Economic, social and technical considerations determining investments in groundwater in Bangladesh

Johnson, S. H. III. 1986. Economic, social and technical considerations determining investments in groundwater in Bangladesh. In International Water Resources Association, Water resources for rural areas and their communities: Proceedings of the 5th World Congress on Water Resources, 9-15 June 1985, Brussels, Belgium. Brussels, Belgium: IWRA. pp.893-902.

With a total land area the size of the state of Illinois and a population exceeding 90 million, Bangladesh has one of the highest man-land ratios in the world. Blessed with vast river systems but having such a flat topography that large-scale reservoir and gravity surface irrigation systems are not feasible, Bangladesh has been forced to turn to groundwater as a source for dry season irrigation water. Initial investments were in low-lift pumps but now the Government of Bangladesh (GOB) is encouraging investment in hand pumps, shallow tubewells and deep tubewells as sources for additional water for irrigation. However, to date utilization rates have been far below those predicted by national planners.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the economics of alternative groundwater extraction devices in Bangladesh and to use their results to explain present low utilization rates. Using recent data, the analysis examines economic, social and technical characteristics of the alternative technologies and explains why shallow tubewells are to be encouraged over deep tubewells. Based on these results, suggestions for improving utilization rates are presented.