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Title: CANAL AUTOMATION PILOT PROJECT: PHASE II REPORT

Author
item Clemmens, Albert
item Bautista, Eduardo
item Strand, Robert
item Wahlin, Brian

Submitted to: Water Conservation Laboratory Report
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/1/2001
Publication Date: 9/1/2001
Citation: Clemmens, A.J., Bautista, E., Strand, R.J., Wahlin, B.T. 2001. Canal automation pilot project: phase II report. Water Conservation Laboratory Report #24. 112 pp.

Interpretive Summary: Agricultural water purveyors are being pressured by other water users to improve water measurement, control, and accounting, while their water users are demanding more flexible water deliveries so they can compete in the marketplace and implement water conservation measures on farm. Agriculture's share of available water is likely to decrease in the future, ,making improvement in operations essential. Operation of irrigation-water delivery systems can be improved by providing canal operators with better tools for determining control actions. One such tool is computerized automatic control of canal gates. This technology, however, is not routinely available to irrigation district personnel and consultants. This report summarizes research conducted for the Salt River Project in preparation for testing canal automation on their water delivery system. These results should be of use to irrigation districts, consultants, and the Bureau of Reclamation. Ultimately better management of irrigation wate supplies will conserve water and benefit the environment.

Technical Abstract: The objective of Phase II of the Canal Automation Pilot Project was to further demonstrate the feasibility of the USWCL canal automation system and to prepare for real-time testing during Phase III. Activities during Phase II included; modifying the Mike-11 unsteady-flow simulation software to allow control of the Northside branching canal network, analysis of manual versus automatic control, demonstration of software for routing kno demand changes through the Northside canals, analysis of several different feedback control schemes, analysis of proposed start-up procedures, development of methods to deal with water-supply constraints that limit feedback control, new procedures for submerged radial gate calibrations, and use of system-identification techniques to determine canal pool properties from tests on the actual canal. SRP expressed most interest in the scheduling software for routing know demand changes. Upgrades in SRP's SCADA environment precluded implementation of the new control system on SRP's computer systems. The new method for calibrating submerged radial gates was the most significant new technical development.