Abstract
This three‐year study was undertaken to investigate the groundwater and soil salinity variation in a canal‐irrigated area. Water and soil samples were collected along 54 tertiary canals located on six secondary canals (two each at head, middle and tail end) of a main canal. Data of crop yield and income of the farmers were also collected. The results show that electrical conductivity (EC) of groundwater increased from head to lower reaches along all the irrigation channels, i.e. main, the secondary and the tertiary canals. Similarly, the soil water EC e also increased with increased distance from the head of the irrigation system. Reduced canal water supply at lower reaches of the irrigation system forced the downstream water users to pump more groundwater, thereby increasing their irrigation cost. The deteriorating groundwater quality further adds misery to the downstream farmers by degrading productivity of their lands caused by excessive use of saline groundwater. Location of the water users along the canal irrigation system had an impact on their crop yield as well as income and these parameters decreased with increased distance from the head of the irrigation channels. For example, the net income of the tail‐end farmers varied from 43% to 59% of the head‐end farmers. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.