Irrigation Water Conveyance and Delivery

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https://hdl.handle.net/10217/195480

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Open Access
Competing interests in water resources - searching for consensus
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 1997) Greydanus, Herbert W., editor; Anderson, Susan S., editor; U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, publisher
Open Access
Transbasin water transfers
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2001-06) Schaack, Jerry, editor; Anderson, Susan S., editor; U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, publisher
Open Access
Design and implementation of an irrigation canal SCADA
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2005-10) Rijo, Manuel, author; Lanhoso, Adriano, author; Nunes, Miguel, author; U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, publisher
In Portugal all of the upstream controlled canal systems work with flexible water delivery schedules and therefore canal operational losses can be significant. Realtime technologies can allow the canal managers to continuously compare the real operation with its optimal or target value and to take appropriate corrective steps as required and minimize the water operational losses. The paper presents the design, field solutions and tuning of an implemented SCADA system on a Portuguese upstream controlled canal. Remote monitoring allows the data acquisition of water levels, gate positions and inflow and outflow computations. Remote control allows the operator to send control orders to gates. Two networks, including their remote terminal units and the needed communication and control software are parts of the presented SCADA system. This system controls the inflows to the main canal and main laterals, as well as the main outlets to the drainage system with gate controlled orifices. All the discharge equations are tuned in the field. The outflows through weirs or Neyrpic automatic siphons from the main laterals are also monitorized and their discharge equations are also tuned in the field.
Open Access
Remote monitoring and operation at the Colorado River Irrigation District
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2005-10) Ruiz, Victor, author; Navarro, Julio, author; Paredes, Mario, author; Andrade, Bernardo, author; Anguiano, José, author; Delgado, Francisco, author; Begovich, Ofelia, author; Ramirez, Javier, author; U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, publisher
The Colorado River Irrigation District is the last irrigation district and water user on the Colorado River. It obtains 80% of the allocated volume to the district from the Colorado River. The inflow to the district presents fluctuations. The first 27 km of the mail canal are used as buffer reservoir. Between 2002 and 2004 to improve water management, the National Water Commission, Mexican federal agency responsible of water reclamation, installed a remote monitoring system for the head control structures. The system was integrated around MODBUS as communication protocol, Lookout from National Instruments as man machine interface, SCADAPack from Control Microsystems as remote terminal units, "The Probe" from Milltronics as level sensors, Transpak potentiometer transmitters for gate opening and MDS 4710 and 4910 radios from Microwave Data Systems for communication. The remote monitoring system installed was complemented with the remote operation of one control structures. The system starts operation on February of 2005. The remote monitoring system reduces the time required to know, to quantify and to correct the flow and level fluctuations present on the head control structures.
Open Access
Ten years of SCADA data quality control and utilization for system management and planning modernization
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2005-10) Thoreson, Bryan, author; Mullins, Lindsay, author; Divine, Anisa, author; Davids, Grant, author; U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, publisher
Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) Systems can be used to collect the historical flow data that is needed to support good water management decisions; however, insufficient attention is typically given to data quality-control and storage. Initially driven by the unique requirement to verify water savings achieved by a water conservation program, the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) implemented a data warehouse with attendant quality-control and reporting applications as a SCADA data repository. Over the past 10 years, IID's Water Information System (WIS) has gained recognition for the benefits it now provides to ordinary operations, including reduced staff time, reduced reporting costs, improved data accuracy and overall improved water management. IID's SCADA system now includes 250 remote sites that feed data into the WIS. This paper briefly describes the IID WIS and the primary functions it currently supports pertaining to water conservation administration, support of daily operations, strategic analysis and data reporting. The quality control procedures for data management are presented, along with recently implemented improvements. Performance of quality-control algorithms is also discussed.
Open Access
Increasing peak power generation using SCADA and automation: a case study of the Kaweah River Power Authority
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2005-10) Hopkins, Randy S., author; Burt, Charles M., author; Hendrix, J. Paul, author; U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, publisher
Moderately priced SCADA implementation The Kaweah River Power Authority (KRPA) is a joint powers authority comprised of the Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District (KDWCD) and Tulare Irrigation District (TID) in Central California. The KRPA operates a 20 megawatt (MW) generator at Terminus Dam (Dam) on the Kaweah River. In 2002 with the assistance of the Irrigation Training and Research Center (ITRC) at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, the KRPA developed a plan to generate and supply more power during the peak demand hours (12 p.m.-6 p.m.). This was accomplished through a change in power plant and river operations, along with the installation and use of SCADA and gate automation at key points along river and canal system. The SCADA system also provided water management benefits to Tulare Irrigation District (TID) and Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District (KDWCD).
Open Access
A suggested criteria for the selection of RTUs and sensors
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2005-10) Stringam, Blair L., author; Elser, Paul, author; U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, publisher
Selecting an appropriate Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) and sensors for an automation project can be daunting. There are numerous devices available with varied capabilities and performance. Factory representatives and specifications can be misleading and confusing. Advances in the electronics industry are seeing tremendous changes and subsequently RTUs and sensors are undergoing new developments. Older models are being redesigned and in some cases losing their integrity. Efforts have been made to test various RTUs and sensors, but they have not been exhaustive and these devices will eventually become obsolete. Considering the extensive choices that are available and the changes that are continually occurring, a criteria was developed for selecting these devices for automation projects. While basic performance criteria are important, it was concluded that consulting with individuals who have used these components is the most important.
Open Access
SCADA over Zigbee™
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2005-10) Skafidas, E., author; Mareels, I., author; U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, publisher
The Zigbee™ alliance seeks to develop an open standard for reliable, cost-effective, secure wireless interconnectivity of monitoring and control products. The ZigBee™ technology is better suited for control applications, which do not require high data rates, but must have low power, low costs and ease of use. In this paper we investigate the applicability of Zigbee™ to Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems an investigate issues relating to: Networking, Security, Reliability and Quality of Service.
Open Access
SCADA and related technologies for irrigation district modernization
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2005-10) Burt, Charles M., editor; Anderson, Susan S., editor; U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, publisher
Open Access
Demonstration of gate control with SCADA system in Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2005-10) Turan, Burak, author; Fipps, Guy, author; Leigh, Eric, author; Nazarov, Azimjon, author; U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, publisher
The management of canal operations with centralized control provides a powerful way to monitor the existing conditions at the site, regulate water demands and supplies, while minimizing delays and losses. Three control structures on lateral E3-A of Delta Lake Irrigation District (DLID) in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) in Texas will be automated and integrated with the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system in two Phases. Control of two gate structures, Check 1 and Check 2, at the most upstream of the lateral will be integrated with SCADA system first in Phase 1. The third gate structure, Check 3, at the downstream of Check 2 will be automated in Phase 2 to conduct research on delivering unknown irrigation demands. This system will be utilized as a long-term management and decision support tool for the district. This study focuses on the methodology of integrating the canal automation with the optimal management strategies of turnout structures to meet on-farm delivery demands. The discussion reviews the identification and selection of the SCADA system components for DLID.
Open Access
The myth of a "turnkey" SCADA system and other lessons learned
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2005-10) Norman, Robert E., author; Khalsa, Ram Dhan, author; U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, publisher
The Bureau of Reclamation's Western Colorado Area Office has been working on a canal modernization project on the Grand Valley Project for roughly 11 years. During that period we have built seven new check structures, a pumping plant, made several modifications to structures along the canal and, finally installed a SCADA system to accompany automation of check structures and pumps. The cast of characters in implementing our SCADA system was the water user organization, the Cal Poly Irrigation Training and Research Center (ITRC), the SCADA "integrator," and the Bureau of Reclamation. The concept of a turnkey SCADA system is that you outline what you want your SCADA system to be able to do, write technical specifications to achieve that objective, and then hire a SCADA integrator to make it happen. Is it plausible that the technical specifications can explain the existing system to the extent an integrator can accurately estimate the cost of the SCADA system? Did the person writing the technical specifications understand what SCADA can and cannot do? Did that person understand what the water users wanted the system to be able to do? There are many steps to implementing a SCADA system. The next step of often guided by what happened on the last step. We would like to share our experience for having this cast produce a final product and what steps we took along the way. Hopefully, your path to a final product will be more direct than ours. This paper will discuss the process used to implement a canal modernization program, which included a SCADA system, and more importantly some of the lessons learned. But before discussing "turnkey" SCADA it is important to provide a brief background.
Open Access
Using RiverWare as a real time river systems management tool
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2005-10) Frevert, Donald, author; King, David, author; U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, publisher
RiverWare has been used as a reservoir operation and river systems management tool by the Bureau of Reclamation, Tennessee Valley Authority and a number of other water resources management agencies and organizations for nearly 10 years. Development, maintenance and enhancement of RiverWare's capabilities is handled by the University of Colorado's Center for Advanced Decision Support for Water and Environmental Systems (CADSWES). Basins where RiverWare is presently utilized include the Colorado, Rio Grande, Truckee, Yakima and Tennessee Valley. RiverWare is currently being implemented on Cottonwood and Huntington Creek drainages located in Emery County in central Utah (see Figure 1). An effort is planned to operate a RiverWare model on a near real-time basis. The Emery County Project, a Federal water project operated by the Emery Water Conservancy District, includes a transbasin diversion from Cottonwood Creek to Huntington Creek. Recently, a non-Federal reservoir basin in the Huntington Creek watershed has started to leak, exporting water to drainage outside the county. This situation has put pressure on all the water users and threatens water rights. The implementation of RiverWare will hopefully help to determine the magnitude of the loss and provide a mechanism to improve river operations and ameliorate the situation.
Open Access
Submerged venturi flume
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2005-10) Gill, Tom, author; Einhellig, Robert, author; U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, publisher
Improvement in canal operating efficiency begins with establishing the ability to measure flow at key points in the delivery system. The lack of available head has been a constraint limiting the ability to measure flow using traditional critical flow measurement structures at many locations. Engineers at Reclamation's Water Resources Research Laboratory (WRRL) have been investigating the viability of measuring flow where limited head is available using a submerged venturi flume. The term "venturi flume" is used in flow measurement literature to describe a broad range of measurement structures. The geometry being referred to as a venturi flume in this paper is a flat bottomed-structure with prismatic upstream and downstream sections, a gradual contraction leading to a prismatic throat of narrowed width, followed by a gradual expansion to the downstream section. Sidewalls may be either sloped or vertical. Flumes of this geometry with sloped sides have commonly been called trapezoidal flumes. Venturi flumes have been used for many years as a critical-flow measurement device that will perform with greater tolerance for submergence than Parshall flumes. When functioning as a critical flow device, discharge through a venturi flume is a function of only the upstream water level. For submerged-flow measurement, water levels both upstream and at the throat section must be known. Laboratory tests were performed using a long-throated flume installed in series with, but downstream from a venturi flume. The long-throated flume both created submergence on the venturi flume and provided a means of comparative flow measurement. In initial laboratory testing, agreement between flows measured with the long-throated flume and the submerged venturi flume was within 4% over a discharge range from 0.5 ft3/s to 5.0 ft3/s. Key to practical field use of the submerged venturi is identification of an affordable means of obtaining accurate measurement of small head differential in an efficient manner. WRRL engineers are working to develop an affordable, robust differential-head sensing system to field test with the submerged venturi flume during the 2005 irrigation season.
Open Access
Incorporating sharp-crested weirs into irrigation SCADA systems
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2005-10) Wahl, Tony L., author; U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, publisher
Real-time flow measurement and monitoring are important components of modern irrigation SCADA systems. Many projects have existing sharp-crested weir structures that have not been incorporated into SCADA systems because they are partially contracted, and thus do not have a simple rating equation relationship. The Kindsvater-Carter procedure for calibrating partially contracted sharp-crested weirs is accurate and straightforward, but also somewhat tedious. Existing computer programs simplify the process but can presently be applied only to individual measurements. This paper presents a Microsoft® Excel spreadsheet model that can compute complete rating tables for sharp-crested weirs with full or partial flow contraction, using the Kindsvater-Carter procedure. Furthermore, through regression analysis, the spreadsheet determines a simplified rating equation that can easily be incorporated into remote terminal units (RTUs) and SCADA systems. The spreadsheet can be applied to fully contracted V-notch weirs with included angles of 25° to 100°, partially or fully contracted 90° V-notch weirs, partially or fully contracted rectangular weirs (including suppressed rectangular weirs), and fully contracted Cipoletti weirs.
Open Access
Uinta Basin replacement project: a SCADA case study in managing multiple interests and adapting to loss of storage
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2005-10) Pullan, Wayne, author; U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, publisher
Section 203(a) of the Central Utah Project Completion Act authorized a replacement project--the Uinta Basin Replacement Project (UBRP) - to replace the Uinta and Upalco Units of the Central Utah Project (CUP) which were not constructed. The UBRP will provide: 2,000 acre-feet of irrigation water; 3,000 acre-feet of municipal and industrial water; reduced wilderness impacts; increased instream flows; and improved recreation. On the Lake Fork River, UBRP must be integrated into a complex water environment. The SCADA information generated by UBRP will play a key role in reducing uncertainty for water users - which is expected to have an economic impact. Construction delays in enlarging Big Sand Wash Dam and Reservoir eliminated the ability of the Moon Lake Water Users Association (Association) to store any substantial amount of water behind the old dam during the 2005 irrigation season. In response to this crisis, the partners in the project expanded the planned installation of SCADA monitoring and automation at key sites and required the installation to be completed over a period of weeks instead of years. The objective was to mitigate the effect of the lost storage by increasing flexibility and finetuning operations. The effort was largely successful.
Open Access
Ochoco Irrigation District telemetry case study
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2005-10) Kihara, Kathy, author; Livingston, Shane, author; U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, publisher
Ochoco Irrigation District with help from Reclamation's Water Conservation Field Services Program installed three water measurement stations with cell phone telemetry at the tail end of three of their main delivery canals in the spring of 2001. The project was funded to improve the district's water management so they could cope with reduced supplies. In the past the district would send a ditchrider to these locations at the end of the day to record and report the amount of water being spilled each day. This information was then used to calculate the releases needed for delivery the next day along with the incoming water orders. The installation of the water measurement structures and cell phone telemetry enabled the district manager and ditchriders to check on the amount of tailwater at any time during the day. This allowed them to then tweak the deliveries to reduce the amount of tailwater. The implementation of the project was done with a combination of technical and financial assistance from Reclamation and in-kind labor by the district. The timeline was: the idea was explored during the fall of 2000, a grant for financial assistance was done in early winter 2001, the designs for the ramp flumes was done at the same time along with the procuring the telemetry equipment, installation of the flumes and telemetry was done in the spring of 2001. The results of the project were that the district was able to make deliveries for the entire irrigation season in spite of the drought water year and have carryover storage in both Ochoco and Prineville Reservoirs.
Open Access
Moderately priced SCADA implementation
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2005-10) Smith, Stephen W., author; Magnuson, Donald O., author; U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, publisher
In northeastern Colorado, and many other western states, mutual irrigation companies have functioned effectively in delivering raw water for agriculture since the late 1800's. Mutual irrigation companies are shareholder organizations that hold the decree or decrees and were mostly farmer financed initially and even to this day. As many of these canals are modernized, an appropriate technology for consideration is Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (SCADA) to provide either monitoring or both monitoring and control of canal operations from a centralized location. Data and information such as canal flows and reservoir storage data can also be easily posted to the canal company’s web site for management and shareholder access. SCADA systems were once perceived to be too costly for most mutual irrigation companies but the hardware and software is increasing in function, decreasing in cost, and becoming much more affordable for these private enterprise situations. The opportunity, the costs, and the benefits of SCADA for mutual irrigation companies are explored in this paper. Several case studies are cited. In particular, the efforts of the New Cache La Poudre Irrigating Company are described to include SCADA implementation for both initial monitoring of flows and later to include remote manual gate actuation. SCADA implementation by Riverside Irrigation District is also described in which a satellite uplink is used to keep costs reasonable to the District.
Open Access
Real-time model-based dam automation: a case study of the Piute Dam
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2005-10) Maxwell, Matthew S., author; U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, publisher
For over five years, Piute Dam in the Sevier River Basin of Utah has been equipped with an automatic gate to regulate releases into the downstream irrigation delivery system. This system has allowed the water commissioner to remotely set the desired flow target. The gate then automatically adjusts itself to provide the specified outflow. Although this has been very convenient, the determination and setting of the target release flow rate has remained a human-initiated action. Recent improvements to the system have now automated this part of the process to provide a greater degree of convenience and efficiency. Currently, Piute Dam is being used as a test bed for automation technology. In conjunction with the Sevier River Water Users Association (SRWUA), the Bureau of Reclamation's Provo Area Office developed software to enable automation of the Piute Dam outlet gate. Software used in this process includes the OpenBasin software package for real-time data acquisition, a model developed for Piute Reservoir by Abedalrazq Khalil and Mac McKee of Utah State University, and other software used to develop Internet-based control and reporting. Furthermore, the software developed to provide supervisory control, policy enforcement, and diagnostics was integrated into the OpenBasin software package. This software is open-source and available for free. This allows other water districts to apply these tools to their own automation projects.
Open Access
Truckee-Carson Irrigation District turnout water measurement program
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2005-10) Overvold, David, author; Styles, Stuart, author; U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, publisher
The Irrigation Training and Research Center (ITRC) has been working with TCID and USBR as part of the Newlands Project in the Truckee and Carson River basins of California and Nevada. In 1997, ITRC developed a volumetric measurement program to provide documented and reasonably accurate turnout delivery measurements in TCID. This program has involved a series of steps for implementing a volumetric water measurement program, including elements for categorizing, prioritizing, designing, and installing flow measurement devices at turnouts that account for 75% of deliveries (by volume). Since that time, TCID has incorporated ITRC recommendations and has greatly exceeded expectations. As a result of this Water Measurement Program, TCID and USBR have jointly advanced the water measurement program to a point where an accuracy of +/-10% has been achieved on many of the district turnouts.
Open Access
Leveraging SCADA to modernize operations in the Klamath irrigation project
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2005-10) Freeman, Beau, author; Hicks, Jon, author; Burt, Charles, author; U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, publisher
The U.S. Department of Interior's Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) operates the Klamath Irrigation Project in Oregon to divert, store and supply irrigation water to over 200,000 acres of farmland below Upper Klamath Lake. Reclamation has partnered with irrigation districts to undertake an active modernization program including the implementation of a Real-Time Water Management SCADA System for remote monitoring of the main diversions on the Project boundaries and at key control points within individual irrigation districts. Data are recorded at frequent intervals, transmitted to base station computers in headquarters offices where it is displayed, manipulated, and stored. This paper presents an interim assessment of the complex issues concerned with SCADA project implementation in a basin-wide environment with multiple irrigation districts, describing the engineering points of particular innovative, and field-tested concepts. Performance specifications and design standards are discussed to illustrate the specialized details critical for successful integration.