Department of Civil Engineering

University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar

CE-402: Irrigation Engineering

Lecture 2
Irrigation, Indus Basin Irrigation
System, Irrigation types and
methods

8th Semester (4th Year)

Civil Engineering
Spring 2021

Lecturer: Alamgir Khalil

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Irrigation

➢ Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water

to the land, in accordance with the ‘crop requirements’ throughout the
‘crop period’ for full-fledged nourishment of the crops. (Garg, 1976)

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Irrigation (cont.)

➢ Irrigation is the art of supplying water to the land by artificial means to

fulfill the water requirements of crops in areas where rainfall is
insufficient. (Iqbal Ali, 1993)
➢ Irrigation may be defined as the process of artificially supplying water to
soil for raising crops. (Punmia & Lal, 1972)
➢ Artificial application of water on an agricultural land for the assured
growth of plant life”. (Priyani, 1979)

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Irrigation Engineering

➢ The science of planning and designing a water supply system to the

plants, crops for their normal growth during the period of no rainfall
with the help of dam, weir, barrage, reservoir and canal system with
headworks, cross drainage works and miscellaneous works of canal
like canal falls is called irrigation Engineering.

➢ Irrigation engineering is the analysis and design of systems that

optimally supply the right amount of water to the soil at the right
time to meet the needs of the plant system.

➢ Irrigation Engineer: An irrigation engineer is the one who helps to

bring irrigation water from the source of supply to an agricultural
land.
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History of Irrigation

➢ Irrigation system is as old as human civilization. In fact, civilization would

probably not be possible without some form of irrigation. The earliest form
of irrigation probably involved people carrying buckets of water from wells
or rivers to pour on their crops.

➢ Ancient Rome built structures called aqueducts to carry water from

snowmelt in the Alps to cities and towns in the valleys below. This water
was used for drinking, washing, and irrigation.

➢ The Chinese are known to have practiced irrigation since 2600 BC. The
earliest work in China relate to the development of the delta lands and
yellow river. The 1130 km long imperial canal (also called the grand canal)
built in 700 AD for irrigation and navigation, is one of the greatest ancient
irrigation works.
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History of Irrigation (cont.)

➢ Diversion of irrigation works were developed in Iran in about 500 BC. A

system of kanats (tunnels) tapping groundwater from recharge areas of
surrounding mountains and leading it by gravity to the fields to be irrigated,
is still used in Iran as it was practiced 2500 years ago.

➢ Diversion of streams by canals for irrigation was practiced in Japan before

600 BC.

➢ Irrigation by diversion works and direct flooding by rivers is known to have

extensively practices in Thailand, Philippines, and Indonesia.

➢ The ruins of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa (Indus Valley Civilizations) have

also shown the proof of use of water for water supply and irrigation.

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Irrigation Engineering (cont.)

➢ Irrigation Engineering consists of four phases

1) Storage or diversion

2) Conveyance of irrigation water

3) Distribution and application of irrigation water

4) Drainage of excess water

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Necessity of Irrigation

➢ Less Rainfall

➢ Nonuniformity of rainfall

➢ Commercial crops with additional water

➢ Controlled water supply

➢ Development of agriculture in desert area.

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Advantages of Irrigation

➢ Increase in food production.

➢ Cultivation of Cash Crops.

➢ Generation of Hydro-electric power.

➢ Domestic and Industrial Water Supply.

➢ Improvement in the Groundwater Storage.

➢ Improvements of Communication.

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Disadvantages of Irrigation

➢ Raising of water table – water logging

➢ Damp climate

➢ Breeding place for mosquitoes.

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Problems in Irrigation

✓ Competition for surface water rights.

✓ Depletion of underground aquifers.

✓ Buildup of toxic salts on soil surface in areas of high evaporation.

✓ Over irrigation because of poor distribution uniformity or

management of wastes water, chemicals, and may lead to water
pollution.

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Aerial Distribution of Rainfall in Pakistan

Rainfall Zone Percent of land Average Annual Rainfall

Arid 67 10”
Semi Arid 24 10-20”
Humid 5.5 20-30”
Para Humid (Very Wet) 3.5 30”

Source: Choudhry, M. R. (2008). Irrigation and drainage practices for agriculture. 12

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Indus River Basin

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Hydraulic Structures in the Indus Basin Irrigation System

Trimmu

Source:: Kalair, A. R., Abas, N., Hasan, Q. U., Kalair,

E., Kalair, A., & Khan, N. (2019). Water, energy Guddu
and food nexus of Indus Water Treaty: Water
governance. Water-Energy Nexus, 2(1), 10-24. 14
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Indus Basin Irrigation System (IBIS)

Source: Liaqat, U. W., Choi, M., & Awan, U. K. (2015). Spatio‐temporal distribution of actual evapotranspiration in the Indus Basin Irrigation
System. Hydrological processes, 29(11), 2613-2627.
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Indus Basin Irrigation System

➢ The Pakistan’s Indus Basin Irrigation System is the largest contiguous gravity
flow irrigation system that serves the Indus River and its tributaries, namely,
Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej rivers.
➢ It consists of 3 major storage reservoirs, 19 barrages, 2 Headworks, 2 siphons
across major rivers, 12 link canals, 44 independent canal commands (23 in
Punjab, 14 in Sindh, 5 in KPK and 2 in Balochistan) and more than 107,000
main water courses commanding an irrigated area of 16 million hectares.
➢ The aggregate length of the canals is about 56,073 km. In addition, the
watercourses, farm channels and field ditches are estimated cover a length
of about 1.6 million km.
➢ The irrigation system of Pakistan further utilizes over 41.6 MAF of
groundwater, pumped through more than 700,000 public and private
tubewells.
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Indus Basin Irrigation System (cont.)

➢ The total geographical area of Pakistan is 709.11 million hectares (Mha). Out
of this, only 34 Mha area is suitable for agricultural production, while only
20.1 Mha area is practically cultivated. The irrigated area in all the 4
provinces is estimated as 16 Mha. The remaining cultivated area is rain fed.

➢ The Indus Basin river system makes a prime source of water for Pakistan’s
agriculture, which provides for an income source to about 75 percent of the
country’s population and contributes about 25 percent to the GDP of the
country.

➢ It engages about 45 percent of the country’s labor force and provides a

sound base for the economy in terms of export and foreign exchange
earnings.

Source: Bakhsh, A., & Choudhry, M. R. (2017). Applied Irrigation Engineering.

University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. 18
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Water Budget of Pakistan

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Water Budget of the Indus Basin Irrigation System

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Water Budget of the

Punjab Irrigation System

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Challenges for Pakistan on the Water Front

➢ Reduction in water availability.

➢ Inadequate storage capacity.
➢ Outdated and wasteful irrigation practices.
➢ Unregulated groundwater pumping.
➢ Water quality.
➢ Lack of water budgeting and water conservation.
➢ Inadequate financial resources for water infrastructure and development
of water resources.
➢ Climate change impacts.
➢ Absence of regional cooperation in management of water resources.
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Irrigation System Management Institutions in Pakistan

Managing Institutions at Federal Level

✓ Ministry of Water & Power (MoW&P)

✓ Indus River System Authority (IRSA)

✓ Federal Flood Commission (FFC)

✓ Planning Commission (PC)

✓ Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA)

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Irrigation System Management Institutions in Pakistan (cont.)

Managing Institutions at Provincial Level

(i) Provincial Irrigation Departments
✓ Punjab Irrigation Department (PID)
✓ Sindh Irrigation Department (SID)
✓ KPK Irrigation Department (KID)
✓ Balochistan Irrigation Department (BID)

(ii) Provincial Irrigation and Drainage Authorities

✓ Punjab Irrigation and Drainage Authority (PIDA)
✓ Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (SIDA)
✓ KPK Irrigation and Drainage Authority (KIDA)
✓ Balochistan Irrigation and Drainage Authority (BIDA)

Source: Bakhsh, A., & Choudhry, M. R. (2017). Applied Irrigation Engineering.

University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. 24
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Average Water Use for Cereal Crops

Cereal per m3 of irrigation

Country
water (Kg)
USA 1.56
Canada 8.72
China 0.82
India 0.39
Pakistan 0.13

Source: Kumar, M. D. (2003). Food security and sustainable agriculture in India: The water
management challenge. Colombo, Sri Lanka: IWMI. vi, 36p. [IWMI working paper 60]
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Types of Irrigation

Irrigation

Surface Irrigation Subsurface Irrigation

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Types of Irrigation (cont.)

Surface Irrigation

Flow Irrigation Lift Irrigation

Perennial Inundation/Flood
Irrigation Irrigation

1. Direct Irrigation (River Canal Irrigation): Diversion Scheme

2. Storage Irrigation (Reservoir Irrigation): Storage Scheme
3. Combined Irrigation: Storage and diversion scheme
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Types of Irrigation (cont.)

Subsurface Irrigation

Natural Subsurface Irrigation Artificial Subsurface Irrigation

Leakage water from channels goes When a system of open jointed

underground may irrigate crops drains is artificially laid below the
sown on lower lands by capillarity. soil to supply water to the crops by
capillarity. e.g. Karez in Balochistan.

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Subsurface Irrigation

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Methods of Irrigation Water Distribution in the Farms

Irrigation water may be applied to the crops by various methods:

1. Free Flooding
2. Border Flooding
3. Check Flooding
4. Basin Flooding
5. Furrow Irrigation Method
6. Sprinkler Irrigation Method
7. Drip Irrigation Method

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Choice of Irrigation Method

The following criteria should be considered:

✓ Water supply available

✓ Topography of area to be irrigated
✓ Climate of the area
✓ Soils of the area
✓ Crops to be grown
✓ Economics
✓ Local traditions and skills

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1) Free Flooding / Ordinary flooding

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1) Free Flooding (cont.)

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1) Free Flooding (cont.)

✓ Main supply ditches are excavated in the field along the contour or on the
slope.

✓ Water flows from ditches to subsidiary ditches and then to field.

✓ Subsidiary ditches are spaced 20-50 m apart depending upon slope, texture
of soil, crops etc.

✓ Movement of water is not restricted, it is sometimes called “wild flooding”.

Source: Garg, S. K. (2007). Irrigation engineering and hydraulic structure. 34

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2) Border Flooding

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2) Border Flooding (cont.)

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2) Border Flooding (cont.)

✓ Land is divided into number of strips separated by low levees called borders.

✓ Land area of strip:: width varies 10-20 m, Length ranges 100-400 m.

✓ Ridges between borders should be sufficiently high to prevent overtopping

during irrigation.

✓ The land should be perpendicular to the flow to prevent concentration of

water on either side of the flow.

Source: Garg, S. K. (2007). Irrigation engineering and hydraulic structure. 37

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3) Check Flooding

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3) Check Flooding (cont.)

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3) Check Flooding (cont.)

✓ It is similar to free flooding method except flow is controlled by levees.

✓ Levees are constructed along contours with interval of 5 to 10 m.
✓ Levees are connected with cross levees.
✓ The confined plot area varies from 0.2 to 0.8 hectares.
✓ This method is suitable for permeable as well as less permeable soil.

Source: Garg, S. K. (2007). Irrigation engineering and hydraulic structure. 40

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4) Basin Flooding

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4) Basin Flooding (cont.)

✓ This method is a special type of check flooding and is adopted specially for
orchard (fruit) trees.

✓ One or more trees are placed in basin and the surface is flooded as in check
method by ditch water.

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5) Furrow Irrigation Method

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5) Furrow Irrigation Method (cont.)

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5) Furrow Irrigation Method (cont.)

✓ Furrows are small channels, which carry water down the land slope between
the crop rows.

✓ Water infiltrates into the soil as it moves along the slope. The crop is usually
grown on the ridges or raised beds between the furrows.

✓ In flooding methods, water covers the entire surface; while in furrow

irrigation method, only 1/5 to 1/2 of the land surface is wetted by water so it
results in less evaporation.

✓ The furrow method of irrigation is used in the irrigation of row crops (like
potato, maize, sugarcane, cotton, tobacco) with furrows developed between
the crop rows in the planting and cultivating processes.

Source: Garg, S. K. (2007). Irrigation engineering and hydraulic structure. 45

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6) Sprinkler Irrigation Method

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6) Sprinkler Irrigation Method (cont.)

A Sprinkler system conveys water through pipes and applies it with a minimum
amount of losses.

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6) Sprinkler Irrigation Method (cont.)

✓ Water is applied to the soil in the form of a spray through a network of pipes
and pumps. It is a kind of an artificial rain.
✓ It is a costly method.
✓ It can be used for all types of soils and for widely different topographies and
slopes.
✓ It can advantageously be used for many crops because it fulfills the normal
requirement of uniform distribution of water.

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6) Sprinkler Irrigation Method (cont.)

➢ Suitability
✓ Uniform application by “artificial rain”
✓ Good application efficiencies (0.7 – 0.8)
✓ Dependent on wind, temperature, humidity
✓ Fairly terrain independent (but design must take terrain into account)
✓ Can have a low labor content

However,
▪ More initial cost
▪ High maintenance cost due to pumping
▪ Can be complex to run

Types
Permanent, Semi-Permanent, Portable
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How does Saudi Arabia make use of Central Pivot Irrigation ?

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7) Drip Irrigation Method

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7) Drip Irrigation Method (cont.)

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7) Drip Irrigation Method (cont.)

✓ It is also called trickle irrigation.

✓ It consists of an extensive network of pipes of small diameter that deliver

water directly to the soil near the plant.

✓ The drip nozzles, also called emitters are fixed on laterals, at regular intervals
of about 0.5 to 1 m, discharging water at very small rates of the order of 2 to
10 liters per hour.

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Efficiency of Irrigation Methods

Least Efficient

Flood Irrigation

Furrow Irrigation

Sprinkler Irrigation

Drip Irrigation

Most Efficient

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Key Points for Best Irrigation Method

✓ Uniform water infiltration.

✓ Deliver water to the root zone.

✓ With the higher efficiency.

✓ With the lowest operative cost.

✓ With the lowest cost per acre & per metric ton produced.

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