IRRIGATION

WATER
REQUIREMENTS
• Methodology • Irrigation Requirements • Leaching Requirements •
IRRIGATION
ENGINEERING
 IRRIGATION ENGINEERING
• Irrigation engineering includes the study and design of works
in connection with river control, drainage of waterlogged
areas and generation of hydroelectric power.
• It is a science of planning and designing an efficient, low-
cost, economic irrigation system tailored to fit natural
conditions.
• It is the engineering of controlling and harnessing the various
natural sources of water, by constructing dams and
reservoirs, canals and headworks, and finally distributing the
water to the agricultural fields.

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 IRRIGATION ENGINEERING
• An Irrigation Engineer is the one who has a long
theoretical and practical training to plan, design and
manage the construction of irrigation projects to
distribute water to agricultural lands. They are
responsible for the construction of irrigation canals
and river dams. They conduct research on soil
drainage & conservation of forests and ranges.

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 IRRIGATION ENGINEERING
METHODS:
• CONCEPTION
• PLANNING
• DESIGN
• CONSTRUCTION
• OPERATION
• MANAGEMENT of an
IRRIGATION SYSTEM

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CONSIDERATIONS IN
PLANNING
IRRIGATION SYSTEMS
 CONSIDERATIONS IN PLANNING IRRIGATION SYSTEMS
1. Location
2. Crops to be Grown
3. Water Supply
4. Systems of Applying
Water
5. Water Demand
6. Project
Management

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 I. LOCATION
• The main point to consider in locating an irrigation
project is the need to investigate available resources in
the area.
• CLIMATE • AVAILABILITY OF LABOUR
• ADEQUATE WATER IN • LAND TENURE
QUALITY AND QUANTITY • MARKETING
• LAND WITH GOOD • TRANSPORT FACILITIES
AGRICULTURAL POTENTIAL
• GOOD TOPOGRAPHY

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 II. CROPS to be GROWN
• It should be determined by available resources as
well as marketability of the crops especially in
terms of what people like to eat.

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 III. WATER SUPPLY
• The following considerations are:
1. Sources of water - Rivers, Lake, Groundwater
2. Quantity and Quality of water – Discharge, Water parameters
3. Engineering works necessary to obtain water - Pumping
systems, Piping systems
4. Conveyance System - Gravity (open channels or canals), Closed
conduits (pipes)
5. Water measuring device - Weirs, Orifice, Flumes, Current
meters
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 IV. SYSTEMS IN APPLYING WATER
The 3 systems in applying water worldwide are:
SURFACE 90%

SPRINKLER 5%

TRICKLE and SUB-IRRIGATION 5%

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 V. WATER DEMAND
• The water requirement for the given crop has to
be determined. This is by calculating the
evapotranspiration

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 VI. PROJECT MANAGEMENT
• Consider how to manage the Irrigation System

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CROP WATER AND
NET IRRIGATION
REQUIREMENTS
 CROP WATER & NET
IRRIGATION REQUIREMENTS
• In irrigation, it is essential to know the amount of
water needed by crops.
• This determines the quantity of water to be
added by irrigation and rainfall and helps in day
to day management of irrigation systems.

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 CROP WATER & NET
IRRIGATION REQUIREMENTS
Total water demand of crops is made up of:

•Crop water use

•Leaching requirement
•Losses of water

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WATER
REQUIREMENTS
 WATER REQUIREMENTS
•Water requirement of a crop means the total quantity
and the way in which a crop requires water, from time
it sown to the time it is harvested.
•Different crops will have different water
requirements, and same crop may have different
water requirements at different places of the same
country; depending upon the climate, type of soil,
method of cultivation and useful rainfall.

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 WATER REQUIREMENTS
•Crop Period or Base Period – The time period that elapses
from the instant of its sowing to the instant of its
harvesting
•Delta (∆) – The total quantity of water required by the crop
for its full growth, may be expressed in the hectare-meter
or simply depth of water (cm).
•This total depth of water (cm) required by a crop to come
to maturity is called its delta (∆).

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 WATER REQUIREMENTS
Delta for No. Crop Delta on field
certain crops 1 Sugarcane 120cm (48”)
2 Rice 120cm (48”)
3 Tobacco 75cm (30”)
4 Garden fruits 60cm (24”)
5 Cotton 50cm (20”)
6 Vegetables 45cm (18”)
7 Wheat 30cm (12”)
8 Maize 25cm (10”)
9 Fodder 22.5cm (9”)
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 WATER REQUIREMENTS
•Duty of Water (D) – a unit discharge flowing for a time
equal to the base period of the crop.
•If water flowing at a rate of one cubic meter per second,
runs continuously for B days, and mature 200 hectares,
then the duty of water for that particular crop will be
defined as 200 hectares per cumec to the base of B days.

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 WATER REQUIREMENTS
Relation between DUTY and DELTA:
•Let one cumec or cm3/s of water be applied to this crop on
the field for B days. Volume of water applied to the crop
during B days.
V= 60m x 60m x 24m x B
V= 86,400 B m3
•Quantity of Water (V) matures D hectares of land
or 104 m2 of area.

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 WATER REQUIREMENTS
•Total depth of water applied on the land = Volume/Area
= 86,400 B/104 D = 8.64 B/D meters.
•The total depth of water is called delta (∆)
∆ = 8.64/D meters or ∆ = 864/D cm
∆ is in cm and B is in days
Duty for Rice = 775 ha/cumec
Duty for Sugarcane = 730 ha/c ∆ umec

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ESTIMATION
CONSUMPTIVE USE
 ESTIMATION CONSUMPTIVE USE
Blaney-Cridle Equation
Cu= (kp/40)(1.8t + 32) M.K.S. units

Where:
Cu – Monthly consumptive use in cm
k – Crop factor
t – Mean monthly temperature in °C
p – Monthly percent of annual day light hour that occur during the period

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 WATER REQUIREMENTS
EXAMPLE: Dates Rice (Loam Soil)
Cu in cm
The monthly consumptive use June 1-30 26.69
for Paddy are tabulated in the
July 1-12 8.76
table. Determine the
consumptive use. What is the July 13-31 14.38
average monthly consumptive Aug 1-31 22.73
use and the peak monthly
Sept 1-30 21.29
consumptive use?
Oct 1-31 25.50

Nov 1-24 15.06

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 WATER REQUIREMENTS
SOLUTION: Dates Rice (Loam Soil)
Cu in cm
Σ Cu = 137.41cm June 1-30 26.69
Average daily Cu:
July 1-12 8.76
Σ Cu/ Σ Days = 137.41/177
July 13-31 14.38
= 0.78 cm/day
Aug 1-31 22.73
Average monthly Cu:
Σ Cu x 30 = 0.78 x 30 Sept 1-30 21.29

= 23.4 cm/month Oct 1-31 25.50

Peak monthly Cu = 26.69cm Nov 1-24 15.06

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 ESTIMATION CONSUMPTIVE USE
Hargreaves, Class A pan evaporation Method
(Et or Cu) = K x Ep

Where:
Et = Evapotranspiration
Ep = Pan Evaporation
K = Consumptive Use Coefficient

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 DETERMINATION OF PAN CONSUMPTIVE
USE COEFFICIENT ( K )
When using the evaporation pan to estimate the ETo ,
in fact, a comparison is made between the evaporation
from the water surface in the pan and the
evapotranspiration of the standard grass. Of course
the water in the pan and the grass do not react in
exactly the same way to the climate. Therefore a
special coefficient is used (K pan) to relate one to the
other.

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 DETERMINATION OF PAN CONSUMPTIVE
USE COEFFICIENT ( K )
The pan coefficient, K pan, depends on:
• The type of pan used
• The pan environment: if the pan is placed in a fallow
or cropped area
• The climate: the humidity and windspeed

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 DETERMINATION OF PAN CONSUMPTIVE
USE COEFFICIENT ( K )
For the Class A evaporation pan, the K pan varies
between 0.35 and 0.85. Average K pan = 0.70.
The K of pan is high if: The K of pan is low if:
-the pan is placed in a fallow area -the pan is placed in a cropped area
-the humidity is high (i.e. humid) -the humidity is low (i.e. dry)
-the windspeed is low -the windspeed is high

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DETERMINATION OF
PAN CONSUMPTIVE
USE COEFFICIENT ( K )
Table: Pan coefficients
(Kp) for Class A pan for
different pan siting and
environment and
different levels of mean
relative humidity and
wind speed.
FAO Irrigation and Drainage
Paper No. 24

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 EXAMPLE:
• A Class A evaporation pan was placed on a cropped area.
On the first day, the water depth in pan is 150 mm. Water
depth in same pan on Day 2 is 144 mm. Rainfall during 24
hours = 0 mm. K of the pan = 0.75, determine
evapotranspiration.
Formula:
(Et or Cu) = K x Ep
Ep = 150 - 144 = 6 mm/day
Et = 0.75 × 6mm/day
Et =4.5 mm/day

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LEACHING
REQUIREMENTS
 LEACHING REQUIREMENTS
•Most irrigation water contain dissolved salts.
•Evaporation removes pure water leaving a
concentration of salt in soil.
•Salt concentration may reach a level that is
detrimental to the growth of the crop and should be
controlled. The only practical way of achieving this is
by leaching.

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 LEACHING REQUIREMENTS
•Leaching Requirement is an extra water needed
to pass through the root zone in addition to the
normal requirement to ensure that salts are placed
below the root zone.

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 LEACHING REQUIREMENTS
𝑆𝑎𝑙𝑡 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝐼𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑥 (𝐸𝑇−𝑅𝑎𝑖𝑛)
LR =
𝐴𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑆𝑎𝑙𝑡 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑜𝑜𝑡 𝑍𝑜𝑛𝑒

𝐸𝑐𝑖𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑔 𝑥 (𝐸𝑇−𝑅𝑎𝑖𝑛)
LR =
𝐸𝑐𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒

Ec acceptable = 4mmhos/cm. For water quality, Ec of

0.8mmhos/cm is medium quality, while Ec of 4mmhos/cm is
saline.

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 EFFECTIVE PRECIPITATION
•This is the component of rainfall that is available to crops
•It can be estimated as 65% of total rainfall.
•It can also be estimated as the rainfall value, which has
80% probability of being exceeded (𝐷80 ).

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 NET IRRIGATION REQUIREMENT
This is the moisture that must be supplied by irrigation to
satisfy evapotranspiration plus that needed for leaching and
not supplied by off-season storage, and the effects of
precipitation and groundwater storage.

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 NET IRRIGATION REQUIREMENT
Nir = ET +WI –Ws – Re
Where:
Nir is the net irrigation
ET is the evapotranspiration
WI is the leaching requirement
Ws is off-season soil moisture carry-over
Re is the effective rainfall
All parameters are in mm of water.

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 GROSS IRRIGATION REQUIREMENT
Gir = Nir / Effirrig

Where:
Gir is the gross irrigation
Nir is the net irrigation
Eff is the Irrigation efficiency
All parameters are in mm of water.

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 EXAMPLE 1
The moisture content at field capacity of a clay loam
soil is 28% by weight while that at permanent wilting
point is 14% by weight. Root zone depth is 1m and the
bulk density is 1.2 g/cm3. Calculate the Net and Gross
Depth of Irrigation Required if the irrigation efficiency is
0.7.

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 SOLUTION
Field Capacity = 28%
Permanent Wilting Point = 14%
Available Moisture (Pm) = 28 – 14 = 14% by weight
Bulk density (Db) = 1.2 g/cm3
Root Zone Depth (D) = 1m = 1000mm
Eqv. Depth of Available Water (d) = Pm x Db x D = 0.14 x 1.2 x 1000
= 168mm
The net depth of irrigation = 168mm

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 SOLUTION
Gross water application:
Nir/Eff = 164 / 0.7 = 240mm

Note: This is the actual water needed to be pumped for irrigation.

240/1000 x 10,000 = 2400m3/ha

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 EXAMPLE 2
A Class A pan was placed in a rice field. The water
depth on Day 1 = 150mm and Day 2 = 136mm. The
effective rainfall is 30mm/month. The salt
concentration of the irrigation water is 7mmhos/cm,
consider saline water quality. The efficiency = 0.8.
Determine the net and gross irrigation water
requirement.

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 SOLUTION
For Evapotranspiration requirement:
Et = K x Ep
K = 0.7 (avg.)
Ep = 150 – 136 = 14mm
Et = 0.7 x 14mm
Et = 9.8mm/day x (30days/1month)
Et = 294mm/month

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 SOLUTION
For Leaching Requirement:

𝐸𝑐𝑖𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑔 𝑥 (𝐸𝑇−𝑅𝑎𝑖𝑛)
LR =
𝐸𝑐𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒
7𝑚𝑚ℎ𝑜𝑠/𝑐𝑚
LR = x (294-30)
4𝑚𝑚ℎ𝑜𝑠/𝑐𝑚
LR = 462mm/month

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 SOLUTION
For Net Irrigation Requirement:

Nir = ET +WI –Ws – Re

Nir = 294 +462 – 30
Nir = 726 mm/month

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 SOLUTION
For Gross Irrigation Requirement:

Gir = Nir/Eff = 726 / 0.8 = 240mm

Gir = 907.5mm/month

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