A study on construction costs per unit area of irrigation projects

The cost constructing for irrigation is often given in $/ha. In deciding whether a project is worth undertaking, it is important to weigh the anticipated benefits against the expected costs. In this study, unit area construction costs based on the way of project water supply (gravity, pump) and scheme type (classic canal, flume, pipe) were calculated for the 211 irrigation projects operated and constructed by DSI (State Hydraulic Works) in Turkey. In a case study of the 27 irrigation schemes constructed by DSI in the Büyük Menderes and West Mediterranean basins, construction costs per unit area, irrigation ratio, and amount of unproductive costs were determined. As a result, though the area of 76383 ha was constructed for irrigation schemes, this area wasn't under irrigation services with several various reasons; therefore, 641 million $US according to water supply way, and 574 million $US to the scheme type were unproductive investment for irrigation projects researched in the basins. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.