EECI 3142 Irrigation Water Requirement
EECI 3142 Irrigation Water Requirement
EECI 3142 Irrigation Water Requirement
Water gains: Rainfall, groundwater contribution (through capillary), and soil water
Definitions
Water gains: Rainfall, groundwater contribution (through capillary), and soil water
is obtained by subtracting from the crop water requirement (ETcrop) the expected gains of water.
The gains include effective rainfall (Peff), ground water contribution (Ge) and stored soil water
(Wb). To avoid any water deficit during the season, the estimations are made with rainfall
amounts that can be expected 3 out of 4 years or 4 out of 5 years.
The effective rainfall is defined as that part of rainfall which is effectively used by the crop after
rainfall losses due to surface run off and deep percolation have been accounted for.
Effective rainfall is calculated as a percentage of the dependablel rainfall e.g the monthly rainfall
that can be expected 3 out of 4 years or 4 out of 5 years.
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EECF 3142: Irrigation Engineering I
Crop- Maize; Length of growing season-150 days; Sowing date-01/03; Soil – Sandy loam
March April May June July Total
31 days 30 days 31 days 30 days 28 days
ET0 (mm/day) 2.4 3.7 4.6 4.9 5.5
K c (-) 0.4 0.68 1.15 1.15 0.88
ETcrop (mm/day) 1.0 2.5 5.3 5.6 4.8
ETcrop (mm) 30 75 164 169 136 574
Rainfall (mm) 14 15 0 0 0
Peff (mm) 8 10 0 0 0 18
Inet (mm) 22 65 164 169(peak) 136 556
Seasonal Net irrigation requirement (mm)
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EECF 3142: Irrigation Engineering I
Crop- Maize; Length of growing season-150 days; Sowing date-01/03; Soil – Sandy loam
Available soil water at the start of the season (Wb) – 25mm,
Available capillary water (Ge) – 31mm
March April May June July Total
31 days 30 days 31 days 30 days 28 days
ET0 (mm/day) 2.4 3.7 4.6 4.9 5.5
K c (-) 0.4 0.68 1.15 1.15 0.88
ETcrop (mm/day) 1.0 2.5 5.3 5.6 4.8
ETcrop (mm) 30 75 164 169 136 574
Rainfall (mm) 14 15 0 0 0
Peff (mm) 8 10 0 0 0 18
𝑊𝑏 (mm) 31
𝐺𝑒 (mm) 25
𝐼𝑛𝑒𝑡 (mm) 22 65 164 169(peak) 136
Seasonal Net irrigation requirement (mm) 500
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Seasonal Net irrigation requirement (m /ha) 5,000
Salinity control
Accumulation of salts in the root zone is referred to as soil salinity.
Salts contained in irrigation water are left behind when water is taken up by plants or lost by
evaporation. As a result there is gradual accumulation of these salts as the season progresses and
from one year to the next year.
The level of salinity is affected by:
- the quality (salt content)
- quality of irrigation water,
- soil factors affecting drainage,
- the availability of water (rainfall) to leach the profile,
- the method of irrigation
- the prevailing cultural practices.
The leaching requirement is the minimum amount of irrigation water that must percolate below
the root zone to maintain soil salinity at a given level. The level maintained usually corresponds
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EECF 3142: Irrigation Engineering I
to the salinity level at which the crop would not suffer an unacceptable reduction in yield level.
The leaching requirement may be calculated by:
𝐸𝐶𝑤 1
𝐿𝑅 =
5𝐸𝐶𝑒 − 𝐸𝐶𝑤 𝐸𝑙
Where:
LR = leaching requirement, expressed as the fraction of the total seasonal volume of
irrigaton water supplied, which should be used for the leaching of salts
ECw = electric conductivity of irrigation water [dS⁄m or mmhos⁄cm]
ECe = electric conductivityof the soil saturation extract corresponding to teh yield level,
can be tolerated for the particular crop [dS⁄m or mmhos⁄cm]. Crop salt tolerance
for different crops are given in the following table
El = leaching efficiency [fraction]
Leaching efficiency is a function of soil drainage characteristics. Well drained sandy soils have El
as low as 30%. Other soils fall within this range.
Leaching of salt can be done before, during or after the irrigation season depending on when
water is available and on the salt accumulation rate.
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EECF 3142: Irrigation Engineering I
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EECF 3142: Irrigation Engineering I
The net irrigation requirement of the crop is obtained by subtracting the gains of water from the
crop water requirement (𝐸𝑇𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑝 ):
𝐼𝑛 = 𝐸𝑇𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑝 − (𝑃𝑒𝑓𝑓 + 𝐺𝑒 + 𝑊𝑏 )
The gains of water include effective rainfall (𝑃𝑒𝑓𝑓 ), ground water contribution (𝐺𝑒 ) and stored soil
water (𝑊𝑏 ). All variables are expressed in units of depth of water (mm).
𝐴𝐼𝑛
The volume of water to be supplied can be obtained from: 10 𝑚3
(1 − 𝐿𝑅 )
Where A = acreage under the given crop (ha), the factor 10 appears due to conversion of mm to
m3/ha
Irrigation efficiencies
Water losses occur at different levels:
- at the level of the plant i.e. when applying water to the soil,
- at the level of the field i.e. after water has entered the field,
- at the level of the canals i.e. during conveyance of the water between the main scheme
inlet to the field offtake.
Water losses are normally expressed as irrigation efficiencies, whereby the concept “efficiency”
denotes that fraction of total amount of water, which will benefit the field respectively the crop.
Field application efficiency (𝑬𝒂 )
At the field level losses may occur due to deep percolation below the root zone and unwanted
drainage (runoff) of water from the field. Deep percolation almost certainly will occur as it is
nearly impossible to achieve uniform water distribution within a field and the correct rate of
water application at the crop level. Field application efficiency is defined as:
𝐸𝑎 = (𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑡 𝑧𝑜𝑛𝑒)/(𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑙𝑒𝑡)
𝐸𝑎 is affected by the type of the irrigation system, soil type and the skill of the farmer.
Field canal efficiency (Eb)
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EECF 3142: Irrigation Engineering I
The field canal efficiency is the efficiency of water conveyance in the canals within the sector,
block or sub-unit. Field canal efficiency is defined as:
𝐸𝑏 = (𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑙𝑒𝑡)/(𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑘 𝑖𝑛𝑙𝑒𝑡)
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EECF 3142: Irrigation Engineering I
Irrigation efficiencies must be established through research i.e. monitoring of irrigation in the
field. Not always such studies are or have been carried out, or adjustments in locally established
values are necessary due to lining of the canals or improved performance of the farmers due to
longer irrigation practice. If no values are locally available, use could be made of the previous
table for an estimation of efficiencies.
Seasonal requirement
Once the cropping pattern and intensity have been selected, the gross irrigation requirement of
the scheme is obtained by adding up the individual irrigation requirements of each of the crops:
𝑁
10 𝐴𝑖 𝐼𝑛,𝑖
𝑉= ∑
𝐸𝑝 (1 − 𝐿𝑅𝑖 )
𝑖=1
Where:
𝐸𝑝 = 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑒 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦
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EECF 3142: Irrigation Engineering I
𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑝 𝑖 = 1 𝑡𝑜 𝑁
𝐴 = 𝑐𝑢𝑚𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 (ℎ𝑎)
𝐼𝑛 = 𝑁𝑒𝑡 𝑖𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 (𝑚𝑚/𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑛)
𝐿𝑅 = 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡
Peak supply
For a first estimate on the capacity of engineering works, the peak supply can be based on project
supply of the month of highest irrigation demands:
𝑁
10
𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝐶 ∑(𝐴𝑖 𝐼𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘, 𝑖 )
𝐸𝑝
𝑖=1
Where:
C = flexibility factor
Ipeak = net irrigation requirement during peak month
To incorporate flexibility in the delivery capacity of the supply system as well as to allow for future
intensification and diversification of crop production, a flexibility factor C is frequently added. This
factor varies with the type of project and is generally higher for small schemes as compared to large
schemes. With monocultures such as orchards a