Chapter 8:Planning and

management of irrigation system

SOE, PU
• Planning of Irrigation system:-
• Planning is necessary for any project before/after/during its
• execution/implementation /design etc. and irrigation system is a network of
canals from headworks/source of water the fields channels consisting of
various diverting , regulating, measuring, controlling structures etc. the
availability of water on the source is assessed. For the planning of an irrigation
systems, various factors influence the greater role such that whether the
project will be justified or not.
• Source.
• Command area.
• Cropping pattern.
• Duty and delta
• Interest of local users.
• Economy.
 Factors to be considered in planning stage
Stages of planning • Type of project and general plan of irrigation works.
a. Preliminary planning include • Location, extend and type of irrigation work.
feasibility study • Crop water requirement (Duty and delta)
b. Detail planning of water and the • Culturable area
construction materials • Availability of water
c. Design of irrigation structures. • Need of immediate and future drainage
• Cost of works
• Evaluation of benefits
• Method of financing
• Annual cost of water to
the farmer
• Cropping pattern
• Suitability of land
topography
• Environmental aspect
etc.
• The principles for efficient agricultural irrigation include:
• Use qualified professionals to plan and help manage irrigation systems.
• Know and protect the water supply and the environment.
• Identify the soil type and its soil water characteristics to manage the water
supply.
• Understand crop water needs to know when and how much water should be
applied
• Select appropriate irrigation methods that will efficiently deliver water to the
crop.
• Plan and implement irrigation scheduling to use water efficiently.
• Adopt and apply innovative technology to improve water management.
• Maintain accurate records to facilitate better decisions on crop inputs.
• Anticipate water shortages and have planned strategies to respond.
• Irrigation management:-
• Irrigation management is an important tool for efficient and effective operations and
maintenance of irrigation system so as to optimize the use at available water and to
maximize benefit not only in terms of money but also in terms of local welfare.
• The canal operation plan aims to assist in conducting effective day to day
operation of canals of an irrigation system, towards providing reliable, predictable,
efficient and equitable irrigation service to beneficiary farmers.
• Some management of irrigation system includes:-
• Land development
• Field application of water
• Availability of water and its optimum use.
• Irrigation by rotation
• Cropping pattern
• Education to farmer
• New technology of farming\
• Method of charging
• Aim of irrigation management:-
• Most economical use of water so as to achieve maximum benefits.
• Reliable and efficient service to the cultivates right time, right place and right way.
• Proper protection and maintenance of the irrigation works.
• Protection of environment i.e. protection against water logging.
• Safe delivery of water without much conveyance loss.
• To participate the farmers in the organization and management.
• To educate the farmers about the new techniques of irrigation.
• To manage the field irrigation application of water.
• To regulate and control the flow of water as per desire i.e. requirement of crop.
• Method of charging so as to minimize the loss of water due to careless handling of
farmers.
• To maintain irrigation operation canals properly as required by planning of doing
various maintenance time to time
Type of irrigation management:-
• Farmer managed irrigation system
• Agency managed irrigation system
• Operation and maintenance of irrigation system:-
• Operation is defined as the process of sorting, diverting, regulating, measuring,
• delivery, conveying and applying the right amount of water at right time at right
place for a certain required duration and destroying the escape water with a view
to meet the pre-determined objectives:-
• Objective of operation:-
• To distribute the available water to crop
• At right time
• At right place
• For a desired duration
• At adequate quantity
• Worth least cost
• Effectively of efficient.
• Maintenance of irrigation system:-
• Maintenance of the schemes that supply rich water to communities is of vital
importance if they are to be effective in improving production.
• The success of the efforts depends on the effectiveness of the maintenance
program and this organization. After the construction of irrigation system in an
area is completed, it becomes essential to maintain for its proper and efficient
functioning.
• Irrigation system that serves the agriculture areas were adopted and maintained
by the DOI (Department of irrigation) as well as other local and international
agencies.
• It denotes an activities, when human and other sources are provided to safe-
guard the investment against any loss due to lack of care and whole or part of
the scheme continues to fulfill their intended function. There are various reasons
to do maintenance, are given below:-
S.n Reasons Maintenance measure
Flushing with clear water
Silt scouring fleet.
Bundle of thornybushes
Iron rake.
1 Silting of canal Reduce the area of flow (By loaded boat to increase velocity)
Stirring of silt by water jet.
Dredging
Excavation
To strengthen the bank following action are taken:-
Internal silting system
Breaching due to weak of
2 External silting system
canal bank
Formation of berm by internal silting
Formation of berm by external silting
To control the weed growth following action are taken:-
3 Weed growth High velocity in canal (> regime velocity)
Rush rotation
Plucking and burning of weed
4 Over flow of canal bank By removing the deposited silt
• Types of maintenance:-
• Regular maintenance :- regular maintenance consists of all minor works of a
• regular basis to keep system functioning throughout the year. During operation
canal should be inspected daily to perform the regular maintenance.
Maintenance of intake, operational gate, removal of weeds, rodents and debris
come under regular maintenance.
• Periodic maintenance:- periodic maintenance is done quarterly, half yearly or
• yearly basis to get the proper service from the canal. Reshaping the canal, lining
the canal, maintenance of structure, necessary structure construction, removal of
excessive vegetation, removal of sediment deposits etc. come under this
maintenance.
• Emergency maintenance:- System damages due to floods and landslides etc
• falls under this category which may require huge investment. This works under
this maintenance may involve the construction of new intake structures and
some section of the canal.
• Participatory irrigation management (PIM) refers to the participation of
irrigation users - the farmers - in the management of the irrigation
system.
• Main objective of planning operation is to match water availability with
demand as closely as possible.
• Planning is done always before the implementation or operation of the work.
• Planning has to be completed before the delivery and distribution of
irrigation water in order to prepare canal irrigation schedule.
• Planning of canal operation is done in four stages:-
• Estimating water availability.
• Crop planning technique.
• Estimating irrigation demand (Supply requirement) for the planned crops.
• Matching supply and demand.
• Estimating water availability:-
• System manager must know about the seasonal variation of the flow in the
stream from where we are joining to divert the irrigation water for irrigation
purposes.
• The gauge reading of streams / rivers should be calculated and a seasonal
hydrograph is prepared first.
• Also the rainfall intensity is found or determined in the area to be irrigated.
• The flow on the streams can be determined by various methods like velocity
area method, slope –area method, or discharge measurement with the help of
hydraulic structure like weirs, notches etc.
• Crop plantation technique:-
• A particular area will be favorable for particular types of crops with respect to
climate , soil condition growing crops.
• Climate , the temperature and humidity affect the types of crops to be adopted.

• Estimating crop water requirement:-