Division of irrigation water in The Fayoum,Egypt

The division of irrigation water in The Fayoum, Egypt, has been measured. Factors influencing this division are discussed: the hydraulic conditions at structures and canals, the operation regime of gates, lack of reliable gauge data for system operation, shortage of labour, and the water level in Lake Qarun. A deviation from uniform supply has been found for the entire Fayoum, but also along a lateral and sub-lateral. The reasons for this are discussed and suggestions for possible technical improvements of The Fayoum system are given.Abbreviations FWSBM Fayoum Water and Salt Balance Model Project - MSL Mean Sea Level at Alexandria - FID Fayoum Irrigation Department - mcm million cubic metres     

Water management in tertiary units in the Fayoum,Egypt

The irrigation system in The Fayoum is designed for a continuous supply of water (24 h a day, 7 days a week) to rotational units, which vary in size from about 20 to 500 fe. The Fayoum Irrigation Department is responsible for the delivery of irrigation water to the rotational units. Within the units, the farmers rotate the water in a seven days rotation.One of the characteristics of present water management of The Fayoum is the non-uniformity of the division of flow over the main canals. The purpose of this paper is: (i) to study the effects of this non-uniformity by comparing water management in tertiary units in an area with a (more than) sufficient water supply to an area subject to some water shortage; (ii) to discuss implications of the present tertiary unit water management for the water management of the entire The Fayoum.The findings are that: (i) the non-uniformity of the main system water supply has a strong effect on the water management in the tertiary units. Water shortage results in a lower cropping intensity and fallow land, no possibility to cultivate rice, and a possible trend towards salinization in the Seila area; (ii) the farmers in both research areas modify the official rotation schedule. These modifications create a high flexibility in the rotational units: The water supply for different crops and plots is adjusted almost to the minute.Glossary and abbreviations Bahar Gate-Tender - FaWMDI Fayoum Water Management and Drainage Improvement Project - fe Feddan (1 fe = 0.42 ha) - FID Fayoum Irrigation Department - Ganabiah Secondary or Sub-Secondary - IIP Irrigation Improvement Project - Kafr Satellite Village of a Larger Village with a Mayor - Mesqah Tertiary Canal - MSL Mean Sea Level at Alexandria - Nasbah Cluster of Fayoum Standard Weirs - Sheikh el Balad The Oldest of the Kafr (Elected Position)     

基于水量平衡下的灌区用水计划编制方法综述

为了精准指导农田灌溉,合理优化渠系输配水,提高水资源的利用率、灌区的管理水平和总效益,对灌区用水计划的编制方法展开了理论研究.将用水计划的编制过程概括为实时灌溉预报和渠系配水两部分,分别进行归纳整理和分析.在对国内灌区用水计划的编制方式进行了解的基础上,着重介绍了利用土壤水分平衡方程进行实时灌溉预报的方法,总结各参数预测值和计算修正值的获取方法,分析对比各方法的适用范围,提炼普遍灌区实时灌溉预报中适用的方法.为了优化田间渠系配水次序和配水量,以保证作物得到及时有效灌溉,归纳总结了国内灌区常用的渠系配水模型,论述了常见的目标函数及相关约束的选取原则,并指出其局限性和可能的发展趋势.研究结果可为各灌区进行实时灌溉预报和建立优化配水模型提供借鉴与参考.     

Historical water storage for irrigation in the Fayum depression (Egypt)

Investigations into the much-discussed question of a historical manmade water storage lake within the Fayum depression were carried out in spring 1988. The results of the research into the dam between Itsa and Shidmuh indicate that there existed an artificial lake in the south-east of the Fayum as early as the 3rd Cent. B.C. The findings are in agreement with the reports of the classical writers. There is no reason not to identify this lake in the El-Mala'a basin with the lake the ancient (post-Ptolemaic) historians and geographers referred to as Lake Moeris. The question as to whether Herodotus in the 5th Cent. B.C. described the same lake or whether he saw the water level of the Birket el-Qarun at 19 to 21 m must, at present, remain unanswered.     

Calibration of weirs in The Fayoum,Egypt

Weirs in the irrigation system of The Fayoum Governorate in Egypt have been modified: crests have been widened and pipes have been installed. As a result, the head-discharge ratings became invalid or unknown, and the irrigation system became difficult to manage. To obtain valid rating curves for the modified weirs, a flow-measurement programme with current-meters was started. The reasons why this programme did not yield ratings of sufficient accuracy are given.Hydraulic theory on flow over weirs and through pipes was subsequently used to arrive at acceptable ratings. An example is given for a widened weir with a pipe through its still. The theoretical rating is compared with the current-meter measurements. It is shown that the theory gives better ratings in a shorter time.Abbreviations FWSBM Fayoum Water and Salt Balance Model Project - FID Fayoum Irrigation Department - fe feddan; 1 fe=0.42 ha     

Estimation of a network irrigation efficiency to cope with reduced water supply

The overall irrigation efficiency, e_p, for the irrigationnetworks in the Thessaloniki plain, in Northern Greece, wasestimated from historical data, spanning eight years. Irrigationnetworks differ regarding the method of water delivery and themethod of field application. Overall irrigation efficiency is theparameter which helps to adjust water supply to meet the actualcrop water requirements. A method is introduced which calculatesnetworks e_p using spatially distributed data. Efficiencyvalues for all systems were calculated using the proposed method.Seasonally averaged e_p values for eight years for 32(surface and sprinkler) irrigation networks ranged from 0.38 to0.81. Analysis of the time series e_p values can identifyoperational factors that might affect network e_p. Sprinklerand surface network irrigation efficiencies did not show anysignificant difference.     

The water balance of irrigated forages in northern Victoria, Australia

Knowledge of the components of the water balance - evaporation, transpiration and deep drainage - would be beneficial for targeting productivity improvements for irrigated forages in northern Victoria. We aimed to estimate these components using a simple water balance and the dual crop coefficients provided in FAO-56. Soil water deficits from a field experiment, comparing the water use of six border-check and one spray irrigated forage system, agreed well with the modelled values, except for alfalfa where irrigation intake was restricted. About 85% of the water applied to perennial forages (perennial ryegrass/white clover, tall fescue/white clover and alfalfa) was used for transpiration, 10% for evaporation and 5% was lost as drainage below the root zone. Evaporation was highest from the double-cropped (oats/millet) system (30%) and was 5-25% of the water used by winter-growing annual pastures (Persian clover/Italian ryegrass and both border-check and spray irrigated subterranean clover/Italian ryegrass). The high proportion of water used as transpiration by the perennial forages was due to their high ground cover maintained throughout the year. When compared over similar seasonal conditions, actively growing forages used similar amounts of water, indicating that any increases in water productivity will be mainly due to higher production and/or to matching the growing season of the forage to periods of lower potential evapotranspiration.     

海滨灌区供需水量平衡分析

本文以辽宁海滨灌区为例,以现状灌溉制度为基础,将《辽宁省行业用水定额》与《辽宁省各种作物灌溉制度分析》有机结合,确定灌溉定额.水量平衡分析过程中,将灌溉面积和可供水量分别分区,充分利用区间径流来减少水库供水,实现优化水资源配置,为灌区水资源科学合理利用提供决策性依据,也可供类似工程设计参考.     

Can Farmers in Egypt Shoulder the Burden of Irrigation Management?

The Government of Egypt is mandated toplan, construct, operate, manage, andmaintain the water system. However, withthe growing water demands over supplies inthe country, water management became a verydifficult task. This has led Egypt toreform policies, technologies,institutions, and development strategies tomanage water more effectively. One of thesestrategies is the irrigation managementtransfer (IMT) that has been a majorstrategy adopted to encourage farmers toplay a more important role in irrigationmanagement and related water services andalso share the cost of O&M of irrigationand drainage systems. IMT policy islaunched in Egypt as a pilot phase toexpand water users' participation atsecondary levels of the irrigation anddrainage systems. Four pilot areas (5,000–8,000 acre) representing all categories andgeographical locations of agriculturallands of Egypt were selected to implementthis policy.This study was conducted in these pilotareas prior to the start of any IMTactivities to describe, analyze, andexplain farmers' attitudes towardirrigation maintenance and implementationof IMT process. Socio-economicquestionnaires were designed and used asthe main tool for data collection. Afterthe field pre-test of the surveyinstrument, a sample of 240 farmers, 60from each pilot area, was selected usingthe sampling frame of multi-tiered process,and the statistical data analysis was doneusing SpssWin software.The major result of this study is that,without proper education and interface withfarmers, there is widespread resistance tothe idea farmers assuming management andmaintenance responsibilities beyond theon-farm level. It would have to proceedvery cautiously, and yield responsiveresults if it were to survive in the faceof the attitudes the farmers have shown,with their strong belief in the necessityof the role of the government. Meanwhile,farmers expressed great confidence in theIMT process and its objectives.     

基于地下水均衡的灌区合理渠井用水比例

基于地下水均衡模型,分析了陕西泾惠渠灌区不同频率典型年的地下水均衡状况,结果表明降水入渗补给、渠系渗漏及田间灌溉入渗补给、井灌回归补给是灌区地下水的主要补给源,占总补给量的85.99%~82.89%;而人工开采是灌区地下水的主要排泄途径,农灌地下水开采量、人畜和工业用水开采量占总排泄量的69.7%~72.86%.以2010年为现状基准年,2020年为规划水平年,结合灌区发展规划,设置了4种不同的灌区发展情景模式,运用所建立的地下水均衡模型计算了不同情景模式下的地下水位埋深,其变化范围为0~0.07 m;以地下水位变幅最小为准则,得出了不同频率典型年合理的渠井用水比例范围为1.49~1.53,从而为灌区地下水资源的高效持续利用提供了依据.     

The legal and administrative setting for the use of water resources in Mendoza, Argentina

The legal-administrative setting for the use of waterresources in Mendoza Province is founded on differentlegal rules. This includes the National Constitution,the Argentine Civil Code, National Laws, theConstitution of the Provincial State, the GeneralWater Law, (legal) administrative regulations of theGeneral Department of Irrigation.The current water law is based on the roman law, onthe Arab irrigation water rights which were brought toArgentina by the Spaniards and on the practices of theoriginal American pre-Colombian intermediate law.The latter is marked by a strong regional sense. Assuch, the water law is strongly influenced by theregions elements of nature and attempts to offersolutions to problems.The legal rules are discussed from a behavioral andorganizational perspective. Examples from the LowerTunuyan System are given to illustrate the day-to-dayeffects on irrigation water management.     

Irrigation Policy Reforms for Rice Cultivation in Egypt

This paper reports a fieldresearch that evaluated irrigation waterdelivery options for promoting conservativewater use in rice cultivation. Ricecultivation in the Delta region of Egypthas grown dramatically, replacing cotton asthe major summer crop. The Ministry ofWater Resources and Irrigation is findingit difficult to limit the area planted torice since rice cultivation is profitableto farmers. A socially more feasibleoption is to encourage farmers to cultivateshort-season rice varieties. The Ministrycan then adopt the policy that will provideirrigation water to the farmers to supportcultivation of 120-day rice varietiesrather than 160-day traditional varieties. The field studies conducted for two yearsin the Nile Delta conclusively show thatthis is indeed feasible. Farmers in thedemonstration canal areas were able tosuccessfully finish 120-day ricecultivation, which allowed the Ministrystaff to end the rice water delivery about35 days early and realize substantial watersavings.     

Soil water balance trial involving capacitance and neutron probe measurements

The objective of this study was to compare soil water measurements made using capacitance and neutron probes by means of a water balance experiment in a drainage lysimeter. The experiment was conducted in a 5-year-old drip-irrigated peach orchard (Prunus persica L. Batsch, cv. Flordastar, on GF-677 peach rootstock) planted in a clay loam textured soil located in southern Spain. Four drainage lysimeters (5 m × 5 m × 1.5 m), each containing one tree, were constructed and equipped with one lateral line containing eight drippers per tree, with a discharge rate of 2 L h⁻¹. Three access tubes for the neutron probe (NP), symmetrically facing three PVC access tubes containing the multi-depth capacitance probes (MDCP) were located perpendicularly to the drip line (0.2, 0.6 and 1 m). The results demonstrated that both the capacitance and neutron probes gave similar soil water content values under steady state hydraulic gradient conditions (0.2 m from the emitter) although some discrepancies were found in heterogeneous soil water distribution conditions (1 m from the emitter), which might be attributed to the smaller soil volume explored by the MDCP compared with the NP. Explanations for the discrepancies between both devised are presented. When water inputs and outputs were fairly constant, the volumetric soil water content could be considered to represent field saturation (θ_sat = 0.36 m³ m⁻³). When drainage was zero, there were 2 days when the soil water content was constant and could be considered as field capacity (θ_fc = 0.31 m³ m⁻³). The findings suggest that: (i) capacitance probes can be used for continuous real-time soil water content monitoring unlike the manual measurements obtained with the neutron probe; (ii) the location of the sensors is critical when used for drip irrigation scheduling and our recommendations for practical agricultural purposes would be to place MDCP sensors in the place representing the highest root density, leading the sensors to become biological sensors rather than mere soil moisture sensors; and (iii) on average, the water balance values determined by lysimeter match those calculated using the data from both probes. However, due to the smaller soil volume explored by MDCP, more of these sensors must be used to characterize the soil water status in water balance studies.     

Economic incentives reduce irrigation deliveries and drain water volume

This paper describes the application of an economic incentive program to achieve water quality objectives by motivating improvements in farm-level water management practices. The program includes farm-specific water allotments, tiered water pricing, and low-interest loans for purchasing irrigation equipment. The implementation of this program in a California water district has resulted in significant reductions in irrigation deliveries and drain water volume. Since the program was implemented, average irrigation depths have declined by 25% on cotton fields, 9% on tomatoes, 10% on cantaloupes, 30% on seed alfalfa, and 29% on grain fields. The average volume of drain water collected each year in subsurface drainage systems has declined from 4.8 million m³ during 1986 through 1989 to 2.6 million m³ during 1990 through 1993. These results confirm that economic incentives can be effective in generating improvements in water quality.     

Water storage (Lake Moeris) in the Fayum Depression,legend or reality?

Historical references and archaeological evidence indicate that a man-made lake existed in the Fayum in historical times. There are few historical structures in the field of water resources development which are discussed as controversily as this storage lake. The various theories are described, a certain assessment is attempted and planned investigations are mentioned.     

Water balance of centre pivot irrigated pasture in northern Victoria, Australia

The irrigated dairy industry in Australia depends on pasture as a low-cost source of fodder for milk production. The industry is under increasing pressure to use limited water resources more efficiently. Pasture is commonly irrigated using border-check but there is growing interest amongst dairy irrigators to explore the potential for overhead sprinklers to save water and/or increase productivity. This paper reports on a detailed water balance study that evaluated the effectiveness of centre pivot irrigation for pasture production. The study was conducted between 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 on a commercial dairy farm in the Shepparton Irrigation Region in northern Victoria. More than 90% of supplied water (irrigation plus rainfall) was utilized for pasture growth. Deep drainage of respectively 90 and 93 mm was recorded for the two observation seasons. During the 2004/2005 season, deep drainage resulted from large unseasonal summer rainfall events. Over the 2005/2006 season, deep drainage resulted from excess irrigation. The cumulative pasture dry matter (DM) production was 15.5 and 11.3 tonnes DM ha⁻¹ for the two irrigation seasons, with an agronomic water use efficiency (WUE) of 16 and 12 kg DM ha⁻¹ mm⁻¹ respectively. The farmer's intuitive irrigation scheduling was found to be very effective; the pattern of irrigation application closely matched measured pasture water use, prevented water stress and resulted in high irrigation efficiency.     

Farm salinity appraisal with water reuse

The need for a better understanding of the interaction between irrigation practices and the elevation and quality of the water table is of paramount importance for developing irrigation management strategies to ameliorate the regional problems of elevated saline water tables in the San Joaquin Valley, California. An area of approximately 3000 ha which includes portions of the Diener Ranch and the adjacent University of California, Westside Research and Extension Center, located south of Five Points in the Westlands Water District on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley was chosen for extensive field measurements. Field work consisted of four main activities namely, field instrumentation, collection of records of field activities, periodic data collection, and analyses of field data. Field measurements of water table carried out during 1994 indicated that the water table elevation was sensitive to the irrigation practices. There was a general increase in the area with a water table close to the surface during the irrigation season, and a return to water table elevations similar to the starting conditions at the end of the season. During the study period, the surface water quality deteriorated more in areas irrigated with reuse water and persisted through the end of the season. Depth averaged electrical conductivity for the study area over 6.5 m decreased between December 1993 and December 1994. Vertical hydraulic gradients in the saturated zone, were found to be an order of magnitude larger than horizontal gradients. The direction of vertical gradients changed, with downward gradients following pre-irrigations and upward gradients later in the season, when crop water requirements increased. Based on the results of the field study, it can be concluded that the irrigation management practices have a direct effect on local water table response as well as on water quality. Therefore, irrigation practices that promote less deep percolation losses may be helpful in controlling the water table rise.     

蓄水控灌模式下水稻耗水量及灌排定额初探

提出了水稻"蓄水控灌"的概念。以杂交水稻"K优818"为试验材料,采用小区试验,研究了蓄水控灌模式下水稻耗水量、灌排定额、产量和水分生产效率的变化规律。结果表明,蓄水控灌模式下耗水量较淹水灌溉减少5%~14%;灌溉和排水分别减少21%~37%和25%~54%。籽粒产量略有增或降低,而灌溉水生产效率大幅度提高。表明水稻蓄水控灌是一种节水、高效、环保的灌溉模式,适于多雨地区应用。     

Time-dependent drainage from root zone and drainage coefficient under different irrigation management levels for subsurface drainage design in Egypt

Drainage water from the lower boundary of the root zone is an important factor in the irrigated agricultural lands for prediction of the water table behavior and understanding and modeling of water and chemical movement in the soil profile. The drainage coefficient is an important parameter for the design of subsurface drainage. On a 33,138 ha of the Nile Delta in Egypt, this study is conducted using 90 irrigation periods over a 3-year crop rotation to estimate the time-dependent drainage from the root zone and the design subsurface drainage coefficient with different cropping seasons and irrigation management levels.The results showed that the cropping seasons and the irrigation management levels as indicated by different irrigation efficiency are significantly affected the drainage rate from the root zone and the design value of subsurface drainage coefficient. Drainage rates from the root zone of 1.72 mm/d and 0.82 mm/d were estimated for summer and winter seasons, respectively. These rates significantly decreased in a range of 46% to 92% during summer season and 60% to 98% during winter season when the irrigation efficiency is increased in a range of 5% to 15%. The subsurface drainage coefficient was estimated to be 1.09 mm/d whereas the design drain pipe capacity was estimated to be 2.2 mm/d, based on the peak discharge of the most critical crop (maize), rather than 4.0 mm/d which is currently used. A significant decrease of the drainage coefficient and the drain pipe capacity ranges from 18% to 45% was found with the increase of irrigation efficiency in a range of 5% to 15%. The leaching requirement for each crop was also estimated.     

A Landsat-based energy balance and evapotranspiration model in Western US water rights regulation and planning

The quantification of evapotranspiration (ET) from irrigated projects is important for water rights management, water resources planning and water regulation. Traditionally, ET has been estimated by multiplying a weather-based reference ET by crop coefficients (K_c) determined according to the crop type and the crop growth stage. However, there is typically question regarding whether crops grown compare with the conditions represented by the K_c values, especially in water short areas. In addition, it is difficult to estimate the correct crop growth stage dates for large populations of crops and fields. METRIC (Mapping Evapotranspiration at high Resolution and with Internalized Calibration) is an image-processing model for calculating ET as a residual of the surface energy balance. METRIC is a variant of SEBAL, an energy balance process developed in the Netherlands by Bastiaanssen and was extended to provide tighter integration with ground-based reference ET. METRIC was applied with Landsat images in southern Idaho to predict monthly and seasonal ET for water rights accounting and for operation of ground water models. ET “maps” (i.e., images) provide the means to quantify, in terms of both the amount and spatial distribution, the ET on a field by field basis. The ET maps have been used in Idaho to quantify net ground-water pumpage in areas where water extraction from underground is not measured and to estimate recharge from surface-irrigated lands. Application and testing of METRIC indicates substantial promise as an efficient, accurate, and relatively inexpensive procedure to predict the actual evaporation fluxes from irrigated lands throughout a growing season.