Canal Irrigation

Distribution of Canal System in Pakistan

 Distribution of Canal System in Pakistan
• Main Canal

Carries directly heavy water supply from the river and is not used for
direct irrigation except in exceptional circumstances
• Branch Canal

Branches of main canal in either direction taking off at regular intervals

and is not used for direct irrigation, but sometimes direct outlets are
provided
 Distribution of Canal System in Pakistan
• Major Distributary (Rajbha)

Take off from branch canal, however sometimes directly take off from
main canal. They are real irrigation channels in the sense that they
supply water for irrigation to the field through outlets provided along
them
• Minor Distributary (Minor)

Take off from branch canal directly or from major distributary and supply
water to the water course through outlets provided along them
 Distribution of Canal System in Pakistan
• Water Course (Field Channel)

Small channel which ultimately feeds the water to irrigation fields. Field
channel may take off from distributary or minor or even from branch
canal directly
 Canal Structures
Canal Regulation
• The water, which enters into the main canal from the river through
Canal Head Regulator, has to be divided into different Branches and
Distributaries.
• Process of distribution is called “Regulation”
• Achieved by means of regulators
 Canal Structures
Canal Regulation Works
• Works constructed in canal in order to control & regulate
• discharges
• depths
• velocities, etc
• Ensure efficient functioning of a canal irrigation
1. Canal Head Regulator 4. Metering Flumes

2. Cross Regulator 5. Canal outlets and Modules

3. Canal Escapes 6. Canal Falls

 Canal Structures
Canal Head Regulator
A canal head regulator is provided at the head of the off-taking canal and
serves following functions:
• It regulates or control the supply of water entering the off-take
canal
• It controls the entry of silt in the off-take canal
• It prevents the river floods from entering the canal by shutting off
gates
• It serves as a meter for measuring discharge
• It helps in shutting off supplies when not need in off-take canal, or
when off-take canal required to be closed for repair purposes
 Canal Structures
Canal Head Regulator
 Canal Structures
Canal Head Regulator
 Canal Structures
Alignment of the Off-taking Canal
Ideal alignment is when the off-
taking channels makes zero angle
with parent channel initially and
then separates out in a transition.
 Canal Structures
Alignment of the Off-taking Canal
As an alternative to the
transitions, both the channels
should make an angle with the
parent channel upstream of the
off-take
 Canal Structures
Alignment of the Off-taking Canal
When the parent channel has to
be carried straight, the edge of
the canal rather than the center
line should be considered in
deciding the angle of the off-take
 Canal Structures
Cross Regulator
• A canal head regulator controls the supply of the off-taking channel;
while a cross-regulator controls the supply of the parent channel.
• A head regulator provided at the head of the off-taking channel,
controls the flow of water entering the new channel, while a cross
regulator may be required in the main parent channel d/s of the off-
taking channel, and is operated when necessary so as to head up
water on its u/s side, thus to ensure the required supply in the off-
taking channel even during the periods of low flow in the main
channel.
 Canal Structures
Cross Regulator (Main Functions)
• To effectively control the entire Canal Irrigation System
• When water level in main channel is low, it helps in heading up water
on u/s & to feed off-take channels to full demand in rotation
• Helps in absorbing fluctuations in various sections of the canal
system, and prevent the possibilities of breaches in tail reaches
• Cross-regulator is often combined with a road bridge so as to carry
the road which may cross the irrigation channel near the site of cross-
regulator. It is also usually combined with a fall (if required at the site
of cross-regulator); where it is called a fall regulator
 Canal Structures
Canal Escapes
• As name depicts escape is a side channel constructed to remove
surplus water from an irrigation channel (main canal, branch canal or
distributary, etc.) into a natural drain.
• The water in the irrigation channel may become surplus:
 Due to some mistake or difficulty in regulation at the head
 Due to excessive rainfall in upper reaches
 Sometimes, the cultivators may find that the demand of water is
over and may close their outlets suddenly
 Canal Structures
Canal Escapes
• It can be stated that escapes are the safety valves of canals and must
be provided at regular intervals depending upon the importance of
the channel and availability of a suitable drainage for the disposal of
the escaped water
• Minimum capacity of escape is generally kept as half of the channel
capacity at the point of escape
 Canal Structures
Types of Canal Escapes
Weir Type:
• Crest of the weir wall is kept at RL
equal to canal FSL

Regulator Type (Sluice Type):

• Sill of the escape is kept at canal
bed level and the flow is
controlled by gates
 Canal Structures
Metering Flumes
• A meter is a structure constructed in a canal for measuring its
discharge accurately.
• A metering flume is an artificially flumed (narrowed) section of the
channel which can be utilized for calculating the discharge in the
channel.
• The normal u/s section of the channel is narrowed by masonry walls
with a splay of 1:1 to 2:1 to a rectangular section called Throat. From
where, channel is diverged to attain its normal section by means of
masonry wings with splay of 2:1 to 10:1
Canal Structures
 Canal Structures
Types of Metering Flumes
a) Non-modular venturi flume or drowned venturi flume, generally
called venturi flume
b) Modular venturi flume or free flow venturi flume or standing wave
flume
 Canal Structures
Venturi Flume
• Venturi flume consists of a gradually contracting channel leading to
throat and a gradually expanding channel leading away from it.
• Stilling wells are provided for measuring head at the entrance and at
the throat.
• If h is the difference of head between two wells, then the discharge is
given by:
Canal Structures
 Canal Structures
Standing Wave Flume
• When a standing wave (i.e. hydraulic jump) forms on the d/s glacis in
the diverging channel, the flume is called a standing wave flume.
• It is superior to venturi flume because its discharge depends only
upon the u/s head over the crest of the throat, and also for same u/s
head, its discharge capacity is more than that of venturi flume.
• The only drawback is that it requires greater loss of head and where
this loss of head is not available, this flume will act like a venturi-
flume. Due to this reason, canal fall sites are generally used as
standing wave flumes.
• Seldom constructed separately, so that falls, regulators & other
Canal Structures
 Canal Structures
Canal Outlets or Modules
• A canal outlet or module is a structure built at the head of the
watercourse so as to connect it with a minor or distributary channel
TYPES OF OUTLETS (MODEULES)
1. Non-modular Outlet
Discharge depends upon the difference of head between distributary & water course
2. Semi-modules or Flexible Modules
Discharge is independent of the water level of water course but depends only upon the water
level of the distributary
3. Rigid Modules or Modular Outlets
Discharge is constant & fixed within limits, irrespective of the fluctuations of the water level of
the distributary or of water course or of both
 Canal Structures
Canal Falls
• Whenever the available natural ground slope is steeper than the
designed bed slope of the channel, the difference is adjusted by
constructing vertical “falls” or “drops” in the canal bed at suitable
intervals.
• The structure built to safe guard the drop is called a canal fall
structure, which is an integral part of an irrigation system.
 Canal Structures
Canal Falls
The basic requirements for this structure are:
• Suitable energy dissipation arrangement
• If there has to be a bridge, then a suitable amount of fluming
(constriction) is to be provided for economy
• The crest must be designed to maintain normal supply depths in the
canal u/s
• The initial cost of construction and the cost of maintenance should be
as low as possible