WATSAVE awards... SA irrigation innovation scoops international award (Press release 2006) The developer of a uniquely South African water administration system, which has increased the productivity of  water use in irrigation agriculture, has won a sought-after international accolade.  Dr Nico Benadé was recently awarded the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage's (ICID's) Innovative  Water Management Award for the Water Administration System (WAS) at a ceremony held in Kuala Lumpur in  September 2006. This is the first time a South African has scooped the award in this category. Productivity of water use in irrigated agriculture remains a contentious issue, and pressure is increasingly being  placed on irrigation farmers to reduce their water use in the wake of limited water resources and competing  demands from domestic and industrial uses. To provide irrigation schemes with decision support for efficient water  management, the WAS was developed with funding from the Water Research Commission.  Over the last 20 years, Benadé, who is a civil engineer and programmer, has led four research projects to develop  and test the WAS, a decision-support program for use by water user associations on irrigation schemes in managing  their water accounts and their water supply to clients through rivers, canal networks and pipelines. Through Dr  Benadé's commitment, the practical application of the system has also been ensured.  "This system is a prime example of taking the innovative process through the full cycle - from research to practical  application to exploitation of its commercial potential," comments Dr Gerhard Backeberg, Director: Water Utilisation  in Agriculture at WRC, who nominated Dr Benadé for the award. "The gratification attached to the ICID Award is the  international recognition of an innovation which is truly South African."  According to Dr Backeberg, there are no viable alternative approaches available in South Africa at present to enable  water savings through improved water management of river, canal and pipeline networks on irrigation schemes.  WAS uses five modules: the Administration module, Water Request, Water Release, Crop Water Use and Water  Accounts module. According to Dr Benadé, these modules are fully integrated, making it possible to cross-reference  relevant data and information.   The system can be implemented in a small water office that manages a few abstractions and measuring stations up  to a catchment management level with thousands of abstraction points and measuring stations. It can be installed  on a single PC or on a server for use over a network. Among its many capabilities, WAS calculates water releases  from rivers and canal networks, taking lag times and various water losses into account.   Among others, it offers enhanced financial control while helping to reduce water losses. By enabling water supply of  the required volume at the requested time, implementation of WAS also promotes efficient water use at farm level. It  generates monthly invoices automatically using water usage and scheduled areas information captured in the  database.  Largely as a result of Dr Benadé's efforts, the WAS is now being implemented on irrigation schemes with a total  area of 142 843 ha, which is almost 28% of the irrigated area of South Africa serviced by water user associations  (formerly government water schemes and irrigation boards). This includes about 9 500 farms. In some schemes,  WAS has been operational for the last 15 years, with great effect.  "Each irrigation scheme is different, with its own unique requirements," notes Dr Benadé. For this reason, the  system is adaptable to fulfil each user needs, with continuous improvements and adaptations ensuring its relevance.  "The research work and technology transfer actions undertaken for WAS proves that developing is an ongoing  process, which has to be responsive to the requirements of water managers and irrigators," adds Dr Backeberg.   Field measurements have shown that losses at these schemes have been reduced by 10 to 20% through improved  water releases in canals and rivers. With an average water allocation of 8 147 m3 per hectare and average losses of  20%, this amounts to an average water saving of between 23 to 46 million m3 of water per year.  In addition to water user associations, the system is also being used by tri-national organisations such as the  Komati Basin Water Authority to assist with water management in the basin shared between South Africa, Swaziland  and Mozambique.  Training is offered to all end-users of the program, while Benadé has set up a private company to provide services  support. "Feedback from WAS users at training courses indicates that after converting, it is considered impossible to  manage irrigation schemes without the use of the WAS program," he says. "At present, it is mainly the resistance to  change by managers on irrigation schemes and the capacity to provide support services, which constrains the  implementation of WAS to all irrigation schemes managed by water user associations on a total potential area of  about 520 000 ha."