Oudomxay Province Agreement on Management and Use of Irrigation Facilities

Article ມາດຕາ 1

Article 3 Interpretation of Terms
The terms used in this agreement have the following meanings:
1. Irrigation means the system of water supply and drainage for agricultural production, consisting of headworks system, irrigation system for drought prevention, and drainage system for flood prevention;
2. Headworks means dams, irrigation reservoirs, overflow weirs, spillways, pumps, sluice gates, water gates that convey water through stilling basins to main canals, and small hydropower plants;
3. Irrigation reservoir means a water storage area created by construction or modification of natural water bodies, dams, overflow weirs, water gates, and other structures to store water for agricultural production, drought and flood control, transportation, tourism, fisheries, industry, water supply, and livelihood of the people;
4. Overflow weir means a weir built across a river or stream to raise the water level, allowing water to overflow the weir crest according to design techniques and to flow into the canal head gate as required;
5. Water conveyance system means the system of canals and pipelines to convey water into production areas, consisting of main canals, secondary canals, tertiary canals, field ditches, and structures along the canals;
6. Water gate means a gate for opening and closing water, built to control the flow of water from headworks to stilling basins and main canals;
7. Irrigation area means the boundary of irrigated land, consisting of headworks land, reservoirs, canal systems, drainage systems, and land areas that irrigation can supply water to according to studies, surveys, and designs, with defined boundaries;
8. Construction and installation means the construction of headworks, canal systems, including the assembly of various equipment such as pumps, electrical systems, water transport boats, water gates, installation of precast concrete panels along canals, and other activities related to irrigation activities;
9. Rehabilitation means the improvement, repair of deteriorated or damaged parts of existing structures to restore them to normal, usable condition, and upgrading to modernize to further expand irrigated area;
10. Repair means the improvement, modification of damaged parts due to use and natural disasters of irrigation structures to restore them to normal operation;
11. Emergency repair means the improvement, repair of damaged or deteriorated parts of existing structures at certain points to restore them to normal, usable condition within a period not exceeding one production season;
12. Extension means the expansion of area and volume of structures according to design, such as raising dam crests, adding pumps, sluice gates, expanding water conveyance canal systems, water distribution structures, drainage canals, and others, with gradual modernization;
13. Disaster means hazards caused by nature and human actions, such as: storms, hail, lightning, floods, drought, severe cold, landslides, earthquakes, fires, pests, epidemics, which occur and cause damage to property, economy, and environment;
14. Irrigated area means the area receiving water supply for agricultural production;
15. Irrigated agriculture means intensive agricultural production in irrigation areas using scientific techniques;
16. People's irrigation means irrigation built by the people, including families, on their own initiative using local materials, such as water wheels, wooden weirs, rock gabion weirs, using pipes for flumes, using groundwater, ponds, and others;
17. Rotational water distribution means the planned and economical distribution of water by rotating the weekly use of water in each secondary canal zone;
18. Irrigation Water Users Group, abbreviated as IWUG, means an organization of farmers who use water and benefit from an irrigation project for management and administration;
19. Obligations of the Irrigation Water Users Group means the responsibilities of members of the water users group to comply with the regulations of the water users group and the assignments of the group management committee.