ARMERS face a reckoning with water. For decades, the whir of shallow and deep tube wells has defined the countryside, driving the expansion of boro rice and reshaping the irrigation landscape. But as water tables fall, pumping costs increase and climate change delivers more erratic rains. Attention shifts back to a source that quietly slipped into the background: the rivers and canals that once nourished the fields. A quiet revival of surface water irrigation is under way, carrying both hope and hard questions for future.
This rediscovery may seem surprising in a land criss-crossed by more than 700 rivers and countless canals, bils and floodplains. Water, at least on the surface, has never been scarce. Yet, nearly four-fifths of the irrigation still comes, paradoxically, from underground, leaving only a fifth to rivers and canals. The numbers tell a story of imbalance. While tube wells have empowered millions of smallholders with on-demand access to water, they have also pushed aquifers into decline. In the north-west, water tables are dropping by up to a meter each year, forcing pumps to dig deeper and burn more energy. For many farmers, the costs are unsustainable.
Surface water irrigation is not a new idea. It has a long history, from seasonal floodplain farming to canal irrigation and tidal inundation systems. In the 1960s and the 1970s, ambitious state projects such as the Ganges-Kobadak scheme, the Teesta barrage, and the Muhuri irrigation project promised to transform rural landscapes by diverting river water across vast command areas. But the tide turned in the 1980s, when market reforms and donor support unleashed a wave of privately owned tube wells. Cheap, flexible and controlled by individual farmers, they soon eclipsed the sprawling, often poorly maintained surface water systems. Canals silted up, regulators broke down and governance faltered. Groundwater became king.
Now, the kingdom is under strain. Policymakers and farmers alike recognise that this path cannot hold. Both the Delta Plan 2100 and the National Water Policy call for 鈥榗onjunctive use鈥� of surface and groundwater, with a new emphasis on drawing more from rivers to ease the pressure underground. The government and its partners are responding. Rehabilitation of the Teesta barrage鈥檚 canal network is under way with support from the Asian Development Bank. The proposed Ganges barrage project, if realised, could bring more than a million hectares under irrigation in the south-west. On a smaller scale, low-lift pumps, many powered by solar panels, are piloted in drought-prone Barind areas to channel river and canal water into farming plots. In villages across Rajshahi, Pabna and Khulna, community-led efforts to desilt and restore canals have already brought back dry-season irrigation, offering farmers a tangible alternative to ever-deeper wells.
Technology is adding fresh momentum to the shift. Lined canals are reducing seepage losses while rotational irrigation schedules and farmer-led water user groups are helping ensure equitable distribution. Solar-powered low-lift pumps cut fuel costs and carbon emissions while demonstrating that surface water systems can be as affordable as groundwater, if managed properly. FAO-backed initiatives have shown that collective action, rather than individual pumping, may be the key to unlocking this potential.
But, surface water irrigation is no silver bullet. Climate change is already complicating the picture, reshaping rainfall patterns and reducing dry-season river flows. Upstream withdrawals in India limit water availability in the Teesta and the Ganges, straining irrigation prospects only when demand is the highest. The 1996 Ganges water sharing treaty provides a framework for cooperation, but farmers downstream still face shortage at critical moments. Without stronger regional diplomacy and investments in water storage and harvesting, surface water alone cannot solve the problem.
Environmental trade-offs also loom. Poorly managed irrigation canals can lead to water stagnation, soil salinity in coastal polders and ecological damage. Yet with proper planning, drainage and community management, the risks can be far less severe than the unchecked depletion of groundwater. In fact, surface water systems create openings for collective governance, through water user associations and local participation, that groundwater鈥檚 individualised model has for long bypassed. If inclusivity is baked in, with space for women and marginalised groups to participate, the systems could strengthen not only agriculture but also rural institutions.
The road ahead is far from easy. Canals and rivers need constant dredging to stay navigable. Infrastructure requires major capital investment. Diplomatic negotiations over upstream flows remain politically sensitive. And equitable access to water will demand strong governance frameworks, not only engineering solutions. Still, the promise is too significant to ignore. Expanding conjunctive use, investing in rehabilitation of old infrastructure, supporting farmers with solar-powered low-lift pumps, promoting water-saving irrigation for high-value crops and strengthening trans-boundary cooperation are all part of the emerging blueprint.
Bangladesh has always been a nation shaped by water. In the 20th century, it turned decisively underground, chasing the convenience of tube wells and the short-term gains of rapid intensification. In the 21st, the pendulum is swinging back toward rivers. The challenge now is to harness this revival in a way that is sustainable, equitable and resilient to the uncertainties of a changing climate. If that balance can be struck, the quiet return to surface water irrigation may well prove to be one of the most important shifts in the agricultural future.
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Dr Makhan Lal Dutta, an irrigation engineer, is chair and chief executive officer of Harvesting Knowledge Consultancy.