reducing energy consumption in agricultural sector via operational enhancement of the surface water resources

The irrigation districts' poor operational management has led to unreliable water delivery to the farm's off-takes forcing farmers to extract more groundwater intensively. rapid groundwater resource depletion due to unsustainable irrigated agricultural development becomes a primary concern in developing countries. this study investigates improved off-farm water management activities through canal automation techniques that can reduce energy consumption by decreasing groundwater exploitation. the study focuses on zayandeh-rud river basin (zrb), in the central part of iran, with six main irrigation network districts. to improve the irrigation districts' performance, through decreasing operational loss within canals, the classical de-centralized control system of proportional-integral (pi) was designed and tested for the districts. the potential of the designed system to fulfill the objectives of the present study were assessed, including a) decreasing water losses occurred during the conventional operation; b) decreasing groundwater overexploitation throughout the irrigated area due to upgrading the surface water distribution; and c) the energy conservation due to declining water pumping through the tube-wells spread within the district. the results showed that the preserved water losses in the surface water operating system reduced groundwater extraction by about 300 mcm, and consequently, 450 million kwh less energy consumption.

Reducing Energy Consumption in Agricultural Sector via Operational Enhancement of the Surface Water Resources

The irrigation districts' poor operational management has led to unreliable water delivery to the farm's off-takes forcing farmers to extract more groundwater intensively. Rapid groundwater resource depletion due to unsustainable irrigated agricultural development becomes a primary concern in developing countries. This study investigates improved off-farm water management activities through canal automation techniques that can reduce energy consumption by decreasing groundwater exploitation. The study focuses on Zayandeh-Rud River Basin (ZRB), in the central part of Iran, with six main irrigation network districts. To improve the irrigation districts' performance, through decreasing operational loss within canals, the classical De-Centralized Control System of Proportional-Integral (PI) was designed and tested for the districts. The potential of the designed system to fulfill the objectives of the present study were assessed, including a) decreasing water losses occurred during the conventional operation; b) decreasing groundwater overexploitation throughout the irrigated area due to upgrading the surface water distribution; and c) the energy conservation due to declining water pumping through the tube-wells spread within the district. The results showed that the preserved water losses in the surface water operating system reduced groundwater extraction by about 300 MCM, and consequently, 450 Million kWh less energy consumption.