Module - 4

Irrigation Engineering

Irrigation is defined as a process of supplying water to crops artificially. The science of planning
and designing a water supply system to the plants, crops for their normal growth during the period
of no rainfall with the help of dam, weir, barrage, reservoir and canal system with head works,
cross drainage works and miscellaneous work of canal like canal fall is called irrigation engineering.

Necessity (or) Importance of irrigation:

1) Insufficient rainfall:- Irrigation is necessary in the areas where rainfall is insufficient for the
satisfactory growth of the crops and plants.
2) Uneven (or) non-uniform rainfall distribution:- If the distribution of rainfall in the zone of
crop area is not evenly distributed as per requirement of crop growth irrigation is extremely
necessary.
3) Improvement of perennial crops:- Some perennial crops require water throughout the year.
But rainfall is not uniform in all seasons of the year. These crops cannot be produced
perennially without water for all seasons. For the growth or production of those crops,
irrigation is necessary.
4) Development of desert area:- The dry and desert areas can be converted to a beautiful crop-
land if irrigation water can be supplied as per need.

Given, ϕ -index = 2, 5mm/h = 0, 25cm/h

Depth of effective rainfall in 1st 4hr period = (0.75 − 0.25) × 4 = 2cm

Depth of effective rainfall in 2nd 4hr period = (2.25 − 0.25) × 4 = 8cm

Depth of effective rainfall in 3rd 4hr period = (1.25 − 0.25) × 4 = 4cm

Column (2): Ordinates of 4h UH → given

Column (3): Ordinates of 4h UH multiplied by the 1st rainfall of 2cm.

Column (4): Ordinates of 4h UH multiplied by the 2nd rainfall of 8cm and lagged by 4 hour since
the runoff from the second rainfall commences from 4th hour.

Column (5): Ordinates of 4h UH multiplied by the 3rd rainfall of 4cm and lagged by 8 hours since
the runoff from the third rainfall commences from 8th hour.

Column (6): Cols (3)+(4)+(5) = ordinates of composite direct runoff hydrograph.

Column (7): Baseflow which is assumed to be constant at 10m3 /s.

Column (8): Ordinates of total runoff hydrograph (or) the flood hydrograph.
Benefits of irrigation:-

1) Yield of crops:- Can be increased by irrigation even in the period of low rainfall.

2) Optimum benefits- Optimum use of water is possible by irrigation to obtain maximum output.

3) Elimination of mixed cropping:- The areas where irrigation is not assured, mixed cropping is
adopted. Mixed cropping means sowing different crops together in the same field mixed crop-
ping is not desirable as different crops require different amount of water and field conditions.
Farmers are not benefited. If irrigation is assured, mixed cropping may be eliminated and
single superior crop may be grown to get maximum benefits.

4) Prosperity of farmers:- If irrigation is assured throughout the year, farmers can grow two or
more crops in a year which adds to their prosperity.

5) Source of revenue:- When water tan is taken from farmers for supplying water, it adds to the
revenue of the country.

6) Hydro-electric power generation:- The reservoir from which irrigation water is supplied, may
be used for generation of power. Besides, the canals in field have some canals falls or drops
in which mini hydro-projects may be installed.

7) Water supply:- Irrigation water may be used as source for domestic and industrial water
supply.

8) General communication:- The inspection road beside the canal bank may serve as communi-
cation link in remote village areas.

9) Navigation:- If the irrigation canals are big and deep, they may be used as navigable water
way.

10) Aesthetic view:- New man-made lake if preserved carefully, may increase aesthetic view of
the surroundings.

11) Development of fishery:- Reservoirs and canals may be utilized for development of fishery.

12) Tree plantation:- Trees can be grown along the bank of canal, which increase the wealth from
timber and help in controlling soil erosion of the bank.

13) Protection farm famine:- Food production is increased due to irrigation by producing more
crops to be used as food. This protects a country from famine situation.

14) Increase of ground water level:- Due to constant seepage and percolation of water from canal,
ground water level in the nearby area is increased.

15) Aid to civilization:- Irrigation water is normally available from river valley project. Some
tribes living near the valley, adopt irrigation as their profession, increase production, live
peacefully which leads to general civilization of the country.

16) Nutrition of population:- Due to irrigation, increased agricultural production takes place and
this production improves nutrition of the people.

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 17) Recreation:- Facilities like parks, restaurants may be developed near the canal banks or reser-
voir sites.

18) Social and cultural improvement:-It increases the cultural and social level of population living
nearby canals and reservoirs. Tourist interest in the area of newly constructed reservoir may
be enhanced.

19) Self sufficiency in food:- Irrigation makes the country self-sufficient in food by improving the
production.

Effects of irrigation:-

1) Effects on raising water table:- In unlined irrigation canal, excessive seepage of water through
bed and sides takes place which raises the water table of the surrounding areas. Soil in the
root zone of the crops is saturated and becomes alkaline which is harmful to the crops and
plants. Their nearby area may be water logged.

2) Damp climate:- Temperature of the command area of an irrigation projects may be lowered
and damp climate prevails,which adversely affects the health of the community living in this
area.

3) Breeding place of mosquitoes:- Due to excess application of water, seepage and leakage from
canals, marshy land may be formed leading to breeding places of mosquitoes.

4) loss of valuable land:- Valuable land may be submerged due to construction of reservoir by
dam, weir and barrages.

5) Returns of revenue:- Irrigation projects are complex and expensive. If project fails due to
absence of regular maintenance, returnee of revenue to the government becomes low compared
to its cost of construction. Maintenance cost is quite high for normal functioning of the
project.

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Types of irrigation systems:-

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Flow irrigation system:-

Is that system of irrigation in which the irrigation water is available at such a level that it is
conveyed to the land to be irrigated by gravity flow. The irrigation practiced in this system
of irrigation is known as flow irrigation

(a) Direct irrigation:-Diversion scheme

Irrigation water is obtained directly from a river without creating any storage of water.
They in this system of irrigation only a weir or a barrage is constructed across a river
to raise the level of water in the river and facilitate its diversion to irrigation canals.

River

HeadRegulator
Right Bank Canal Left Bank Canal
Diversion
Weir
Tail Escap
River (TE)
Cross Drainage Drain
Works Drain

(b) Storage irrigation system:-

Dams are constructed across rivers which are non perennial. The discharge in such
rivers may be very high during rainy season and may become less during dry season.
By constructing dams across such rivers, water can be stored as reservoir during excess
flow and can be utilized or diverted to agricultural fields through canals as and when
required. Such a system is known as storage irrigation system.
River

Reservoir

Dam
LBC

Drain CR
Drain
HR
HR Branch
Canal River
RBC CR HR
Distributary
CR Distributary

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(c) Combined storage and diversion system:- In this system, dam is constructed across a
river to form a reservoir. This stored water is used to produce electricity. A powerhouse
is constructed just downstream of the dam. The discharge from the power house is fed
back into river downstream of the dam.
At downstream of the dam, a pickup weir at a suitable side is constructed to divert this
available water to the crop field by the canals. This type of scheme is useful for the point
of generation of hydroelectricity and irrigation facility with the help of same amount of
water in both storage and combined scheme, along with main aims of irrigation, following
aims and purposes may be sowed :
• Hydro electric power generation
• Flood control in river valley
• Recreation
• Water supply
• Fishery

River

Reservoir

Dam PowerHouse

Tail Race Channel

Pick Up Weir
RBC LBC

Branch
Canal

Distributories
River

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 Lift irrigation system:-

Is that system of irrigation in which the irrigation water is available at a level lower than that
of the land to be irrigated and hence the water is lifted up by pumps or other mechanical
devices for lifting water and then conveyed to the land to be irrigated by gravity flow. The
irrigation practised in this system of irrigation is known as lift irrigation.
Irrigation from wells is an example of lift irrigation system. In some cases Irrigation water
may also be required to be lifted up from a canal or any other source of water when the level
of water is lower than that of land to be irrigated. In remote villages, if electrical energy
is not available, water is lifted by hand pump, doon, mate, persian, wheel, swinging bucket,
dhenki, pulley and wind lass etc.
Advantages and Disadvantages of flow irrigation and lift irrign

1) In lift irrigation, farmers can supply water to the crop field according to their need, hence
there is no possibility of over irrigation which may a occur in flow irrign.
2) Water table is lowered considerably in lift irrigation. ∴ is no possibility of water logging that
may happen in surface irrign.
3) In lift irrign, as water is directly applied to the field. loss of water due to seepage in conveyance
of flow irrigation is less.
4) Initial cost of construction in flow irrign system is quite high as it requires to construct a
barrier like dam of weir, other hydraulic structures like canal headworks, silt excludes or
ejector etc. But in lift irrign initial cost is quite low as it does not require any hydraulic
structures.
5) As the loss of water is small in lift irrigation, duty of water (area irrigated/ unit discharge)
is very high.
6) Maintenance cost in flow irrigation is high that lift irrigation.
7) More than one crop may be grown in a year in the same crop field in lift irrigation.
8) Loss of valuable land is higher in flow irrigation than lift irrigation as flow irrign cover a large
area in canal networks and reservoir area.
9) Water of lift irrign is cooler in hot season and warmer in cold season which is favorable for
crop growth.
10) In dry or winter seasons, water table falls considerably below the suction head, hence, pump
may fail to lift water from the underground. But in flow irrign or perennial type or with
stored reservoir, water is available all the seasons of the year.
11) Sometimes, lifting mechanism like pump may fail due to mechanical or electrical failure, water
cannot be supplied untill the mechanism is restored.
12) Well water has no silt or chemical content required for crop growth ∴ in lift irrign water needs
chemical fertilizer, which is costly.
13) Yield of crop in flow irrign is more than lift irrign.