Reviving indigenous technology for promoting the concept of failsafe design in building climate-resilient weirs for irrigation

Abstract

The existence of indigenous technologies and knowledge bases that could be invaluable to responding to climate change is widely appreciated. This article focuses on one such indigenous technology of a bounder and brushwood diversion weir designed to divert water from the source river to its off-taking canal for irrigation. Of its several functions, this article first analyses its little-known designed function to enable it to failsafe and then documents such functions from the perspective of basic science. This article suggests that modern irrigation infrastructure can also be built to be climate-resilient to cope with unanticipated floods by adopting the concept of failsafe design. This article then presents a couple of conceptual frameworks of failsafe designs for water diversion weirs. This article is based on literature reviews, short case studies, and written reflections gathered through earlier studies in Nepal and elsewhere over the last 40 years. HIGHLIGHTS The use of indigenous technology to generate a failsafe design is discussed in this article.; Climate change and its effect on water diversion weirs in a mountainous environment are also discussed.; The concept of a failsafe design is adopted to build climate-resilient modern irrigation diversion weirs.;

Keywords

• failsafe design
• indigenous technology
• irrigation
• mountainous environment
• weir