ABSTRACT
Bos (2000) defined performance assessment as the systematic observation, documentation and interpretation of the management of a certain irrigation and drainage project with the objective of ensuring that the input of resources, water delivery schedules, intended outputs and required actions proceed as planned. This definition was endorsed by several irrigation engineers, managers and institutional experts during the joint International Program for Technology and Research in Irrigation and Drainage (IPTRID), Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the World Bank workshop on “Performance Indicators and Benchmarking” that was held in Rome, Italy in 2000. In this same workshop, the basic difference between benchmarking and performance assessment was also drawn. It was agreed that benchmarking assesses performance - internally against its own norms and standards and externally against key competitors’ standards. Performance assessment on the other hand (in a typical case) assesses the performance against internally set standards, but considers the irrigation system in a more comprehensive way. Benchmarking was thus considered a part of performance assessment, but distinct in terms of its function and methodology. In this thesis, performance assessment was preferred to benchmarking as the objective was to provide a thorough technical, institutional and environmental (salinity, sodicity and nutrient degradation) assessment of the Wadi Laba spate irrigation system.
