GIS‐Based Surface Irrigation Potential Assessment for Ethiopian River Basin

2019 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 607-616
Author(s):  
Asfaw Birhanu ◽  
Santosh Murlidhar Pingale ◽  
Bankaru‐Swamy Soundharajan ◽  
Pratap Singh
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Surface Irrigation ◽  
Irrigation Potential

scholarly journals Assessment of Surface Irrigation Potential of the Dhidhessa River Basin, Ethiopia

Hydrology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 68
Author(s):  
Meseret Dawit ◽  
Bilisummaa Dirriba Olika ◽  
Fiseha Behulu Muluneh ◽  
Olkeba Tolessa Leta ◽  
Megarsa Olumana Dinka
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Swat Model ◽  
Agricultural Productivity ◽  
Surface Irrigation ◽  
Model Builder ◽  
Available Water ◽  
Irrigation Water Use ◽  
Irrigation Potential

Assessing available water resources and their potential for irrigation water use is vital for sustainable agricultural development and planning. This is particularly of interest in developing countries like Ethiopia, where a small portion of largely accessible land for surface irrigation applications has been utilized, despite the majority of the population relying on agricultural productivity. This study utilized the Dhidhessa River Basin (Ethiopia) as a case study and analyzed the main challenges to balance the sustainable water resources utilization and enhance agricultural productivity of the basin. The study mainly focused on estimating the available water resources and their potential for surface irrigation water use in the basin. This was achieved by utilizing Geographic Information System (GIS)-based tools, a hydrological Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model, and a Crop Water and Irrigation Requirements Program of FAO (CROPWAT) model. While the SWAT estimated the water availability in the basin, GIS-tools such as Model Builder were used to map the irrigation potential of the basin. For irrigation water potential assessment, we selected six crops (cabbage, maize, tomato, pepper, groundnut and sugarcane) and estimated their irrigation water requirements using the CROPWAT model. We developed the SWAT model for the period from 1986 to 2012 using the available hydro-meteorological and geo-spatial data. Due to many parameters used in the model, we first performed a parameter sensitivity analysis and identified the most essential/sensitivity parameters via Sequential Uncertainty Fitting-II (SUFI-2). The identified sensitive parameters were subsequently used for model calibration (1989–2000) and validation (2001–2012) procedures achieved via SUFI-2. SWAT was able to reproduce the observed monthly streamflow values with a coefficient of determination (R2) and Nash-Sutcliffe Coefficient (NSE) of 0.85 and 0.87 for the calibration period and 0.91 and 0.89 for the validation period, respectively. The findings generally indicated a “good” performance of the model in simulating the hydrology. The annual available water of the basin is 9.26 billion cubic meters (BCM) whereas the 70% and 80% dependable flow is 7.56 and 6.97 BCM, respectively. Based on the Model Builder of ArcGIS, the SWAT estimated available water can potentially irrigate an area of 259,028 ha for slope less than 8%, 643,162 ha for slopes less than 15% and 1,023,581 ha for slopes less than 30%. Moreover, the irrigation water requirements were calculated by the CROPWAT model for the six selected crops indicated that although the need for irrigation water varies depending on the season, the potential irrigation area of the Dhidhessa River Basin is greater than its irrigated land. Therefore, it is concluded that the basin’s surface irrigation systems need to be expanded to enhance the agricultural productivity and improve the livelihood of the basin’s communities and similar basins elsewhere.

scholarly journals Effect of climate change on land suitability for surface irrigation and irrigation potential of the shallow groundwater in Ghana

2019 ◽  
Vol 157 ◽  
pp. 110-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abeyou W. Worqlul ◽  
Yihun T. Dile ◽  
Jaehak Jeong ◽  
Zenebe Adimassu ◽  
Nicole Lefore ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Shallow Groundwater ◽  
Land Suitability ◽  
Surface Irrigation ◽  
Irrigation Potential

scholarly journals Supplemental irrigation potential and impact on downstream flow of Karkheh River basin in Iran

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 1903-1910 ◽  
Author(s):  
Behzad Hessari ◽  
Adriana Bruggeman ◽  
Ali Mohammad Akhoond-Ali ◽  
Theib Oweis ◽  
Fariborz Abbasi
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Environmental Flow ◽  
Supplemental Irrigation ◽  
Irrigation Potential ◽  
Winter Crops ◽  
Downstream Flow ◽  
Karkheh River Basin

Abstract. Supplemental irrigation of rainfed winter crops improves and stabilises crop yield and water productivity. Although yield increases by supplemental irrigation are well established at the field level, its potential extent and impact on water resources at the basin level are less researched. This work presents a Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based methodology for identifying areas that are potentially suitable for supplemental irrigation and a computer routine for allocating streamflow for supplemental irrigation in different sub-basins. A case study is presented for the 42 908 km2 upper Karkheh River basin (KRB) in Iran, which has 15 840 km2 of rainfed crop areas. Rainfed crop areas within 1 km from the streams, with slope classes 0–5, 0–8, 0–12, and 0–20 %, were assumed to be suitable for supplemental irrigation. Four streamflow conditions (normal, normal with environmental flow requirements, drought and drought with environmental flow) were considered for the allocation of water resources. Thirty-seven percent (5801 km2) of the rainfed croplands had slopes less than 5 %; 61 % (3559 km2) of this land was suitable for supplemental irrigation, but only 22 % (1278 km2) could be served with irrigation in both autumn (75 mm) and spring (100 mm), under normal flow conditions. If irrigation would be allocated to all suitable land with slopes up to 20 %, 2057 km2 could be irrigated. This would reduce the average annual outflow of the upper KRB by 9 %. If environmental flow requirements are considered, a maximum (0–20 % slopes) of 1444 km2 could receive supplemental irrigation. Under drought conditions a maximum of 1013 km2 could be irrigated, while the outflow would again be reduced by 9 %. Thus, the withdrawal of streamflow for supplemental irrigation has relatively little effect on the outflow of the upper KRB. However, if the main policy goal would be to improve rainfed areas throughout the upper KRB, options for storing surface water need to be developed.

scholarly journals Supplemental irrigation potential and impact on downstream flow of Karkheh River Basin of Iran

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 13519-13536 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Hessari ◽  
A. Bruggeman ◽  
A. Akhoond-Ali ◽  
T. Oweis ◽  
F. Abbasi
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Stream Flow ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Environmental Flow ◽  
Flow Conditions ◽  
Supplemental Irrigation ◽  
Irrigation Potential ◽  
Downstream Flow ◽  
Karkheh River Basin

Abstract. Supplemental irrigation of rainfed winter crops improves and stabilizes crop yield and water productivity. Although yield increases by supplemental irrigation are well established at the field level, its potential extent and impact on water resources at the basin level are less researched. This work presents a GIS-based methodology for identifying areas that are potentially suitable for supplemental irrigation and a computer routine for allocating stream flow for supplemental irrigation in different subbasins. A case study is presented for the 42 908 km2 upper Karkheh River Basin (KRB) in Iran, which has 15 840 km2 of rainfed crop areas. Rainfed crop areas within 1 km from the streams, with slope classes 0–5%, 0–8%, 0–12% and 0–20%, were assumed to be suitable for supplemental irrigation. Four stream flow conditions (normal, normal with environmental flow requirements, drought and drought with environmental flow) were considered for the allocation of water resources. Thirty-seven percent (5801 km2) of the rainfed croplands had slopes less than 5%. Sixty-one percent (3559 km2) of this land was suitable for supplemental irrigation, but only 22% (1278 km2) could be served with irrigation in both fall (75 mm) and spring (100 mm), under normal flow conditions. If irrigation would be allocated to all suitable land with slopes up to 20%, 2057 km2 could be irrigated. This would reduce the average annual outflow of the upper KRB by 9%. If environmental flow requirements are considered, a maximum (0–20% slopes) of 1444 km2 could receive supplemental irrigation. Under drought conditions a maximum of 1013 km2 could be irrigated, while the outflow would again be reduced by 9%. Thus, the withdrawal of steam flow for supplemental irrigation has relatively little effect on the outflow of the upper KRB. However, if the main policy goal would be to improve rainfed areas throughout the upper KRB, options for storing surface water need to be developed.

Assessment of the potential for irrigation development in Albert Nile basin: A case study of Nebbi district

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Kiggundu ◽  
Charles Bwire ◽  
Joshua Wanyama
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Drip Irrigation ◽  
Sprinkler Irrigation ◽  
Land Suitability ◽  
Surface Irrigation ◽  
Irrigation Development ◽  
Available Water ◽  
Irrigation Potential ◽  
Water Resources Assessment ◽  
Resources Assessment

<p>There has been limited research conducted on irrigation potential in Uganda. The existing studies provide a wide number of estimates of irrigation potential for Uganda and thus constrain reliable medium term planning and investment in the subsector. This research was aimed at assessing the potential for irrigation development in Nebbi District, which cover 195,300 km<sup>2</sup>, with a view of guiding planning and strategic investment in irrigation. Irrigation potential was assessed as an aggregation of the land suitability, water requirement and the available water for irrigation for three systems (drip, sprinkler and surface). Land suitability evaluation for the three systems was determined based upon topography and soil characteristics. The FAO CROPWAT model was used to determine the water requirements for the selected crops. Water resources assessment was carried out using rainfall data and the stream flow analysis of the available water resources in the study area. For surface irrigation, no area was classified as highly suitable or moderately suitable. Only 0.03% (48.91 ha) is marginally suitable, 36% (68,445.55 ha) currently not suitable whereas 64% (121,606.33 ha) permanently not suitable. For drip irrigation, 58.7% (111,591 ha) is marginally suitable and 25.8% (49,084 ha) is moderately suitable. Furthermore, 15% (28,492 ha) and 0.5% (989 ha) are currently not suitable and permanently not suitable respectively. There was no area classified as highly suitable under drip irrigation. For sprinkler irrigation, 14.1% (26 815.8 ha) of the area is marginally suitable and 0.03% (48.1 ha) is classified as moderately suitable for sprinkler irrigation. 47.5% (90 291.4 ha) and 38.4 % (72 987.2 ha) of the area is currently not suitable and permanently not suitable respectively. The mean capability index (Ci) for surface irrigation was 36.1 (currently not suitable), 45.4 (marginally suitable) for drip irrigation while sprinkler irrigation Ci was 42.8 (marginally suitable). Crop evapotranspiration (ET<sub>c</sub>) for the selected crops (tomatoes, cabbages and onions) varied from 2.46 to 5.76 mm/day; 2.87 to 5.92 mm/day and 2.87 to 4.78 mm/day respectively. The results from water resources assessment revealed that the total catchment yield was 2.69 x 10<sup>9</sup> m<sup>3</sup> which permits irrigation for an area of 141,817.65 ha. The results showed that drip irrigation system was more suitable for the Nebbi district.</p>

scholarly journals Surface Irrigation in the Lower Mississippi River Basin: Trends and Innovations

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
pp. 1305-1314
Author(s):  
Michele L. Reba ◽  
Joseph H. Massey
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Mississippi River ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Crop Management ◽  
Mississippi River Basin ◽  
Source Water ◽  
Surface Irrigation ◽  
Rice Irrigation ◽  
Lower Mississippi River

HighlightsBetween 1950 and 2017, there was a 12-fold increase in irrigated area in Arkansas and a doubling in Louisiana.Groundwater provides over 90% of the irrigation water applied to the 4 Mha of cropland in the LMRB.Ongoing efforts to address aquifer declines have been multi-faceted and include those of producers, public (local, state, and federal) institutions, and private organizations.Irrigation water management innovations include precision grading, reduced-flood or no-flood rice irrigation, pump automation, computerized hole selection, flowmeter requirements, and permit-based water use limitations.Abstract. The Lower Mississippi River Basin (LMRB) is an agricultural region of national and international significance. The basin relies heavily on the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer to provide over 90% of the irrigation water applied to over four million hectares of cropland, with Arkansas using approximately 70% of the water and Mississippi and Missouri using approximately 15% each. Surface methods predominate, especially furrow irrigation using plastic lay-flat tubing in corn, cotton, peanut, and soybean and flood methods in rice. Irrigation extent has steadily increased by approximately 2% per year, such that irrigation withdrawals, combined with the region’s geology, have led to considerable aquifer declines in portions of Arkansas and Mississippi. Attempts to address these declines have been multi-faceted and include innovations in crop management and source water management, and programs in water resources management. Crop management innovations are focused on soybean and rice production and include precision grading, reduced-flood or no-flood rice irrigation, pump automation, and computerized hole selection. Adoption of these practices remains heavily reliant on field demonstrations and extension outreach. Source water management innovations include on-farm reservoirs, managed aquifer recharge, and regional-scale river diversions. Due to the concerted efforts of producers participating in regional and state programs, progress has been made in making surface irrigation more efficient and less reliant on groundwater. However, aquifer decline remains a challenge to the LMRB’s economy, ecology, and culture. Keywords: Aquifer decline, Irrigation, Lower Mississippi River Basin, Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer, Surface water.

scholarly journals Evaluation of agricultural land resources for irrigation in the cotton growing Yavatmal district, Maharashtra, India

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-113
Author(s):  
B. P. Bhaskar ◽  
Jadish Prasad ◽  
Gopal Tiwari
Keyword(s):  
Evaluation System ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Soil Survey ◽  
Water Dynamics ◽  
Land Resources ◽  
Surface Irrigation ◽  
Soil Resource ◽  
Irrigation Potential

The main objective of this study is to evaluate suitability of shrink-swell soils for surface irrigation system based upon a parametric evaluation system in low irrigation potential (7%) of cotton growing Yavatmal district, Maharashtra, India. The thirty three shrink-swell soil series on basaltic landforms were identified from reconnaissance soil survey on 1:50,000 scale and evaluated for surface irrigation methods using Geographic Information System (GIS). The standard weekwise rainfall data showed that the rainfall is less than 20% of total precipitation during September and December, the top A horizon reaches to wilting point and needs supplementary protective irrigation to cotton based cropping systems . It was estimated that ten soil mapping units (1.8 Mha and 13.89%) of shrink-swell soils on moderate slopes (5 to 8%) were evaluated as suitable for surface methods and calculated the irrigation intervals that vary from 8.61±1.35 days for cotton to 8.9±1.4 days for wheat and 10±1.64 days for sugar cane. The study emphasized the utility of soil resource maps helps to delineate the soils with large PAWC(>200mm) with slight yield advantage and will serve as benchmark sites to monitor the interrelationships of soil water dynamics with respect to climate and cotton yields.

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