Water Resources Engineering (CEB-703)

Irrigation System
Lecture 6
 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Irrigation: Introduction
• Three basic requirements of agricultural production are soil,
seed, and water (others: fertilisers, insecticides, sunshine,
suitable atmospheric temperature, and human labour)
• Application of water to soil is essential for plant growth and it
serves the following functions:
(i) It supplies moisture to the soil essential for the germination of seeds and
chemical and bacterial processes during plant growth
(ii) It cools the soil and the surroundings thus making the environment more
favourable for plant growth
(iii) It washes out or dilutes salts in the soil
(iv) It softens clods and thus helps in tillage operations
(v) It enables application of fertilisers
(vi) It reduces the adverse effects of frost on crops
(vii) It ensures crop success against short-duration droughts
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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Irrigation: Introduction
• Advantages

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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Irrigation: Introduction
• Irrigation
- Artificial application of water to soil
- Usually used to assist in growing crops in drying areas and
during periods of inadequate rainfall

• Irrigation system – involves planning, design, construction,

operation and maintenance of various irrigation works:
o Sources – River, Reservoirs
o Control structures – Barrages, Head regulator
o Distribution system – Irrigation canal

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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Classification of Irrigation System

The classification of the irrigation systems is mainly
based on the way the water is applied to the
agricultural land:

i) Surface Irrigation
ii) Sprinkler Irrigation
iii) Drip Irrigation

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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Classification of Irrigation System

i) Surface Irrigation
- Group of application techniques where water is applied
and distributed over the soil surface by gravity
a. Basin Irrigation
b. Border Irrigation
c. Furrow Irrigation

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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Classification of Irrigation System

i) Surface Irrigation
- Group of application techniques where water is applied
and distributed over the soil surface by gravity
a. Basin Irrigation
- Field is level in all directions, encompassed by a dike
to prevent runoff, provides undirected flow of water
onto the field

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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Classification of Irrigation System

i) Surface Irrigation
- Group of application techniques where water is applied
and distributed over the soil surface by gravity
a. Basin Irrigation
- Methods of water supply: (i) Head ditch with siphon tubes or
side opening gates (ii) Gated pipe (aluminum or plastic pipe
with small gates that are opened and closed) (iii) Buried
pipeline with periodically spaced valves at the surface

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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Classification of Irrigation System

i) Surface Irrigation
- Group of application techniques where water is applied
and distributed over the soil surface by gravity
b. Border Irrigation
- extension of basin irrigation to sloping, long rectangular or
contoured field shapes

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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Classification of Irrigation System

i) Surface Irrigation
- Typical outlet structures for Basin and Border Irrigation

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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Classification of Irrigation System

i) Surface Irrigation
- Group of application techniques where water is applied
and distributed over the soil surface by gravity
c. Furrow Irrigation
- avoids flooding the entire field
surface by channeling the flow
along the primary direction of the
field using 'furrows,' 'creases,' or
'corrugations’
- Water infiltrates through the wetted
perimeter and spreads vertically
and horizontally to refill the soil
reservoir
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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Classification of Irrigation System

i) Surface Irrigation
- Typical supply structures for Furrow Irrigation

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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Classification of Irrigation System

i) Surface Irrigation
- Typical gated options for Furrow Irrigation

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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Classification of Irrigation System

i) Surface Irrigation

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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Surface Irrigation
• There are three general phases in a surface irrigation
event:
1. Advance - when water is first
introduced to the field and when
it has advanced to the end
2. Wetting or Ponding – when water
is shut off or cut off
3. Recession - water recedes from
the field by draining from the field
and/or into the field via
infiltration
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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Surface Irrigation
• System Parameters
1. Soil moisture – use of gravimetric method to measure

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Surface Irrigation
• System Parameters:
1. Soil moisture
- field capacity (Wfc) is defined as
the moisture fraction of the soil
when rapid drainage has
essentially ceased
- permanent wilting point (Wpw) is
defined as the soil moisture
fraction at which permanent
wilting of the plant leaf has
occurred and applying
additional water will not relieve
the wilted condition
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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Surface Irrigation
• System Parameters
1. Soil moisture

TAW = total available water

MAD = management allowable deficit
SMD = soil moisture deficit 18
 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Surface Irrigation
• System Parameters
1. Soil moisture (Example)
A number of soil samples from throughout a 65-acre, border-
irrigated field were collected and evaluated

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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Surface Irrigation
• System Parameters
1. Soil moisture (Example)

Soil Moisture Depth = soil depth x 𝜃

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Surface Irrigation
• System Parameters
2. Infiltration
- Controls the amount of water entering the soil and impacts
the duration of both advance and recession
- Amount of water entering the soil and the duration of that
irrigation varies greatly over a field

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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Surface Irrigation
• System Parameters
3. Irrigation Efficiency (Ei)
- Represents the fraction of water applied to the field that could
be considered beneficially used

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Surface Irrigation
• System Parameters
4. Channel
- Geometry of a channel cross-section has a significant effect on the
surface hydraulics as well as infiltration
- Basins and borders can be considered as wide rectangular channels,
where the depth of flow is by far less than their width.
- Furrows can have parabolic, triangular or trapezoidal cross-sections

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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Surface Irrigation
• System Parameters
4. Channel
- Geometry of a channel cross-section has a significant effect on the
surface hydraulics as well as infiltration
- Basins and borders can be considered as wide rectangular channels,
where the depth of flow is by far less than their width.
- Furrows can have parabolic, triangular or trapezoidal cross-sections

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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Classification of Irrigation System

ii) Drip irrigation (or Trickle irrigation)

- Involves slow application of water

to the plant root zone
- The losses by deep percolation
and evaporation are minimized
- A precise amount of water is
applied to replenish the depleted
soil moisture at frequent intervals,
for optimum plant growth

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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Classification of Irrigation System

ii) Drip irrigation (or Trickle irrigation)

- Provides application of water and

fertilizer at an optimum rate to
the plant root system
- Amount of water supplied to the
soil is almost equal to the daily
consumptive use, thus
maintaining a low moisture
tension in soil

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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Classification of Irrigation System

iii) Sprinkler irrigation
- Water is sprayed into the air
through a sprinkler nozzle and
allowed to fall on the land surface
in a uniform pattern at a rate less
than the infiltration rate of the
soil
- Can be used for almost all crops
(except rice) and on nearly all
soils

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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Sprinkler irrigation
• Capacity Requirements
- Required capacity of a sprinkle system depends on the
size of the area irrigated (design area), the gross depth
water applied at each irrigation, and the net operating
time allowed to apply this depth, The capacity of a
system can be computed by the formula:

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Sprinkler irrigation
• Capacity Requirements
- Example:

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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Sprinkler irrigation
• Capacity Requirements
- Example:

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Sprinkler irrigation

• Capacity Requirements
- Example:

Although only two of the three crops are

being irrigated, the maximum capacity
requirement of the system is in July.
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Sprinkler irrigation

• Application Frequency
The average application rate from a sprinkler is
computed by:

in/hr

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Irrigation and Hydraulic Structures

• Diversion Headworks
- A structure constructed at the junction of the source
(river, dam, canal) and the off taking canal

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Irrigation and Hydraulic Structures

• Diversion Headworks
- The diversion headworks may be classified into the following
two types:
o Temporary diversion headworks
o Permanent diversion headworks
- Components of diversion headworks
o Weir or Barrage
o Divide wall
o Fish ladder
o Undersluices or scouring sluices
o Silt excluder
o Canal head regulator

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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Irrigation and Hydraulic Structures

• Diversion Headworks
- Components of diversion headworks
o Weir - constructed across a river to raise its water level
and divert into the canal
o Barrage - crest is kept at a low level and the raising up of
water level (or ponding) is accomplished mainly by means
of gates. During floods these gates can be raised clear off
the high flood level and thus enable the high flood to pass

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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Irrigation and Hydraulic Structures

• Diversion Headworks
- Components of diversion headworks
o Divide wall
- long masonry or concrete wall (an embankment protected
on all sides by stone or concrete blocks) which is
constructed perpendicular to the weir
- divide the flow of water into two or more channels to
ensure desired distribution in canals

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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Irrigation and Hydraulic Structures

• Diversion Headworks
- Components of diversion headworks
o Fish ladder & Diversion headworks
- to enable the fish to migrate fish ladder is provided
- Since most fish can travel upstream only if the velocity of
flow does not exceed 3 to 3.5 m/s, the design of the fish
ladder should be such that it constantly releases water at
a velocity not exceeding this value.

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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Irrigation and Hydraulic Structures

• Diversion Headworks
- Components of diversion headworks Undersluices or Scouring
sluices
- Openings provided in the weir wall with their crest at a low
level
- These openings are fully controlled by gates

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Irrigation and Hydraulic Structures

• Diversion Headworks
- Components of diversion headworks
o Silt excluder
- silt control device which functions to exclude silt from
water to entering the canal
- consists of a number of rectangular tunnels resting on the floor of
the undersluice pocket

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 CEB-703 – Lecture 6

Irrigation and Hydraulic Structures

• Diversion Headworks
- Components of diversion headworks
o Canal Head regulator
- structure constructed at the head of a canal from the
upstream of the weir or barrage constructed

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