The rehabilitation of the Lopatna irrigation system with the U.S. Government’s Compact funds has come to an end. The reconstruction and modernization of this system that cost about 3.6 million USD will allow farmers from the villages of Lopatna, Jora de Jos, Jora de Sus and Jora de Mijloc to irrigate more than 500 hectares of farmland.
Now it is a modern and advanced irrigation system that enables farmers to irrigate their lands when they need and at lower cost. The rehabilitation works included reconstruction of the pump station and installation of three modern and energy efficient pumps and electronic control equipment and installation of about 25 km of steel and polyethylene pipes expected to serve more than 50 years.
Additionally, the system’s water basin with a capacity of about 1000 cubic meters was renovated to avoid water leakage and enable the use of the system at minimal maintenance costs and for a very long term. The new system allows for expanding the irrigated area with private investments by 300 hectares, additionally to the 500 hectares covered by the project.
While still owned by the State Agency Apele Moldovei, the rehabilitated system will be managed by about 500 agricultural producers – members of Water Users’ Association. About 700 people own land in the area of the irrigation system today.
Before rehabilitation, the irrigation system that was built in the 70s of the last century was old and outdated and was working at limited capacity or not working at all. Because of the asbestos-cement pipes that polluted the environment the system was not reliable and there was big water leakage and the maintenance costs were very high.
The rehabilitation of the central irrigation system is one of the objectives of the Compact agreement signed in early 2010 by the Government of Moldova and the Millennium Challenge Corporation, acting on behalf of the U.S. Government. The USD 262 mil. Compact is implemented by the Millennium Challenge Account Moldova and is a generous gift of the American people for poverty reduction and economic growth in Moldova. MCA Moldova signed contracts for the rehabilitation of 10 irrigation systems amounting to about 80 million USD, the rehabilitation of 4 of which on the Nistru River (Jora de Jos, Puhăceni, Roșcani and Coșnița) and 4 on the Prut River (Blindești, Grozești, Leova and Chircani-Zîrnești) is underway. These systems will be put into operation in the first half of 2015.
