CE-402 Irrigation Engineering

01. Irrigation Engineering

B.Sc. Civil Engineering 8th Semester

Engr. Hazrat Amin

Lecturer Civil Engg. Dept.
Jalozai Campus
B.Sc. in Civil Engineering, UET Peshawar (2010-2014)
M.Sc. in Water Resources Engineering, UET Peshawar
(2015-2017)
PhD in Water Resources Engineering, UET Peshawar
(In Progress)
Source: Dr. M. Ajmal

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 Course Contents
CE-402: Irrigation Engineering, CH (3)
 Water Resources: Planning and development of water resources projects. Water resources
in Pakistan.
 Diversion Head works: Elementary concept about anal head works, selection of their site
and layout, weirs and barrages, various components and functions. Measures adopted to
control silt entry into canals, silt ejectors and excluders.
 Canals: Design of irrigation Canals, Kennedy’s and Lacey’s Theories. Rational methods
for design of irrigation Canal.
1. Canal Lining: Advantages and types
2. Design of lined canals,
3. Maintenance of Irrigation canal.
4. Computer Aided design of irrigation canals.
 Irrigation Works: Canal head regulators, falls flumes, canal outlets. Cross
drainage
works: types and functions. Monitoring of flows- telemetry system.
 Water logging and salinity: Causes and effects of water logging, reclamation of water
logged soils. Drains and tube wells, Causes and effects of salinity and alkalinity of lands in
Pakistan. Reclamation methods. Drainage network in irrigated areas.
 Dams: Brief description of various types of Dams, Environmental impact of Dams.
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 Course Contents
CE-402: Irrigation Engineering, CH (3)
 Recommended Books
1. Ali, I. Irrigation and Hydraulic Structure?
2. Sharma, R.K. and T.R. Sharma, Irrigation and Drainage, Vol-I to V. Oxford and IBH Pub.
Co.
3. Linslay, R.K. and Joseph, B.F Water Resources Engineering, McGraw Hill.
4. Siddiqui, Iqtidar H. Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, Oxford University Press.
5. Irrigation and water power engineering Do. B.C. Punmia.
6. Design of small Dams- US Bureau of reclamation.

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What is Irrigation?
 It is the artificial application of controlled amount of water supplied to plants at
regular intervals to the land according to the crop requirements through out the
crop period for full growth of crop. It is used to assist in the growing of
agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils
in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall.

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Irrigation Engineering

 The science of planning and designing a water supply system to the plants,
crops, for their normal growth during the period of no rainfall with the help
of dam, weir, barrage, reservoir and canal system (head works, cross
drainage works), and miscellaneous works of canal like canal fall is called
Irrigation Engineering.

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 When Irrigation is required?

 Necessity of Irrigation
o Less rainfall
o Non Uniform rainfall
o commercial crops with additional water
o Growing of perennial crops
o Controlled water supply
o Washing of salts from root zone
o reduce temperature of soil and crops

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 Advantages and disadvantages of irrigation
 Advantages
 Increase in food production
 Protection from famine
 Cultivation of cash crops
 Addition to the revenue of country; General development of country
 Increase in prosperity of people
 Generation of hydro-Electric power
 Domestic and industrial water supply
 Canal plantation
 Improvement in the ground water storage

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 Advantages and disadvantages of
irrigation
 Dis-advantages
 Breading places for mosquitoes
 Water logging
 Damp climate

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 Scope of Irrigation
 The World Population is increasing with the passage of time and the
demand for
additional food increases with the same rate; therefore, irrigation is likely to
become the science of survival for human beings.
 Vast areas of the earth are situated in arid zones (less rainfall regions) and even those in
humid areas (More rainfall areas) may not have evenly uniformity in distribution of
rainfall.
 The scope of irrigation is not limited only to the application of water to the soil but it
deals with all aspects and problems extending from the watershed to the agricultural
farms like control of water logging and reclamation of saline / alkaline soils.
 It also deals with the design and construction of all works required for
storage, diversion, conveyance, application and removal of excess water from farm
land.
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 Scope of Irrigation can be divided into two heads
(a) Engineering Aspect
 Storage, diversion or lifting of water
 Conveyance of water to the agricultural fields
 Application of water to agricultural fields
 Drainage and water logging control
 Development of water power generation

(b) Agricultural Aspect

 Distribution of water uniformly and periodically for crop growth
according to its requirements.
 Reclamation of saline and alkaline lands.
 Capacities of different soils for irrigation water, and the flow of water in soils.

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 Pakistan climatic condition and Irrigation
 Pakistan is a tropical country with a vast diversity of climate, topography and
vegetation.

 Rainfall in Pakistan, varies considerably in its place of occurrence, as well as in

its amount.

 Even at a particular place, the rainfall is highly irregular, as it

occurs only during a few particular months of the year.

 Crops cannot be raised successfully, over the entire land, without

providing artificial water to the fields.

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 Pakistan climatic condition and Irrigation
 Climate in terms of precipitation is the basic factor for determining the need
for irrigation.

 For arid zones (mean annual rainfall < 40 cm of) full irrigation system is a
necessity.

 For semi-arid zones (mean annual rainfall 40-80 cm) irrigation is desirable.

 For humid zones (mean annual rainfall > 80 cm) irrigation is beneficial.

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 Water Resources of Pakistan
 The water supply available to agriculture is derived from three main sources,
rainfall which occurs directly on the crop areas, surface water from rivers or
storage reservoirs, and usable ground water from the aquifers.
 Rainfall is normally inadequate to sustain more than a very low level of
agricultural production, particularly in the semi-arid conditions of Pakistan.
 Pakistan has one of the largest irrigation systems in the world comprising three
major reservoirs with a design capacity of about 20 Billion Cubic Meters (BCM),
23 barrages, headworks and siphons, 45 main irrigation canals commanding an
area of about 16.6 million hectares.
 Irrigated agriculture is the backbone for economy of the country where over 93 %
of the available water resources are consumed.
 Agriculture is the single larges sector of economy accounting for about a quarter of
the country’s gross Domestic Products (GDP).
 It employs 44% of the labor force, supports 75% of the population and accounts
for 60% of foreign exchange.
 Water Resources of Pakistan
 The increased population, urbanization, industrialization and agricultural
activities however widened the gap between water demand and supply. The
water shortfall that was 11% in 2004, is expected to increase to 31% by 2025.
The per capita water availability which was about 5600m3 in 1947 has now
reduced to about 1000 m3converting the country to a water scare condition.
 Due to poor maintenance and old irrigation system, the overall efficiency is less
than 40%. Out of 142 BCM of water available at the canal headworks, only 55
BCM is used by crops. The remaining 87 BCM (60%) is lost during conveyance
through canal distributaries, minors, watercourses and in fields.
 In Pakistan the development of rainfed area is completely ignored. The dry
farming is practiced on about 12 Mha that is 40% of the Culturable land. It just
contribute less than 10% to the total production. The main reasons for this low
productivity are (i) low and erratic rainfall (ii) soil erosion (iii) poor use of land
and water resources due to small and fragmented land holdings and (iv) low
agricultural inputs.
  Basic Definitions
 In Pakistan there are two main seasons ; Kharif season (Summer ) starts from 1st
April to end of September. Main crops are Maize, Cotton, Tobacco etc. Rabi
season (Winter) started from 1st October and end at the end of March. The main
crops grown in such season are wheat, potatoes etc.
 Intensity of irrigation is defined as the percentage of Culturable commanded area
proposed to be irrigated either a crop season or during a year. For example if
CCA of an irrigation field is 120 hectares, out of which 90 hectares of the land is
cultivated during Kharif season, the intensity of irrigation during Kharif season
will be (90/120) * 100 = 75 %..The intensity of irrigation during Rabi crop will
be (60/120) * 100 = 50%.
 However, the yearly intensity of irrigation is equal to the sum of the two, i.e.
equal to 125 %. It means yearly intensity of irrigation is > 100%.
  Some Basic Definitions
 Duty represents the irrigation capacity of a unit of water. It is the relation between
the volume of water applied and the area of a crop irrigated during the entire
period of the growth of that crop. It is denoted by D. Like if one cumec of water is
applied to 100 hectares of field throughout the base period B days then the duty
will be 100 hectares / m3sec -1 for B days.
 Delta is the total depth of water required by a crop during the entire period the
crop is in the field and is denoted by the symbol Δ.
 Crop Period: Crop period is the time in days, that a crops takes from the instant of
its sowing to that of its harvesting.
 Base Period: Base period for a crop refers to the whole period of cultivation from
the time when irrigation water is first issued for preparation of the ground for
planting the crop to its last water before harvesting and is denoted by B.
 Kor Period and Kor depth: Crops need maximum water at the start of 1st
watering . The depth of such water is kor water and the no. of days to apply such
water is known as kor period.
  Relation between Duty and Delta
 Let there is a crop of base period (or kor period) B days. Let one m3/sec (cumec) of
water be applied to this crop on the field for B days.
 The volume of water applied to this crop for B days are
V = (60 x 60 x 24 x B) m3 =
86400 B m3
 As duty is the number of hectares to be irrigated by one cumec of discharge till the
maturity of crop so this quantity of water (Volume) irrigate D hectares. Then
 Depth of water applied = Volume / Area = 8.64 B/ D meters. Let this depth is Δ.
So Δ = 8.64 x B/D
 Example: Water is released at the rate of 5 cumecs at the head of a canal. If the
duty at the field is 100 hectares/ cumec and the loss of water in transit is 30%, find the
area of the land that can be irrigated.
Given Data: Q = 5 m3/sec; D = 100 hect/ cumec; losses = 30%;
Required: Area at field?
Solution:
Area = Duty / Discharge = duty/ Q = [100 hectares / (m3/sec) /(5 m3/ sec)] = 500 hectares
at the upstream of canal.
Questions?