SPSC Written Preparation For the Posts of Assistant

Executive Engineer Civil (BPS-17) in Irrigation &

Power Department, Government of Sindh

Irrigation and Drainage Engineering

(Lecture No: 05)

Course Instructor:
Faisal Iqbal Shaikh
Former Assistant Engineer Civil (BPS-17), PHE & RD Department, Govt. of Sindh
Assistant Executive Engineer Civil (BPS-17), Irrigation Department, Govt. of Sindh
B.E Civil (MUET, Jamshoro)
MEM Construction Management (NEDUET, Karachi)
 Lecture Modules
 Evapotranspiration
 Factors Affecting Evapotranspiration
 Determination of Consumptive use
 Irrigation Efficiencies and related problem
 Curves in Canals
 Channel Losses
 Empirical formulas for calculating channel losses
 Determination of required channel capacity
 Evapotranspiration (ET)
 The transfer of water from the liquid to the vapour state is called
Evaporation.
 The process by which plants dissipate water from the surface of their
leaves, stalks and trunks in the process of growth is called Transpiration.
 Evapotranspiration denotes the quantity of water transpired by plants
during their growth, or retained in the plant tissue, plus the moisture
evaporated from the surface of the soil and the vegetation.
 Factors Affecting Evapotranspiration:
 Weather:
 Solar radiation
 Air temperature
 Relative humidity
 Wind speed
 Crop Characteristics
 Crop type and variety: Height, roughness, stomatal control, reflectivity,
ground cover, rooting characteristics etc.
 Stage of development
 Factors Affecting Evapotranspiration (Cont..):
 Management:
 Irrigation method
 Irrigation management
 Cultivation practices
 Fertility management
 Disease and pest control

 Soil Conditions:
 Soil type, texture, water-holding capacity
 Soil salinity
 Soil depth and layering
 Poor soil fertility
 Exposure/sheltering
 Determination of Consumptive Use (Cu):
 Direct Measurement:
1. Lysimeter method:
 Cu is determined by irrigating a small plot with no lateral inflow.
 Cu is the difference of water applied and that collected through pervious bottom
and collected in pan/bottle.
2. Field experimental plots:
 A more dependable method.
 Water application to the selected field experimental plots with neither runoff
nor deep percolation
 Usual trend: initially, yield increases with application then, yield decreases.
 Graph of Irrigation vs. yield is plotted.
 Optimum Cu is breaking/peak point of the curve.
3. Soil moisture studies:
 Suited where soil is fairly uniform & GW is deep
 Soil moisture is measured before and after each irrigation.
 Water consumed per day is calculated
 Graph of Rate of use vs. Time is plotted
 Seasonal use is determined
4. Integration methods:
 Area based determination of Cu
 Area under irrigated crops, natural vegetation, water surface and bare
land is calculated first.
 Cu is the integration of unit use of water multiplied with that area,
expressed in cu. M.
 Annual Cu for the whole area is found in acre-feet or hectare-meter units.
5. Inflow and Outflow studies:
For annual Cu of large areas
U = (I+P) + (Gs-Ge) – R
where
U = valley consumptive use
I = total inflow during the year
P = yearly precipitation on valley floor
Gs = ground storage at the beginning of the year
Ge = ground storage at the end of the year
R = yearly outflow
 Using Equations:
 Wide variety of empirical, semi-empirical, and physically-based
equations/models
 Generally categorized as:
 temperature methods
 radiation methods
 combination methods
 pan evaporation methods

 Three Methods are there which are:

(1) Blaney-Criddle Formula
(2) Hargreaves Class A Pan Evaporation Method
(3) Penman Method
Percentage daylight hours for Northern Hemisphere (0-500 latitude)
 Consumptive use Coefficients

* The lower values are for more humid areas and the higher values are
for more arid climates.
** Dependent upon mean monthly temperature and stage of growth of
crop.
Values of monthly consumptive use calculated from the above formula have been
tabulated in the last column of Table.
Thus, Yearly Consumptive use = ∑Cu = 1750 mm = 1.75 m.
(2) Hargreaves Class A Pan Evaporation Method
Cu = [Link]
Where
Ep = Pan evaporation (data obtained from Meteorological dept.); and
K = Crop factor for that period (Crop coefficient)

Values of Crop factor, K

Irrigation Efficiencies
 Efficiency is the ratio of the water output to the water input, and is
usually expressed as percentage.
 Input minus output is nothing but losses, and hence, if losses are more,
output is less and, therefore, efficiency is less.
 Hence, efficiency is inversely proportional to the losses.
 Water is lost in irrigation during various processes and, therefore, there
are different kinds of irrigation efficiencies, as given below :

 Water Conveyance Efficiency (ηc)

It is the ratio of the water delivered into the fields from the outlet point
of the channel, to the water put into the channel at the starting point. It
takes the conveyance or transit losses into account.

Water delivered to the farm Wf

c  
Water diverted from the river or reservoir Wr
Water Application Efficiency (ηa)
It is the ratio of the quantity of water stored into the root zone of the
crops to the quantity of water delivered into the field. It may also be
termed as farm efficiency, as it takes into account the water lost in the
farm.

Water stored in the root zone during irrrigation

a 
Water delivered to the farm
Ws W f  R f  D f 
 
Wf Wf
where
R f  Surface runoff ; D f  Deep percolation
Water Storage Efficiency (ηs)
It is the ratio of the water stored in the root zone during irrigation to the
water needed in the root zone prior to irrigation ( i.e. field capacity –
existing moisture content ).
Water stored in the root zone during irrrigation
s 
Water needed in the root zone prior to irrigation
Ws

Wn
Water-use Efficiency (ηu)
It is the ratio of the water beneficially used, including leaching water, to
the quantity of water delivered.
Water used consumptively
u 
Water delivered to the farm
Wu

Wd
Uniformity coefficient or Water Distribution Efficiency (ηd)
The effectiveness of irrigation may also be measured by its water
distribution efficiency, which is defined below:
 y
 d  100 1   ;
 d
where
d  average depth of water stored during irrigation ;
y  average numerical deviation in depth of water stored from
average
.
depth stored during irrigation
The water distribution efficiency represents the extent to which the water
has penetrated to a uniform depth, throughout the field. When the water has
penetrated uniformly throughout the field, the deviation from the mean
depth is zero and water distribution efficiency is 1.0
 Consumptive use Efficiency,cu
Normal consumptive use of water
cu 
Net amount of water depleted from root zone soil water
Wcu

Wd

.
Penetration Depths 2 1.9 1.8 1.6 1.5

Deviation from Mean 0.24 0.14 0.04 -0.16 -0.26

Abs. Value of Dev. from Mean 0.24 0.14 0.04 0.16 0.26
 Problem
A stream of 135 litres per second was diverted from a canal
and 100 litres per second were delivered to the field. An area
of 1.6 hectares was irrigated in 8 hours. The effective depth of
root zone was 1.8 m. The runoff loss in the field was 432 cu.m.
The depth of water penetration varied linearly from 1.8 m at
the head end of the field to 1.2 m at the tail end. Available
moisture holding capacity of the soil is 20 cm per meter depth
of soil. Determine the water conveyance efficiency, water
application efficiency, water storage efficiency and water
distribution efficiency. Irrigation was started at a moisture
extraction level of 50 percent of the available moisture.
 Solution:
(i) Water conveyance efficiency,
W
c  f 100  100 100  74%
W 135
d
(ii) Water application efficiency,
Ws
a  100
W
f
Water delivered to the plot

 100  60  60  8  2880 cu.m

1000
Water stored in the root zone
= 2880 -432 = 2448 cu.m
Water application efficiency
 2448 100  85%
2880
(iii) Water storage efficiency,
s  Ws 100
Wn

Water holding capacity of the zone

 20  1.8  36 cm
Moisture required in the root zone
 36 - 36  50 18cm
100
 18 1.610,000  2880 cu.m
100

Water storage efficiency  2448 100  85%

2880
(iv) Water distribution efficiency
 y
 d  1  .100
 d
1.8  1.2
d  1.5 m
2
Numerical deviation from depth of penetration:
At upper end = 1.8 – 1.5 = 0.3
At lower end = 1.5 – 1.2 = 0.3
0.3  0.3
Average numerical deviation, y   0.3 m
2
 0.3 
 d  1  .100
 1.5 
 80%
 Determination Of Irrigation Requirements Of Crop
In order to determine the irrigation requirements of a certain crop,
during its base period, one should be familiar with the following terms.
1. Effective Rainfall (Re): It is the part of precipitation falling during the
precipitation period of the crop, that is available to meet the
evapotranspiration needs of the crop.
2. Consumptive Irrigation Requirements (CIR): It is the amount of
irrigation water that is required to meet the evapotranspiration needs
of the crop (Cu) during its full growth.
CIR = Cu - Re
3. Net Irrigation Requirement (NIR): It is the amount of irrigation
water required at the plot to meet the evapotranspiration needs of
water as well as other needs such as leaching etc. Thus
NIR = Cu –Re + water lost in deep percolation for the purposes of
leaching
4. Field Irrigation Requirement (FIR): It is the amount of irrigation
water required to meet the net irrigation requirements plus the water
lost at the field (i.e in percolation in the field water courses, field
channels and field application of water). If ηa is water application
efficiency:
FIR = NIR / ηa

5. Gross Irrigation Requirement (GIR): It is the sum of water required

to satisfy the field irrigation requirements and the water lost as
conveyance losses in distributaries up to the field. If ηc is the water
conveyance efficiency, then
GIR = FIR / ηc
Problem, (p/73, Punmia):
Determine the Consumptive use (Cu) and Gross irrigation
requirement (GIR) for wheat crop from the following data: ηa = 0.68
, ηc = 0.8

Pan Evaporation Consumptive use Effective rainfall

Dates and period
Ep coefficient, Re
of growth
(cm) K (cm)

(1) (2) (3) (4)

Nov
15.8 0.3 -
3-30
Dec
13.1 0.77 0.8
1-31
Jan
12.8 0.90 0.6
1-31
Feb
15.0 0.76 -
1-29
March
16.2 0.58 -
1-12
 Determination of Irrigation Requirements of Wheat
Period of Growth : 3rd Nov – 12 March(131 Days), ηa = 0.68 , ηc = 0.8

No . of Pan Consumptive
% of Consumptive NIR GIR
days Evaporation, use Effective FIR
growing use = Cu – = FIR
Interval up to Ep Cu rainfall =
season coefficient, Re /ηc
mid point = K . Ep Re NIR/ηa
K
(cm)
of interval (cm) (cm) (cm)
(cm) (cm)
(9)
(3) (8) (10)
(6) =
(1) (2) = (2) * (4) (5) (7) = (6) - =
= (4) * (5) (8)/0.6
100 (7) (9)/0.8
8
Nov
14 11 15.8 0.3 4.7 - 4.7 6.9 8.6
3-30
Dec
44 33 13.1 0.77 10.1 0.8 9.3 13.7 17.1
1-31
Jan
75 57 12.8 0.90 11.5 0.6 10.9 16.0 20.0
1-31
Feb
105 80 15.0 0.76 11.4 - 11.4 16.8 21.0
1-29

March
125 95 16.2 0.58 9.4 - 9.4 13.8 17.3
1-12

∑= 47.1 45.7 67.2 84.0

 Curves in Canals
 Attempts are made to align the channels straight as far as possible, but
many a times, the curves become inescapable.
 Whenever, a curve is proposed, it should be as gentle as possible because it
causes disturbance of flow and results in silting on the inside (i.e. convex
side) and scouring on the outside (i.e. concave side).
 Pitching is, therefore, sometimes proposed on the concave side, so as to
avoid scouring.
 If the discharge is more, the curve should be more gentle and should,
therefore, have more radius.
Channel Losses
 During the passage of water from the main canal to the outlet (at the head
of the watercourse), water may be lost either by evaporation from the
surface or by seepage through the peripheries of the channels.
 These losses are sometimes very high, of the order of 25 to 50% of the
water diverted.
 In determining the designed channel capacity, a provision for these water
losses must be made.
Evaporation:
 Evaporation losses: generally very small compared to seepage losses (2-3%
of the total losses).
 In summer season: more losses but < 7%
 They depend upon all those factors, on which the evaporation depends
(temperature, wind velocity, humidity, etc.)

 Seepage:
There are two conditions of seepage
1. Percolation
2. Absorption
 Percolation
In percolation, there exists a zone of continuous saturation from the
canal to the water-table and a direct flow is established. Almost all the
water lost from the canal, joins the ground water reservoir.

Absorption
In absorption, a small saturated soil zone exists round the canal section,
and is surrounded by zone of decreasing saturation. A certain zone just
above the water-table is saturated by capillarity. Thus, there exists an
unsaturated soil zone between the two saturated zones, as shown in
figure.
Rate of loss = f (h+hc)
hc = capillary head
Factors Affecting Seepage Losses
 Type of seepage, i.e. whether 'percolation' or 'absorption'
 Soil permeability
 Canal status: the seepage through a silted canal is less than that from a new
canal
 Sediment load: the more the silt, lesser are the losses
 Flow velocity: the more the velocity the lesser will be the losses
 Flow area and wetted perimeter

For designs, a combined figure for seepage losses as well as for evaporation
losses, expressed as cumecs per million sq. m of wetted perimeter may be
taken, as tabulated below:

Channel losses
Type of soil through channel is Total losses
excavated (cumecs/million sq. m of wetted area)
Rocks 0.9
Black cotton soil 1.6
Alluvial red soil 2.5
Decayed rock, gravel, etc 3.0
Loose sandy soil 5.5
Empirical formulas for channel losses:
The channel losses can be determined by using certain empirical formulas
such as

(a) Q 
1
B  D 2 3
200
where
∆Q = Channel losses in cumecs per km length of channel
B = Bed width of the channel in meters
D = Depth of water in the channel in meters

(b) Q  1.9 Q1 6
where
∆Q = Losses in cumecs per million sq. m. of wetted perimeter
Q = Discharge in cumecs
 Determination Of Required Channel Capacity
1. Identify the Crops to be grown in each crop season and maximum area
under cultivation in each crop season . Wheat represents Rabi crops,
Paddy represent Kharif crop and sugar cane may represent perennial
crops under cultivation.
2. Determine kor demand of crop, not the average.
3. Find out maximum extent of losses.
4. Calculate Gross Irrigation Requirement (GIR) for each crop.
5. Sum up GIR w.r.t each season and also for perennial crops.
6. Water requirement = Max of (GIR for wheat and sugar cane + GIR for
paddy and sugar cane)
7. Find Volumetric demand: on 15 day or monthly basis.
8. Finally, Required Channel capacity = (Volume / Time) + 20-25%