• The Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture – This  five year study led by IWMI and co-sponsored by FAO made a critical evaluation of the benefits, costs and impacts of the past 50 years of  water development, the water management challenges communities face today and the solutions people have developed around the world. These findings are especially relevant to Asia Pacific countries. The CA findings received widespread international media coverage and are expected to enable better investment and management decisions in water and agriculture for the future. They are already influencing international bodies such as the World Economic Forum. One of the CA key policy recommendations is to “adapt yesterday’s irrigation to tomorrow’s needs”.
  
  The Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture    http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Assessment/
  
  
• Regional knowledge synthesis and prospective knowledge products on:
  • The future of large rice-based irrigation systems in Southeast Asia
    http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/ai408e/ai408e00.HTM
  • Water Resources Management and irrigation modernization in arid regions
    http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/ah995e/ah995e00.htm
    
    
• Information on drought related management tools
  Drought monitoring website: http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/drw/info/default.asp?PG=HOME
  
  
• Access to IWMI’s and FAO’s spatial products, tools and statistics
  
  IWMI’s Global Map of Irrigated Areas of the World (GIAM)
  Global Map of Irrigated Areas of the World (GMIA) : http://www.iwmigiam.org/
  FAO’s Global Map of Irrigated Areas
  http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/irrigationmap/index.stm
  FAO AQUASTAT
  http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/main/index.stm
  FAO agricultural statistics
  http://www.fao.org/corp/statistics/en/
  
  
• Access to FAO & IWMI’s virtual library web tools, and remote sensing tools FAO Publications
  FAO Water Information Resources
  http://www.fao.org/nr/water/infores.html 
  FAO GEO-INFORMATION
  http://www.fao.org/nr/geo/geo_en.htm
  
  
• Access to FAO’s legal database and publication including laws and acts related to water resources management and irrigation http://faolex.fao.org/faolex/
  http://www.fao.org/legal/prs-ol/lpo69.pdf
  
  
• Peer review process to benchmark the performance of River Basin Organizations (RBOs); IWMI has already worked on this with NARBO. Through the Knowledge Hub network IWMI shall try to institutionalize this peer review process among RBOs in Asia.
• A benchmarking tool to evaluate and improve irrigation performance and achieve targets
• A Rapid Appraisal Procedure for irrigation system performance evaluation
• A methodology on Mapping of System and Services for Canal Operation Techniques (MASSCOTE)
• A suite of online training materials and modules and technical briefs on:

• Improving irrigation canal operation
• Modernization of irrigation systems and benchmarking
• Strategic planning and management for irrigation and drainage organization
• The MASSCOTE methodology
  www.watercontrol.org

• A website and e-networked community of practice on strategic planning of water resources in the Asia-Pacific which is a repository of knowledge documents and case studies in the region to promote inter-sectoral planning in the region, and supports an e-network and exchange platform. www.spmwater-asiapacific.net             
• Data Storehouse Pathway (IWMI DSP) offers access to high quality science data in standard formats for rapid assessment, monitoring and reporting on the conditions of river basins, nations, regions and the world.
  
  This is already used by scientists and practitioners in many countries and is available for the APWF Water Hubs.
  
  IWMI DSP:    http://www.iwmidsp.org/iwmi/info/main.asp
  

2. Development of Concept Paper on the Future of Irrigation in Asia. The development of this paper was commissioned by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and will be presented by IWMI and FAO at World Water Forum 5 in March 2009
   

Future outputs

1. Pathways to modernization: a mix of technological and managerial upgrading practices to improve the responsiveness to the region’s needs.
2. Best practices for more productive and sustainable irrigation.
3. Performance benchmarking tools for irrigation performance management.
4. Recommendations for better integration of irrigation with agricultural production systems for higher value agriculture
5. Recommendations for how irrigation can be integrated with livestock, fisheries and forest management.

Available resources:

1. Information on drought –related research and drought monitoring tools http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/drw/info/default.asp?PG=HOME
2. IWMI’s Global Map of Irrigated Areas of the World (GIAM) which shows irrigated areas providing distinct classes of irrigation. http://www.iwmigiam.org/
3. A comprehensive framework for identifying and designing pro-poor interventions in irrigated agriculture including
   • Menu of pro-poor intervention options
   • Recommendations and guidelines for policymakers
   • Investment models according to poverty types

   http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/propoor/index.asp

These outputs are the result of thematic research carried out by IWMI as well as FAO’s expertise in resource management and capacity building in the region IWMI and FAO publications, on-line library resources and other electronic platforms are also available.

Other Links:

CA Research Report 5 (pdf)
Water Policy Briefings pdfs

WPB 1. Innovations in Groundwater Recharge
WBP 3. The Challenges of Integrated River Basin Management in India
WPB 4. The Socio-Ecology of Groundwater in India
WPB 5. Building High performance Knowledge Institutions for Water Management
WPB 6. Pro-poor Irrigation Management Transfer?
WPB 13. Reducing poverty through integrated management of groundwater and surface water
WPB 22. Water Governance in the Mekong Region: the need for more informed policy-making