The transport of sediment greatly influences the sustainability of an irrigation system. Erosion and deposition not only increase maintenance costs, but may result in an inequitable and inadequate distribution of irrigation water. Understanding the behaviour and transport of sediment allows efficient planning and reliable water delivery schedules,

Sediment transport in irrigation canals influences to a great extent the sustainability of an irrigation system. Unwanted erosion or deposition will not only increase maintenance costs, but may also lead to unfair, unreliable and unequitable distribution of irrigation water to the end users. Proper knowledge of the characteristics, including behaviour and transport of sediment will help to design irrigation systems, plan effi cient and reliable water delivery schedules, to have a controlled deposition of sediments, to estimate and arrange maintenance activities, etc. The main aim of these lecture notes is to present a detailed analysis and physical and mathematical descriptions of sediment transport in irrigation canals and to describe the mathematical model SETRIC that predicts the sediment transport, deposition and entrainment rate as function of time and place for various flow conditions and sediment inputs. The model is typically suited for the simulation of sediment transport under the particular conditions of non-wide irrigation canals where the flow and sediment transport are strongly determined by the operation of the flow control structures. The lecture notes will contribute to an improved understanding of the behaviour of sediments in irrigation canals. They will also help to decide on the appropriate design of the system, the water delivery plans, to evaluate design alternatives and to achieve an adequate and reliable water supply to the farmers.

An irrigation canal is a waterway, often man-made or enhanced, built for the purpose of carrying water from a source such as a lake, river, or stream, to soil used for farming or landscaping. The engineering concept of efficiency at different levels of a canal system is important for planning, designing and even operating a canal irrigation system.

This study focuses on sediment transport in irrigation canals which may have a serious impact on design, operation and maintenance activities. Using a mathematical model, and examing ways in which this model can be applied to real-world situations, this text is highly useful for theoreticians and students alike.

This work describes the role of sediment transport in the operation and maintenance of demand-based downstream controlled irrigation canals. Sediment deposition in these irrigation canals severely affects the operation of the automatic flow control system. The book also discusses sediment transport modelling in irrigation canals. A simplified 1-D mathematical model SETRIC (SEdiment TRansport in Irrigation Canals) has been improved with the inclusion of downstream control component for the downstream controlled irrigation canals. Based on field measurements and sediment transport modelling, a number of approaches have been proposed for sediment management in such irrigation canals by improvement in their design and operation. This book will be of interest to Irrigation Engineers and Managers, Hydraulic Engineers, Water Resources Engineers and Managers, Civil Engineers, and Agricultural Engineers.

Sediment deposition threatens the performance of many irrigation systems. Because of the high impact on irrigation performance and crop production, many studies have been done on how to deal with sediment deposition. In this research, the Delft3D model, originally developed for hydro-morphologic modeling of rivers and estuaries, was adapted for the use in irrigation systems simulations and applied to different case studies. This research addresses two shortcomings of previous studies of sediments in irrigation systems. Firstly, while previous studies primarily used 1D models, this research uses a 2D/3D model. The use of 2D/3D models in irrigation systems is significant because the non-uniform flow around structures such as offtakes, weirs and gates, leads to asymmetric sedimentation patterns that are missed by 1D simulations. Secondly, whereas previous studies mostly considered non-cohesive sediments, this research simulates cohesive, non-cohesive and a mix of both sediment types. This is important for irrigation systems that draw water from natural rivers that carry a mix of cohesive and non-cohesive sediments. The findings of this research are important for irrigation system maintenance and gate operation. It is also essential for the development of canal operating plans that meet crop water requirements and at the same time minimizes sediment deposition by alternating gates.