Evaluation of the operation in a main canal reach of an irrigation district with an economic approach

Abstract

In an irrigation district, the water distribution network is an essential point in the management and delivery of water to users. In the design of a new irrigation district, the way of management is established, and specific tools and methods are applied to achieve it. In contrast, if the district is already built and in operation, to improve the use of water, a modernization project is developed that must consider the engineering and social aspects of the area. In this work, an economic and hydraulic analysis is presented to implement an automatic control model of the gates in an irrigation district. The hydraulic operation of the canal network is analyzed with a numerical simulation model, with different automatic control options that can be established, and an analysis of the shadow prices in agricultural production based on dynamic numerical simulation scenarios. This methodology is applied to an irrigation district located in the northwest of Mexico and different scenarios are obtained that can be considered in the modernization of the canal network.