Integrated Water Resource Management in Canal Commands by

Application of Decision Support System

By:V.K.Bansal,ChiefEngineerandIrrigation&DrainageExpert,
P.K.Srivastava,BasinPlanningExpert,
StateWaterResourcesAgency

There has been growing realization among the water resources development and management professionals
that irrespective of sources (groundwater and surface water), water must be treated as a single entity.
Moreover, water use for agriculture cannot be considered in isolation of other uses. This requires an
integrated approach for sustainable water resources planning, management and operation under a river basin
framework. Due to competition from increasing demands for agriculture, domestic, power, industrial,
environmental and other uses, allocation of water to different stakeholders in appropriate quantity and
quality has become increasingly difficult.
There were no existing models that would adequately describe the water balance in canal command area at
appropriate levels of spatial and temporal (daily, weekly and seasonal) scales. Therefore, a comprehensive,
purpose-specific GIS-based model has been got developed to evaluate different water management
scenarios in terms of water resources availability and requirement including their socio-economic
implications. Finally, to illustrate the model application, a few management scenarios have been discussed
in relation to water resources planning.
Introduction
Over the past century, the Uttar Pradesh state of India has developed one of the largest canal
networks in the world to support predominantly rice-wheat crop cycle. Most of canals are run-of-river
systems supplemented occasionally by small reservoirs. Current irrigation management focuses more on the
surface water than the groundwater.Sustainability of agriculture is threatened by water-logging and
consequent soil salinity-sodicity in head and middle reaches of canal command areas mainly due to
unauthorized and excessive use of cheap and easily available canal water vice versa groundwater depletion
is occurring in tail reach areas, resulting in reduced productivity both ways. This prompts to need of
conjunctive irrigation management policy to be adopted for effective water management. The conjunctive
management requires simulation of complex interaction between surface and ground waters, and
management rules. For this, irrigation engineers, planners and decision-makers require some handy
computational tools that make simulation easier and help them make informed decisions.
ScopeofDSS
A GIS based generic DSS model, icrop, has been got developed to simulate all
hydrological and agro-physical processes of sub-basin area by coding the processes into a comprehensive
computer programme. The developed model after proper calibration and validation can be applied on any
command area say at branch, distributaries, or even at minor level.
The DSS contains a geodatabase and an integrated computer model that uses data to derive a desired
output. A logical DSS:

Addresses the relevant ISSUES.

Presents INFORMATION in a way that is easy to interpret.
Decision can be taken QUICKLY
Allows decision-makers to try different options (WHAT-IFs).

DATA BASES
SPATIAL DATA

INTERFACE

HISTORICAL DATA
MAPS

PLOTS

PROCESS MODELS
HYDROLOGY

ANIMATION

DECISION-MAKERS

ENVIRONMENTAL
SOCIO-ECONOMIC

Process models are included in the DSS to provide:

An understanding of the natural and management processes in the past;

A projection of the future if there are no changes in land and water resources management;
A range of possible future scenarios if there are changes in land and water resources management.

Modellingunit
The iCROP model uses four levels of spatial units: Homogeneous Unit (HU), SubIrrigation Unit (SIU), Micro Sub-basin (MSB) and Sub-Basin (SB). The Sub-basin is the largest spatial unit
within the iCROP model. This may be the gross command area of a Branch or a Main Canal. MSB is the
gross command area of a canal, which may be either a Distributary or a Branch canal. A Sub-basin may
consist of several MSBs. Micro Sub Basin (MSB) is the largest calculation unit for the model.
Sub-Irrigation Unit consists of one or more HUs. A HU in a SIU has the same
potential to be waterlogged, soil characteristics, access to irrigation and depth to groundwater levels. They
differ from each other in land use or crop grown. As the command area of a MSB is usually a large area
having different water management practice at the canal head, middle and tail, each MSB is further divided
into different SIUs or Sub-Irrigation Units. SIUs can also be classified based on command and noncommand area, distance from canals, susceptibility to be waterlogged, soil drainage and so on. A HU is the
smallest calculationunitinthemodel.Theclassificationisbasedmainlyonlanduse.

MicroSubBasins


M
Methodology:
The three distinct steps involved in the development are:
Collection of all available spatial and time series data and input into a GIS geodatabase;
Reviewing and analyzing data to understand the issues associated with the system;
Development and/or application of process models to the system as a basis for developing and assessing
water management strategies addressing the specific issues.
The four broad types of data included in the DSS are:
Spatial data for a point in time (e.g. census data or a satellite image).
Time series data for a point in space (e.g. Rainfall data, stream flow data).
Data with spatial and time series components (e.g. groundwater levels).
Data that has neither spatial nor time series components (e.g. factors relating pan evaporation to crop
evapotranspiration, or relating crop production to water deficit).
The numerous inputs required in the iCROP model are as illustrated in Figure. These inputs include
information related to soils, crops and other land use, hydrology and climate, physical constraints of canal
system, canal operation roster and available discharge etc.These inputs are stored in geodatabase.

MODEL INPUTS

.
Irrigated CROP Production Model (iCROP) is the engine of whole computational
framework of the DSS. This also includes a specially tailored in-built GIS-based mapping capability to
view the spatial distribution of water management parameters of interest such as effective rainfall, canal
and groundwater irrigation, recharge, irrigation deficit and so on. Besides, iCROP contains an economic
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module that computes the economic return (i.e. gross margin) and other socio-economic benefits of a
particular management scenario. Wherever feasible, existing third party modeling software packages such
as Visual MODFLOW (groundwater hydraulics), IQQM (river system), and ET-DSS (reference
evapotranspiration computation) have also been used for DSS development.
INPUTS

OUTPUTS

(GIS Data Base

Spatial / Time series)

(GIS Data Base

Spatial / Time Series)

MODELS

Crop
Productivity

GIS Data
PLANTGRO

Climate

Soils

Land Use

DIGITALELEVATIONMODEL

Flow

Climate
Data
Generator

MIN. & MAX. TEMP

SOLAR RADIATION
AND RAINFALL

CROP SUITABILITY
CROP YIELDS

GW & SW USE

CROPWAT
ET-DSS

ECONOMIC
MODEL

CROP MIX
AREA UNDER
CROPS

ET0

PAN EVAPORATION

Losses

CROP MIX

OPTIMISATION
MODEL

CANAL
SYSTEM
MODEL

ROSTER

RIVER
SYSTEM
MODEL
(IQQM)

RUNOFF

YIELD
BASE FLOW

GW RECHARGE

Groundwater &
Surface Water
Use

GROUNDWATER
MODEL
(MODFLOW)

River and
Canal Flows

FLOW

WATER QUALITY
MODEL

Ground Water
Levels

Crop Water
Requirements

Crops
Data Analysis and Presentation Tools
(Time Series and Spatial Analysis)
Water Quality

Crop Yields

InterfaceofDSS:
iCROP has a very user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) as shown in Figure. A
typical fresh model run requires inputs at several steps from the interface apart from inputs through Excel
files. The interface displays all inputs and provides access facility to view and update the input files. . The
steps involved in the model run are self-explanatory and guide even the first-time users through without
much difficulty. The outputs are produced in tabular and graphic forms in Excel sheets. It also produces a
ready-to-use GIS format file of outputs, which can be queried directly in GIS environment

CaseStudy:
the Pilot area of Jaunpur Branch Sub-Basin of 5.42 lac ha, lying between Gomti and Sai Doab
feeded from Haidergarh Branch of Sharda Sahayak System

For the pilot study area of JBSB, Model study predicts

The 10-yr simulation show that if the current management practice is continued, the groundwater
level will rise in Head and Middle Reaches where as it will fall in tail region in an unsustainable
manner even for current cropping intensity of 147%.

In case the present cropping intensity of 147% is increased to 230% and conjunctive water
management policy is adopted. The 10-year simulation of depth to ground water evidently suggests
that such resources use is sustainable.

10-yr Weekly Simulation of Depth to GW

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Depth to GW, mbgl

Scenario: Proposed Cropping Pattern with Conjunctive Use

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In case the present cropping intensity of 147% is increased to 230% and conjunctive water
management policy is adopted. The 10-year simulation of depth to ground water evidently suggests
that the water logged areas (< 3mbgl) will reduce from 30% to about 5%.

FindingforJBSB:

Cropping intensity in Jayad is very low and provides scope for agriculture intensification and
diversification with high-value crops to rationalise higher cost of groundwater,

Sub-surface water-logging affects large areas, with sodic and fallow lands in areas,
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Flooding & surface water-logging is a problem in some areas ,

Flat rate and high subsidy for canal irrigation encourages over-use, and discourages conjunctive
use,

Ground water and surface water developed, managed & financed by different agencies,

Inadequate inter-department co-ordination,

Water demand is increasing with increased crop area, population, industry and environmental
needs,

Recommendations:
Conjunctive Irrigation Management strategy is the best option for agriculture intensification and
diversification, along with other programs as follows:
1. Rehabilitation of rigid and deteriorating canal infrastructures,
2. Soil health improvement (sodic soil reclamation) for already degraded soils,
3. Surface drainage improvement for flood and rain-induced water logging, particularly in
monsoon season,
4. Wetland development for perennial water-bodies,
5. Canal lining in high seepage zones ,
6. Watershed conservation, particularly for peripheral areas with significant soil erosion
and depleting groundwater levels,
Conclusions:
Developed iCROP -DSS can be applied on any canal command after proper calibration to
simulate different management scenarios, such as:
Changes in Cultivated Areas,
o Increase / decrease of total crop area
o Changes of single crops
Optimization of Cropping Mix,
o Water allocation / water use efficiency
o Purely economic factors (ie. max productivity)
o Socio-economic factors (ie. poverty alleviation / market demands)
o Environmental impacts (ie. water-logging / sodicity)
Changes of sowing dates to maximize use of rainfall,
Changes in the balance between surface water and groundwater usage,

Redistribution of canal water from head and middle to tail reaches ,

Changes in rosters due to water shortage or rainfall in command areas,

Present information efficiently and in an easily understandable manner,