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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #91235
Title: FURROW IRRIGATION DESIGN WITH SIMULATION

Author
item Clemmens, Albert
item CAMACHO, E - UNIV OF CORDOBA, SPAIN
item STRELKOFF, THEODOR - UNIV OF ARIZONA, TUCSON

Submitted to: International Conference on Water Resources Engineering Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/7/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Historically, the performance of surface irrigation systems has been low, particularly in areas with a long history of surface irrigation. This poor performance often leads to problems with soil salinity management, reduced yields, and in some cases, water lost to further reuse. Water is becoming a scarce resource, and agricultural water users are under pressure to use it more judiciously. However, improving the performance of surface irrigation systems has been difficult, partially because of local tradition, but also because of technical limitations. Many surface systems are not designed; they are simply built and operated based on experience. For furrow irrigation on sloping land, existing design procedures are not very reliable and have not found wide acceptance. Computer simulation models have been developed to aid the design process; however, these models are complicated and too time-consuming. This paper presents a new design procedure that uses one run of a computer simulation model to adjust a simple set of furrow design equations, making design much more convenient and useful. This procedure should benefit the Natural Resource Conservation Service and agricultural consultants. Ultimately, better designed irrigation systems will conserve water and benefit the environment.

Technical Abstract: In this paper, we present a furrow irrigation design method, wherein an unsteady-flow simulation of a single event is used to "tune" a simplified model. This tuning adjusts model parameters to match: (1) advance time to the end of the field, (2) application time, and (3) infiltration and runoff volumes. The simplified model is then applied over a range of conditions to develop performance contours that can assist the user in the design process. This model is being programmed into a user-friendly computer program.