Use Of Canal Water Research Articles

Development and application of an optimization model for the maximization of net agricultural return

Poor quality groundwater can be used conjunctively with good quality canal water to fulfil crop water demand and maximize net annual returns particularly, in the arid and semi-arid regions where good quality soil and water resources are limited. A linear programming model was developed for the optimal land and water resources allocation in order to maximize net annual returns from an irrigated area located in Haryana State of India. Economic and hydrologic factors used in the model were yield, price, and cost of production of nine crops; unit costs of canal water and groundwater; quality of the mixed canal water and groundwater; and net irrigation requirement of crops. The spatial variations in land and water resources were considered through a network of grids. The water production functions were developed and incorporated in the model to estimate the crop yield under different qualities of irrigation water. A groundwater balance constraint was imposed on the model, which mitigate the waterlogging problems, while making optimal allocation of land and water resources. The model results show a reduction in rice, mustard, barley, and gram areas against an increase in cotton, sugarcane, wheat, millet, and sorghum under optimal cropping pattern. Under the optimal land and water allocation, the groundwater use is increased, which in turn mitigate the waterlogging and salinity problems of the study area. The net annual return from the study area has increased by about 26%. The sensitivity analysis of the model parameters shows that the market price of crops is most sensitive parameter followed by the crop area and cost of cultivation. State agencies and farmers involved in the actual agricultural production process are advised to practice conjunctive use of canal water and groundwater to maximize their farm income. This strategy could also mitigate further rise in the watertable without installing expensive drainage systems, which is also not feasible because the groundwater quality is poor and drainage water may pose a serious disposal problem.

Validation of SaltMod for a semi-arid part of northwest India and some options for control of waterlogging

Irrigated agriculture faces serious threats of waterlogging and soil salinisation in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world. To evaluate different options to solve the problem, the computer based simulation model, SaltMod was applied in a waterlogged area of Haryana State in India. After successful calibration (10 years) and validation (10 years), several alternative water management scenarios were studied for their long-term (15 years) impacts on groundwater levels and salinities. The alternative scenarios revealed that the groundwater levels would continue to rise in the long-run under the existing cropping patterns. Thus, suitable water management strategies such as reduction in rice area by 5–9%, reduction in canal water use by 7–10%, and increase in groundwater use by 6–8%, are suggested to bring the groundwater level down to a safe depth and to prevent further rising of the groundwater level.

Optimal Allocation of Resources for the Maximization of Net Agricultural Return

Good quality soil and water resources are often limited in arid and semi-arid regions; however, poor quality groundwater can be used conjunctively with good quality canal water to fulfill crop water demand in these areas. In the present study, a linear programming model was developed for the optimal land and water resources allocation to maximize net annual returns from a command area located in Jhajjar district of Haryana, India. The water production functions were developed and incorporated in the model to estimate the crop yield under different qualities of irrigation water. A groundwater balance constraint was imposed on the model, which mitigated the waterlogging problems while making optimal use of land and water resources. The model results show a reduction in rice and mustard areas against an increase in cotton, sugarcane, and wheat under optimal conditions. Under the optimal land and water allocation the groundwater use increases, which in turn mitigates the waterlogging and salinity problems of the command area. The net annual return from the command area increased by more than 20% under optimal allocations. The sensitivity analysis of the model parameters show that better price of crops is the most sensitive parameter followed by the crop area and cost of cultivation. State agencies and farmers involved in the actual agricultural production process are advised to practice conjunctive use of canal water and groundwater to maximize their farm income. This strategy could also mitigate further rise in the water table in the command area without installing expensive drainage systems, which is also not feasible because the groundwater quality is poor and the drainage water may pose a serious disposal problem.

The impact of conjunctive use of canal and tube well water in Lagar irrigated area, Pakistan

Introduction of the large gravity irrigation system in the Indus Basin in the late 19th century without a drainage system resulted in a rising water table, which resulted in water logging and salinity problems over large areas. In order to cope with the salinity and water logging problem, the Pakistan government initiated installation of 10,000 tube wells in different areas. This not only resulted in the lowering of water table, but also supplemented irrigation. Resulting benefits from the irrigation opportunities motivated framers to install private tube wells. The Punjab area meets 40% of its irrigation needs from groundwater abstraction. Today, farmers apply both surface water flows and groundwater from tube wells, creating a pattern of private and public water control. Sustainable use of groundwater needs proper quantification of the resource and information on processes involved in its recharge and discharge. The field work in the Lagar irrigated area, discussed in this paper, show that within the general picture of conjunctive use of canal water and groundwater, there is a clear spatial pattern between upstream and downstream areas, with upstream areas depending much less on groundwater than downstream areas. The irrigation context in the study area proves to be highly complex, with water users having differential access to canal and tube well water, resulting in different responses of farmers with their irrigation strategies, which in turn affect the salinity and water balances on the fields.

Numerical Modelling of Three-Dimensional Thermal Surface Discharges

:The use of canal water for cooling is an important opportunity for companies to reduce their carbon emissions and save on energy bills. The available models used to evaluate the possibility of using canal water are too complicated and their applications are difficult. As such some potential opportunities for using canal water for cooling are being lost. This paper addresses current concerns to produce an interactive numerical model that will produce a three dimensional representation of the temperature distribution of heated water discharged into a still water region. The interactive model may be manipulated by non technical personnel to evaluate different discharge scenarios and ensure that the proposal does not infringe the stringent regulations imposed by the Environmental Agencies. The proposed model makes use of information gathered from real on-site testing using a thermal camera and grid measurements in addition to a laboratory experimental tank that duplicates the various on-site options. The parameters of temperature, velocity and boundaries were determined in both practical processes using a predefined grid mesh that covered the mixing zone. These practical results gave the turbulent diffusivity which was then used in the formulation of the model that was optimised to represent the real system results. It is shown that the results from the on-site testing, the laboratory results and the 3-D model all give complementary values so validating the final model.

Comparing water management in rice–wheat production systems in Haryana, India and Punjab, Pakistan

The intensive irrigated rice-wheat systems in the northwest Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia are built on a long tradition of canal irrigation and the more recent advent of tubewells. Findings from farm surveys are used to examine water management and water productivity in the rice-wheat belt of India's Haryana State and Pakistan's Punjab province. Attributes of the irrigation sources help explain the widespread interest in groundwater use and the relative demise of canal water use. In each area groundwater now is the main irrigation source, used either solely or in conjunction with surface water. The ownership of tubewells is near universal among the surveyed farms, whereas conjunctive water use is more widespread during the monsoon season, among better endowed farmers and in the Pakistan Punjab. In Pakistan Punjab farmers primarily rely on diesel powered tubewells whereas Haryana farmers mainly use relatively cheaper electric power. Water productivity indicators for rice are markedly lower than those for wheat-largely reflecting significantly higher water inputs in paddy cultivation-but also vary between the study areas and by the prevailing water use, reflecting the limited incentives for farmers to use water wisely. A combination of technological, land use and market based approaches is likely to be most effective in achieving sustainable water management in these intensive cereal systems.

Infection risk assessment of diarrhea-related pathogens in a tropical canal network

A quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) of Cryptosporidium, Giardia and diarrhegenic Escherichia coli (DEC) infection was performed using Monte Carlo simulations to estimate the human health risks associated with the use of canal water for recreational purposes, unrestricted and restricted irrigation in a tropical peri-urban area. Three canals receiving municipal, agricultural, and, predominantly, industrial wastewater were investigated. Identification of pathogenic protozoans revealed the major presence of Cryptosporidium hominis and both assemblages A and B of Giardia lamblia. The highest individual infection risk estimate was found to be for Giardia in an exposure scenario involving the accidental ingestion of water when swimming during the rainy season, particularly in the most polluted section, downstream of a large wholesale market. The estimated annual risks of diarrheal disease due to infection by the protozoan parasites were up to 120-fold greater than the reported disease incidence in the vicinity of the studied district and the entire Thailand, suggesting a significant host resistance to disease beyond our model's assumptions. In contrast, annual disease risk estimates for DEC were in agreement with actual cases of diarrhea in the study area.

Arsenic content in ground and canal waters of Punjab, North-West India

Groundwater is the primary source of drinking water for more than 95% of the population in Punjab. The world health organization and US Environment Protection Agency recently established a new maximum contaminant level of 10 ppb for arsenic in drinking water. The arsenic concentration of deep water tube wells located in Amritsar city used for domestic supply for urban population ranged from 3.8 to 19.1 ppb with mean value of 9.8 ppb. Arsenic content in hand pump water varied from 9 to 85 ppb with a mean value of 29.5 ppb. According to the safe limit of As, 54% and 97%, water samples collected from deep water tube wells and hand pumps, respectively, were not fit for human consumption. Arsenic content in canal water varied from 0.3 to 8.8 ppb with a mean value of 2.89 ppb. Canal water has got higher oxidation potential followed by deep tube well and hand pump water. The present study suggests the regular monitoring of arsenic content in deep tube well and shallow hand pump waters by water testing laboratories. The consumption of water having elevated concentration of As above the safe limit must be discouraged. In south-western districts of Punjab, it recommends the use of canal water for drinking purposes and domestic use by rural and urban populations than ground water sources.

The groundwater resources and its sustainable development in the south edge of Tarim Basin

There is a potential to certain extend for groundwater development in the piedmont plain in south edge of Tarim Basin. If the surface water use keeps the scale as present, the maximum safe yield of groundwater is about 2.05 × 109m3/a that is 55.8% of the recharge. Thus the evapotranspiration discharge will reduce 60.4%, while spring water reducing 35.6%. If the surface water use rate is up to 80% and coefficient of canal water use increase to 0.55 in the future, the maximum safe yield of groundwater will reduce to 1.85 × 109m3/a with the recharge reducing to 3.1 × 109m3. However, the sustainable groundwater development is depended on the protection of the quality aspect linked with the quantity aspect. In particular, protection of the glaoier and water conservation forestry in the Kunlun Mountains and coordinating development of surface water and groundwater should be taken seriously. Besides, the legislation, administrative management and the technology construction, and ability construction are also critical important and necessary.

Conjunctive use of saline and non-saline waters. II. Field comparisions of cyclic uses and mixing for wheat

To evaluate the changes in soil water and salinity when conjunctive irrigation with canal (CW, 0.6 dS/m) and saline (SW, 12 dS/m) waters is practised in various cyclic/mixing modes and their associated effects on growth and yield of wheat, field experiments were conducted during 1989–1991 on a sandy loam soil. Normalising the treatment receiving canal water (100%), relative yield with saline irrigation was reduced to 60%. Substitution of canal water for saline water at pre-sowing stage improved seedling establishment and at first post-planting irrigation further enhanced tillering and related growth parameters, thereby, resulting in yield improvements by 18 and 16% over saline irrigation alone, respectively. Whereas cyclic irrigations with canal and saline water in 1 CW:1 SW and 2 CW:2 SW modes produced 7–11% more yields when compared with mixing in equal proportions (86%), yield was reduced by 12% in 1 SW:1 CW mode, i.e. using saline water to start with. Use of canal water at the initial stages seemed to cause priming effect through increased soil water depletion, thus resulting in better growth rates (tillering) whereas adjustment to reduced salinity stress at later stages via increased grains/ear failed to totally compensate for losses due to reduced tillering. Stepwise linear response function with time averaged salinity (EC e, dS/m) down to 1.2 m could be represented as: RY = 100 − 9.2 (EC e - 4.0). Multiple regression with dummy variables predicted EC 50 (EC e for 50% yields) values to be 9.7, 11.9 and 16.7 dS/m, respectively, for salinity (0-0.3 m soil depth) at sowing, mid-season and harvest time indicating towards enhanced tolerance with ageing. It was concluded when making conjunctive use of canal and saline waters for the production of wheat, that higher efficiency of irrigation can be achieved with their cyclic use when canal water is applied at the initial stages (pre-irrigation and/first post-sowing irrigation) and saline water is used at the later growth periods when it can tolerate the salts better.

Seepage losses from canal irrigation schemes

The effects of surface and subsurface conditions on the recharge of leaky aquifers by seepage from irrigation canals are examined. Physical and geological data from the Mahi Right Bank Canal command area in Gujarat, India, are used. The implications for conjunctive use of canal water and groundwater in the project area are discussed.