and for storage with
           sluice gates;
     4.   the lifting of water from rivers and streams through pump irrigation; and
     5.   the efficient utilization of ground water.

The Government of Myanmar, has since 1990-91, accorded strong impetus to the above five strategies. The focus has been on the implementation of new irrigation coverage, the development of border and rural areas, and greening of the dry zone; and the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation carried out appropriate works in the various States and Divisions. As a result, 179 irrigation projects were completed from 1990-91 to 2004-05(Oct).Their location and beneficial areas, state and division wise are given below:- See Table


	WATER RESOURCES
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