Water Distribution

Water distribution systems often have multi-objectives such as equity, adequacy and timeliness.
There are three (3) main types of water distribution methods, namely: On-demand; rotational and
Proportional.
On-demand is where the irrigation manager will take care of supplying the requirement of each
user. Water is supplied when demanded
- Need excess water to cater even if all farmers irrigate simultaneously
Rotational: The model for rotational water distribution are equity, adequacy, timeliness and
locational or convenience of operation. Flow is rotated among the group members while others
stay without irrigation.
- Appropriate when flows are low
- Large structures
- Seepage loss higher
- Quicker

Proportional: Proportional distribution of irrigation water means that flow in a canal is divided equally
between two or more smaller canals. Each canal is given a portion of the flow. Flow is divided
proportionally among the group of farmers considering number of members per group.
- needs large flows.
- Small structures.

Efficient use of water and integrated projects

The Mapping Systems and Services for Multiple Uses of Water Services (MASSMUS)
methodology is a special module that addresses multiple uses of water. It is part of Mapping
Systems and Services for Canal Operation Techniques (MASSCOTE), developed by the Food
and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), it has been in use since 2000 for the
auditing of medium to large irrigation systems, and for planning modernization of their operation
and management.
Multiple uses of water may be the result of a multipurpose scheme’s design, or more frequently
arises from local practices. Most water systems are run on the principle of ‘non exclusion’: once
built it is almost impossible to prevent local people from using the water for any needs for which
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they have no alternative. MASSCOTE approach, is widely used for auditing and planning
modernization.
MASSCOTE integrates and complements tools such as the rapid appraisal procedure (RAP) and
benchmarking to enable a complete sequence of diagnosis of external and internal performance
indicators, and the design of practical solutions for improved management and operation of the
system. Initially MASSCOTE was developed, tested and applied to large irrigation canal systems
where gravity was used for supply and distribution.
Beyond water for crops, irrigation projects are seen within the larger context of basin water
management in regards to both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of water. Managers need
to consider, several services and/or externalities within a canal system including:
 domestic water supply to villages;
 groundwater recharge;
 streams and water bodies for fishing activities;
 water supply for livestock;
 environmental needs/impacts (groundwater recharge, waterlogging, salinity, and
 drainage and return flow;
 recreational needs;
 health and sanitation.
Energy production is sometimes another important use of water in multiple-use reservoirs. The
routing and scheduling of water demands to generate energy is most often at the main inflow
point to the project.
An analysis of 30 large irrigation systems, investigated by FAO between 2004 and 2009 using a
MASSCOTE approach, shows that many contribute to uses of water beyond the crop. The
MASSCOTE methodology aims to evaluate current processes and performance of the
management of irrigation systems and to develop a project to modernize canal operation.

MASSCOTE is an iterative process based on ten successive steps, but more than one round is
required to determine a consistent plan. Phase A focuses on baseline information, while Phase B
aims to characterize the relative size of each water service. Phase C focuses on the vision of the
scheme and the options available for improvement of water service management.
Irrigation Water Management
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Irrigation Water Management is the process of determining and controlling the volume,
frequency, and application rate of irrigation water in a planned, efficient manner.
Why is Irrigation Water Management Important?
 Manage soil moisture to promote desired crop response.
 Optimize the use of available water supplies.
 Minimize irrigation induced erosion.
 Decrease non-point source pollution of surface and groundwater resources.
 Manage salts in the crop root zone.
 Manage air, soil or plant micro-climate.
Irrigation Scheduling
 Scheduling is determining when to irrigate and how much water to apply
 Scientific methods involve treating the soil as a reservoir for plant water and maintaining
the reservoir within an acceptable range for plant use
 Avoid applying irrigation water in excess of the quantity of water needed to replace the
soil/substrate moisture deficit.
Scheduling Of Irrigation: Technique used to determine the quantity and time of irrigation, so
that optimizing the crop yield with the higher water use efficiency Leeds to the soil minimum
damage.

Or Process of maintaining an optimum water balance in the soil profile for crop growth and
production.

Why Use Irrigation Scheduling?

• Prevent stress – health of plant; yield loss; appearance

• Maximize water use efficiency – beneficial use of resource
• Minimize leaching of nitrates or pesticides
Criteria to Manage Soil Moisture and Promote Desired Crop Response
The following principles apply for various crop growth stages:
• The volume of water needed for each irrigation shall be based on plant available water-holding
capacity (PAW) of the soil for the crop rooting depth (d), management allowed soil water
depletion (MAD), irrigation efficiency (E) and water table contribution.
• The irrigation frequency shall be based on the volume of irrigation water needed and/or
available to the crop, the rate of crop evapotranspiration, and effective precipitation.
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• The application rate shall be based on the volume of water to be applied, the frequency of
irrigation applications, soil infiltration and permeability characteristics, and the capacity of
the irrigation system.
 Soil indicators such as gravimetric method, feel and appearance method, tensiometer
method, electrical resistance method and water budget technique; plant indicators like
appearance and growth, leaf water potential and stomatal resistance techniques;
meteorological indicators viz., evapotranspiration of the crop, besides combination
approach decides when to irrigate?.
 The quantity of irrigation water to be applied (how much to irrigate?) at each irrigation
depends upon the amount of available moisture in the soil (at effective root depth).
The process of determining and controlling the volume, frequency and application rate of
irrigation water in a planned, efficient manner is critical in farm water management.
Surface Systems
1. The relationship between advance rate, time of opportunity, intake rate, and other aspects of
distribution uniformity and the amount of water infiltrated.
2. How to determine and control the amount of irrigation runoff.
3. How to adjust stream size, adjust irrigation time, or employ techniques such as “surge
irrigation” to compensate for seasonal changes in intake rate or to improve efficiency of
application.

Subsurface Systems
1. How to balance the relationship between water tables, leaching needs, and irrigation water
requirements.
2. The relationship between the locations of the subsurface system to normal farming
operations.
3. How to locate and space the system to achieve uniformity of water application.
4. How to accomplish crop germination in arid climates and during dry periods.
Pressurized Systems
1. How to adjust the application rate and/or duration to apply the required amount of water.
2. How to recognize and control runoff.
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 3. How to identify and improve uniformity of water application.
4. How to account for surface storage due to residue and field slope in situations where
sprinkler application rate exceeds soil intake rate.
5. How to identify and manage for weather conditions that adversely impact irrigation
efficiency and uniformity of application.
System Capability. The irrigation system must be capable of applying water uniformly and
efficiently and must provide the irrigator with adequate control over water application.

Scheduling Irrigations to meet objectives

RAW (or the “size of the bucket”). RAW is the component of soil moisture that can be readily
extracted by plants before they suffer from moisture stress and lower growth rates.

The basic concept is that as plants extract water, the soil water content decreases and reaches a
threshold value beyond which water becomes more strongly bound to the soil and more difficult
to extract. When cumulative water extraction exceeds the RAW value, soil water can no longer
be extracted quickly enough to meet actively growing plant water requirements.
There are two situations farmers are frequently faced
 Where adequate water is available, farmer aims is to produce maximum yield per unit of
land and unit of water.
 Here, the farmer has to provide optimum irrigation schedules, with time-sequence for
number of irrigations and quantity of each irrigation, for ensuring optimum crop yield
with high water-use efficiency.
 Where a limited quantity of water is available, the farmer aims to produce maximum yield
per unit of water.
 In this case, information is to be provided for rationalizing the limited water distribution
over the available land, applying water at moisture sensitive stage of crop growth and
withholding irrigation at other stages.

Maximum irrigation interval, (days) where AD is the depth of allowable Depletion of water from
the soil

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T max  AD
ETc
Actual irrigation interval, (days)

T  de
ETc
de = effective depth of irrigation, (mm); LD – Latest Date

10 m = 1 bar = 100,000 Pa = 100 kPa

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Drainage Engineering
Agricultural drainage systems are artificial and are only installed when the natural drainage
is insufficient for a satisfactory form of agriculture.
Agricultural Drainage Criteria
Agricultural drainage criteria Is a criteria specifying the highest permissible levels of the water table,
on or in the soil, so that the agricultural benefits are not reduced by problems of water logging.
If the actual water levels are higher than specified by the criteria, an agricultural drainage
system may have to be installed, or an already installed system may have to be improved, so
that the water logging is eliminated. If, on the other hand, a drainage system has lowered
water levels to a depth greater than specified by the criteria, we end up with an over-
designed system.
Besides employing agricultural drainage criteria, we also employ technical drainage criteria
(to minimize the costs of installing and operating the system, while maintaining the
agricultural criteria), environmental drainage criteria (to minimize the environmental
damage), and economic drainage criteria (to maximize the net benefits).
A correct assessment of the agricultural drainage criteria requires:
1. Knowledge of the various possible types of drainage systems;
2. An appropriate index for the state of water logging;
3. An adequate description of the agricultural objectives;
4. Information on the relationship between index and objective.
"Agricultural drainage systems" are systems that make it easier for water to flow from the
land, so that agriculture can benefit from the subsequently reduced water levels. The
systems can be made to ease the flow of water over the soil surface or through the
underground, which leads to a distinction between "surface drainage systems" and
"subsurface drainage systems". Both types of systems need an internal or "field drainage
system", which lowers the water level in the field, and an external or "main drainage
system", which transports the water to the outlet.
A surface drainage system is applied when the water logging occurs on the soil surface,
whereas a subsurface drainage system is applied when the water logging occurs in the soil.
Although subsurface drainage systems are sometimes installed to reduce surface water
logging and vice versa, this practice is not recommended.

Sometimes (e.g. in irrigated, submerged rice fields), a form of temporary drainage is

required whereby the drainage system is only allowed to function on certain occasions (e.g.
during the harvest period). If allowed to function continuously, excessive quantities of water
would be lost. Such a system is therefore called a "checked drainage system". More usually,
however, the drainage system should function as regularly as possible to prevent undue
water logging at any time. We then speak of a "regular drainage system"also called "relief
drainage".

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The above definition of agricultural drainage systems excludes drainage systems for cities,
highways, sports fields, and other non-agricultural purposes. Further, it excludes natural
drainage systems.

The definition also excludes such reclamation measures as "hydraulic erosion control"
(which aims rather at reducing the flow of water from the soil than enhancing it) and "flood
protection" (which does not enhance the flow of water from the soil, but aims rather at
containing the water in watercourses). Nevertheless, flood protection and drainage systems
are often simultaneous components of land reclamation projects. The reason is that
installing drainage systems without flood protection in areas prone to inundation would be
a waste of time and money. Areas with both flood protection and drainage systems are
often called "polders". Sometimes, a flood-control project alone suffices to cure the water
logging. Drainage systems are then not required.
"Interceptor drainage". The interception and diversion of surface waters with catch canals
is common practice in water-management projects, but it is a flood-protection measure
rather than a drainage measure. The interception of groundwater flowing laterally through
the soil is usually not effective, because of the low velocities of groundwater flow (seldom
more than 1 m/d and often much less). In the presence of a shallow impermeable layer,
subsurface interceptor drains catch very little water and generally do not relieve water
logging in extensive agricultural areas. In the presence of a deep impermeable layer, the
total flow of groundwater can be considerable, but then it passes almost entirely
underneath the subsurface interceptor drain. A single interceptor drain cannot intercept the
upward seepage of groundwater: here, one needs a regular drainage system.

Drainage Equation
A drainage equation is an equation describing the relation between depth and spacing of
parallel drains, depth of the watertable, depth and hydraulic conductivity of the soils.

Dupuit-Forcheimer formula
This equation is known as Dupuit formula and is given as:

Where
K = hydraulic conductivity of the soil layer
L = drain length
h = head
Most drainage equations are based on the Dupuit-Forcheimer assumptions. This is because
the Dupuit-Forcheimer assumptions allows reduction of the three or two dimensional flow
to a one-dimensional flow by assuming parallel and horizontal streamlines. However, such a
flow pattern will occur as long as the impervious subsoil is close to the drain. The
Hooghoudt equation, is based on these assumptions. If the impervious layer does not
coincide with the bottom of the drain, the flow approximately the drains will be radial and
the Dupuit-Forcheimers assumptions cannot be applied. Hooghoudt solved this problem
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also by introducing an imaginary impervious layer to take into account the extra head loss
caused by radial flow. A well-known steady-state drainage equation is the Hooghoudt drain
spacing equation.

The Dupuit–Forchheimer assumption holds that groundwater flows horizontally in an

unconfined aquifer and that the groundwater discharge is proportional to the saturated
aquifer thickness. These Dupuit–Forchheimer assumptions are summarized as follows:
1. The flow is horizontal at any vertical cross-section.
2. The velocity is constant over the depth.
3. The velocity is calculated using the slope of the free surface as the hydraulic gradient.
4. The slope of the water table is relatively small.
If the impervious layer does not coincide with the bottom of the drain, the flow
approximately the drains will be radial and the Dupuit-Forcheimers assumptions cannot be
applied.
Hooghoudt's drainage equation
Hooghoudt's drainage equation gives a mathematical relation of the parameters involved in
the subsurface drainage of flat land by a system of horizontal and parallel ditches or pipe
drains without entrance resistance, placed at equal depth and subject to a steady recharge
evenly distributed over the area (Figure 1).
Consider a steady-state flow to vertically walled open drains reaching an impervious layer.
According to the Dupuit-Forcheimer theory, Darcy's equation can be applied to describe the
flow of ground water (qx) through a vertical plane (y) at distance (x) from the ditch.

If the water level in the drain is very low (D = O) the above equation reduces to

This equation describes the flow above drain level.

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If the impervious layer is far below the water level in the drain (D >> h), the second term
in the previous equation can be neglected and the equation will reduce to

This equation describes the flow below the drain level. These considerations lead to the
conclusion that, if the soil profile consists of two layers with different hydraulic
conductivities, and if the drain level is at the interface between the soil layers, the equation
can be written as:

Kt or Ka = hydraulic conductivity of the layer above drain level

Kb = hydraulic conductivity of the layer below drain level.
So far, this applies to a homogeneous soil profile or for a two layered soil profile if the
interface between the two layers coincides with the drain level.

The most widely known form of Hooghoudt's equation was presented by Wesseling (1972).
In a slightly modified form, it reads:

qL = (8Hm/L)(Kb.De+Ka.Ha)

Where qL is the steady recharge of water percolating to the water table equal to the drain
discharge (m/day or m/hr), L is the drain spacing (m), Hm is the height of the water table mid
-way between drains, taken with respect to the centre of the drain (m), K b is the hydraulic
conductivity of the soil below drain level (m/day or m/hr), Ka is the hydraulic conductivity
of the soil above drain level (m/day or m/hr), De is Hooghoudt's equivalent depth to the
impermeable layer below drain level, and Ha=Hm/2 is the average height of the water table
above drain level.
The equivalent depth De (to correct for convergence near the drain) depends on the depth
D of the impermeable layer below the drains as follows: Equivalent depth is the effective
flow depth below the drain

If D<R: De = D (2a)
If R<D<L/4: De = D.L/{(L-D2)+8D.L.ln(D/R)} (2b)
If D>L/4: De = L/8ln(L/R) (2c)
Where R is the drain radius (m). For L/8<D<L/2, Equations 2b and 2c give almost the same
result.

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Figure 1: Illustration of the parameters involved in Hooghoudt's Equation

Drains are open ditches instead of buried pipes

If the drains are open ditches instead of buried pipes, the above equations are applicable
with an equivalent radius calculated as R=W/π, where W is the wetted perimeter of the
ditch.

The above equations can be adjusted to take an-isotropic hydraulic conductivity into
account (Boumans 1979). They can also be adjusted to take the resistance to vertical
downward flow into account using the principles described by Oosterbaan (1986). Further, if
the coefficient 8 is changed into 6.4, the equations can be used for drainage with a falling
water table (Oosterbaan et al. 1989).

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 Figure 2:

Hooghoudt's equation
Hooghoudt's equation can be written as:
Q L2 = 8 Kb d (Di - Dd) (Dd - Dw) + 4 Ka (Dd - Dw) 2
Where:
Q = Steady state drainage discharge rate (m/day)
Ka = Hydraulic conductivity of the soil above drain level (m/day)
Kb = Hydraulic conductivity of the soil below drain level (m/day)
Di = Depth of the impermeable layer below drain level (m)
Dd = Depth of the drains (m)
Dw = Steady state depth of the watertable midway between the drains (m)
L = Spacing between the drains (m)
d = Equivalent depth, a function of L, (Di-Dd), and r
r = Drain radius (m)
Steady (equilibrium) state condition
In steady state, the level of the water table remains constant and the discharge rate (Q)
equals the rate of groundwater recharge (R), i.e. the amount of water entering the
groundwater through the watertable per unit of time. By considering a long-term (e.g.
seasonal) average depth of the water table (Dw) in combination with the long-term average
recharge rate (R), the net storage of water in that period of time is negligibly small and the
steady state condition is satisfied: one obtains a dynamic equilibrium.
Derivation of the equation
For the derivation of the equation Hooghoudt used the law of Darcy, the summation of
circular potential functions and, for the determination of the influence of the impermeable
layer, de method of mirror images and superposition.
Hooghoudt published tables for the determination of the equivalent depth (d), because the
function (F) in d = F (L, Di-Dd, r) consists of long series of terms.

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Examples
A subsurface drainage system is to be installed to control the water table under the
following conditions:
 Design discharge rate = 1mm/d;
 The depth of the water table midway between the drains is to be kept a 1.0 m below
the ground surface.
 Drains will be installed at a depth of 2m;
 PVC drainpipes with a radius of 0.10 m will be used
A deep auguring revealed that there is a layer of low conductivity at 6.8 m, which can be
regarded as the base of the flow region. Auger-hole measurements were made to calculate
the hydraulic conductivity of the soil above the impervious layer. Its average value was found
to be 0.14 m/d.
Solution:
If we assume a homogeneous soil profile, we can use the Hooghoudt Equation to calculate
the drain spacing. We have the following data:
Q = 1mm/d = 0.001 m/d;
h = 2.0 - 1.0 = 1.0m
r0 = 0.10 m
K = 0.14 m/d

Substitution of the above values into Hooghoudt equation yields

L2 = 1120 d +560
As the equivalent depth, d, is a function of L (among other things), we can only solve
this quadratic equation for L by trial and error.
First estimate: L = 75 m. We can determine the equivalent depth, d using the equation
given above: => d = 3.40

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Thus, L2 = 1120 x 3.40 + 560 = 4368 m2. This is not in agreement with L2 =752 = 5625
m2. Apparently, the spacing of 75 m is too wide. Or

Thus L2 = 1120 x 2.96 + 560 = 3875 m2. This is not in agreement with L = 502=2500 m.
Thus, spacing of 50 m is too narrow.

Thus L2 = 1120 x 3.22 + 560 = 4171 m2. This is sufficiently close to L2 = 652 = 4225m2.
Therefore, we can select a spacing of 65 m.

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In processing the measured data, a second degree polynomial of the form:

Was chosen. This equation is similar to the well-known equation of Hooghoudt (1940):

With K the hydraulic conductivity of the soil, and L the drain spacing.

and

Design of pipe drainage system for groundwater control

Groundwater drainage by means of buried pipe systems is of interest to many engineers

who use one of the basic design criteria involving drain spacing formulae (DSF). DSF may be
categorized as either steady state formulae (stead, constant flow through the soils to the
drains) or non-steady state formulae (all the parameters vary with time).
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Worked Example 1

Solution

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Example 2

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Example 3

Solution:

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