This paper presents the traditional design principles of the suranga water-harvesting system found in an area of semicritical groundwater scarcity in the Dakshin Kannada district of Karnataka and Kasaragod district in the state of Kerala, India. This region is situated in the foothills of the Western Ghats of southern India. Data were derived from a mixed-methods approach that analyzed the structure, technology, governance, organization, and hydrological principles of a little-known and little-understood irrigation system. The main body of this work came from a survey of 215 households that identified 700 suranga over a core area of ∼6850 km2. The total number when added to other inventories puts the figure at closer to 3000 suranga overall. The suranga system was identified, relative to other traditional water-harvesting systems in mountains, as a gallery filtration tunnel system that is exclusively constructed in laterite substrate. These laterites have a sound internal structure that does not require support structures. Many suranga are found in cascading hydrological networks on more extensive farm units linked to a storage network of small ponds and check dams. The main sources of water come from either perched or shallow aquifer groundwaters that are variable in their discharge rates, such that some systems are perennial, and others are seasonal. Discharges from suranga range from 0.005 m3/s in the dry season to 0.1 m3/s in the period immediately after monsoon. Organizational principles are simple, and nearly all systems are privately owned. Access to water is usually private with just a few usufruct arrangements prevalent that come in the form of the sharing of water. The immediate future of suranga is under threat from unregulated bore well construction and use.

中文翻译：

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印度西南高止山脉山麓地区地下水灌溉系统的传统设计原则

本文介绍了在印度喀拉拉邦的卡纳塔克邦的达克辛·卡纳达地区和卡萨拉戈德地区的半临界地下水稀缺地区发现的苏兰加集水系统的传统设计原理。该地区位于印度南部的西高止山脉的山脚下。数据来自混合方法，该方法分析了鲜为人知且鲜为人知的灌溉系统的结构，技术，治理，组织和水文原理。这项工作的主体来自对215户家庭的调查，确定了约6850 km2核心区域的700个苏兰加。加到其他存货中的总数使该数字总体上接近3000苏兰加。与山区的其他传统集水系统相比，苏兰加系统已被确定，作为仅在红土基质中建造的通道过滤隧道系统。这些红土具有良好的内部结构，不需要支撑结构。在更广泛的农场单元的级联水文网络中发现了许多苏兰加，这些农场与小池塘和大坝的蓄水网络相连。主要的水源来自排泄率各不相同的栖息或浅层含水层地下水，因此某些系统是多年生的，而其他则是季节性的。来自苏兰加的排放量从旱季的0.005 m3 / s到季风后立即的0.1 m3 / s不等。组织原则很简单，几乎所有系统都是私有的。取水通常是私人的，只有很少的使用权安排以共享水的形式出现。