INTEGRATED STEPWISE APPROACH FOR OPTIMAL WATER ALLOCATION IN IRRIGATION CANALS

Optimal water management in irrigation networks should be an integrated approach which includes both canal and field systems. Integrated optimal water management of irrigation networks requires consideration of both optimal allocation of water among different crops at field level, and optimal water delivery scheduling at the canal level, which is often neglected. In this study, an integrated stepwise approach has been presented for considering both farm- and canal-level optimization problems. Three modules are proposed for the optimization model. In the first module, crop-water production functions for different crops are produced, and optimal seasonal allocation of available water among several crops is determined using an LP algorithm. The objective function of this module is to maximize total net benefit of all crops. The second module takes the optimal allocated water to each crop from the first module, and determines its optimal distribution through the growing season for each crop, such that the total yield at the end of the season is maximized. Taking into account the output of the second module, and cultivated area of each crop, the water requirement volume for each secondary canal is computed. The third module determines optimal water delivery scheduling among outlets of the secondary canal using a genetic algorithm (GA). The objective of the third module is to minimize canal flow, and to maximize delivery adequacy and beneficial water delivery duration. The decision variables are delivery discharge to each outlet, the number of outlets grouped in a block which receive water sequentially, and the sequence of water delivery to the outlets in each block. The proposed approach was applied on the K canal of the Moghan Irrigation Network in the north-west of Iran. The optimal water delivery scheduling of a secondary canal, based on the optimal water allocation among several crops, and intra-seasonal irrigation scheduling are presented, which shows the utility of the integrated approach. Copyright (c) 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.