Abstract:
Hazir Khal is thc main souJ"C<of: surfuc<;walcr in lh~ Muns!,ir Char vilbge located in thc South-
Central region of Flangladesh, The region is a tidal floodplam, and the SOurCCOfluM warer m the
Hazir Kh.,.] is the Shingair River Every year the people of the village construct a tempor:ny
earthen cn,,~-darn during mId of April al upstream of a culvert In the Hazir KhaL It is iutended
mainly 10serve three purposes: (i) to prevent saline water intrusion in order to save the dry season
crop from flooding by salt ",.,,(erduring spring Ildcs. (ii) to maiutain low depth flooding durmg
wet scasOn in the agricultural land for cultivation of Deep Walcr Aman (a local variety of
Monsoon rice) ond (iii) for fish cnlture dnriug the wet Sl'''Son,Moreover, the retained water also
provides opportumty for domestic uses like Ilvcstock watering, batlllng, washing utensils and
cloth etc, The cross-dam is cut during mid October to drain out the water, which is required at the
flowering stage of Aman. ThlS loe.,.]"ater mauagem~'lltpractice has been going on for many
ycars. Now the local people are faemg scarcity of eonstruellon material from local sources. The
villagers have requested the Local Gm'erument Engineering Department (LOCD), wh'eh is
responsible for planning, de~ign and implementation of small scale wator management
project. to construct a sluice gate at the culven, The LGED responded positively to the
request of the people, and decided to cOni>1ructa gate in 2008. Construction of the gate
will provide additional benefits because orthe flexibility in the control ofwator
The local water management practice as mentioned above was the subject matter of
present study, A social survey was conducted to collect information on local water
management practice, history of Hazir khat dam conslnlction process, multiple uses of "
khal, expected additional benefits from the sluice gate and opinion on gate operation
Measurement of tidal water level and salinily was oamed out in Hw.ir Khal to assess the
tidal characteristics and salinity concentration in the study area, Availability of tidal
water during flood tide was assessed to estimate the volume of water that can be retaiued
by closing the gate at each tide during the dry seasoll. The agricultural area that oan be
served by the available tidal water during the dry season was estimated based on water
for dry season crop A round the year gate operation rule was developed according to
crop calendar. fish life cycle, tidal cycle, requirement for country boat plying,
requirement for water retention, requirement for prevention of saline water intrusion.
requirement for drainage, and opinion of the local people.
