CASE STUDY: PATTERSON IRRIGATION DISTRICT'S USE OF

SCADA FOR TOTAL WATER & ENERGY MANAGEMENT

John Sweigard
l
Dick Hearth
2
Mark Crossett
3
ABSTRACT
Making accurate, infonned operational decisions in water and energy
management can have significant resource and fiscal impacts on irrigation
districts. The need for accurate and reliable real-time and historical data is key in
making these vital decisions. The use of every acre-foot of water and every
kilowatt-hour of energy, resource management, has become the topic of scrutiny
in today's world. The protection of these valuable water and energy resources,
held in trust and managed by the irrigation district, on behalf of its' landowner
constituents, is one of the vital functions of the Patterson Irrigation District (PIO).
Plant Control and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems
can provide the link between data and effective District operations and
management.
This case study will outline the initial development, expansion and subsequent
upgrade of the Patterson Irrigation District's Plant Control and SCADA systems,
the role in data acquisition and daily district operations, the benefits the district
and its water users have accrued from accurate real-time and historical data and
finally, the lessons learned in the development, implementation and evolution of a
state-of-the-art Plant Control and SCADA system for irrigation district use.
In its first full year of operation, 1999, historical data verified an increase of23%
in total Station #1 pumping plant efficiency on a kW-hr per acre-foot basis.
INTRODUCTION
Patterson Irrigation District holds pre-1914 water rights on the San Joaquin River
which serves as its major source of irrigation water supply. The water diverted
from the San Joaquin River must be pumped and lifted through a series of five-
(5) pumping plants. Pumping Plant #1 at the San Joaquin River consists of seven
-{7) pumps ranging in flow from 15-35 ft3/sec (0.42 - 0.99 m
3
/sec), typically lifts
the water 28-35 feet (8.5-10.7 meters) and its downstream pool length is 7,300
feet (2,224.9 meters). Pumping Plant #2 consists of seven - (7) pumps ranging in
flow from 11-44 ft3/sec (0.31-1.25 m
3
/sec), typically lifts the water 11-12 feet and
I General Manager, Patterson Irrigation District, Patterson, CA 95363
2 Principal Engineer, WAVE Engineers, Inc., Sacramento, CA 95825
3 Principal Engineer, Sierra Control Systems, Inc., Carson City, NV 89701
299
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its downstream pool length is 5,400 feet (1,645.8 meters). Pumping Plant #3
consists of six - (6) pumps ranging in flow from 6-44 fe/sec (0.17-1.25 m
3
/sec),
typically lifts the water 11-12 feet and its downstream pool length is 4,200 feet
(1,280.1 meters). Pumping Plant #4 consists of five - (5) pumps ranging in flow
from 7-30 ft3/sec (0.20-0.85 m
3
/sec), typically lifts the water 11-12 feet and its
downstream pool length is 3,000 feet (914.4 meters). Pumping Plant #5 consists
offour - (4) pumps ranging in flow from 7-21 ft3/sec (0.20-0.59 meters), typically
lifts the water 11-12 feet and its downstream pool length is 650 feet (198.1
meters).
Water can also be introduced into the Main Canal system from the Delta-Mendota
through a concrete monolithic gravity pipeline system. This pipeline system runs
parallel with the Main Canal on its north side and allows water to be added into
the system at any reach or any lateral. The Main Canal supplies irrigation water to
13 laterals as shown in Figure 2.
The size of the district is 13,500 irrigated acres (4,925.2 ha) and the capacity of
the main pumping plant is 180 cfs (5.1 cms). There are 772 turnouts
approximately 49 miles (79 km) of open laterals and 84 miles (135 km) of
pipeline sub laterals. The District has over 450 landowners and 625 water users
with an average irrigated field size of approximately 20 acres (7.3 ha), with only
five -{5) individual irrigated fields over 100 acres (36.5 ha). The flow rates and
demands on the main canal pumping system are ever changing making it very
difficult to manually operate the Main Canal pumping system for optimum
efficiency and water level consistency.
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PATlERSON IRRIGATION DISTRICT
Figure 1. District layout.
Patterson Irrigation District 301
INITIAL AUTOMATION FAILURE
Patterson Water District (now PID) installed a proprietary automated pump
control system on its Main Canal prior to the 1996 irrigation season. The original
automation scheme was never modeled for hydraulic stability, therefore it did not
provide hydraulic stability. In addition, this original automation system was not
scalable, did not provide for remote monitoring or control, did not gather or
collect data and was not designed with readily available off the shelf parts and
materials. The system was operated in 1996 and very shortly in 1997. The system
flaws and short-comings created frustration with field personnel and doubt about
the feasibility of automation at the Board level. Due to constant changes in water
levels, pumps kicking on and off, lateral flows varying greatly, general system
alarms being triggered constantly, and mUltiple flooding occurrences the
automation system was scrapped and the pwnps were once again operated
manually with still no remote monitoring. Typical manual operations provided for
controlling the pool depths just over the operational spills allowing 5-8 cfs (0.14-
0.23 cms) to spill to the next lowest pool and be re-circulated. Although not
energy efficient, this operation scheme provided the best fit between existing
pwnping flexibility and manual system operational errors.
CONTROL SYSTEM BEGINNINGS
In the beginning of the 1997 irrigation season District staff presented the District
Board with a phased modernization plan and received the go ahead to begin
modernization. The plan consisted of the District working with the Irrigation
Training and Research Center (ITRC) and the United States Bureau of
Reclamation (USBR) to modernize and automate key District facilities, primarily
the Main Canal pwnping and distribution system. The District would receive
technical support and expertise from the Irrigation Training and Research Center
through its contract to provide technical assistance on behalf of the Mid-Pacific
Region ofUSBR to its water service contractors. This support included hydraulic
modeling in CanalCAD and development of control algorithms for the Districts
pumping plants. In addition, the District would apply for USBR grants through
the Mid-Pacific Region Field Services Program. The District dedicated field and
technical personnel plus significant capital resources to implement the
modernization plan.
The first phase consisted of the automation ofPwnping Plant #1 including a
Remote Terminal Unit (RTU), Spread Spectrwn Radio communications, a
variable frequency drive (VFD) on the largest flow rate pump, SCADA software
and a Main SCADA computer terminal at the District Office. All hardware and
software utilized was open architecture, industry tested, readily available and
manufacturer supported. The new RTU at the pwnping plant was hard wired into
the pump contactors, water level sensors, and level cutoffs. The RTU processed
information, controlled pumps (including the VFD) and provided real-time
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monitoring, alanns, and supervisory control at the District office. All pump
control programming and logic resided in the RTU. This eliminated the possibility
of a computer, radio communications or office power problem from halting or
interfering with automatic system operation. The office computer terminal acted
only as a monitoring and data gathering station. In the event of office system
failures the worst that could happen was lack of remote monitoring as the
automation system continued to work. A basic layout of the initial SCADA
concept is shown in Figure 2. A key safety component of the automation system
was an emergency level cutoff switch in the return canal. This switch would shut-
down operations at the pump station in the event the return canal water level
became dangerously high. The RTU would send an immediate alarm to the
SCADA terminal notifying the District of the occurrence. The SCADA terminal
would also send a text specific alarm message to alpha-numeric pagers. These
pagers are carried and monitored by two District field employees at all times
including weekends, nights and holidays. This would allow the District to react
immediately by shutting down other pumps stations, troubleshooting the problem
and getting the system back up and running quickly and safely.
In its first full year of operation, 1999, historical data verified an increase of23%
in pumping efficiency on a kW-hr per ac-ft basis with the automation of Pumping
Plant #1 utilizing a VFD and a downstream controlled algorithm. This reliable
control and monitoring system also allowed the District to divert pump operator
personnel hours to other vital maintenance and District operational needs. Project
results included money saved, efficiencies improved and a shift in labor to other
pressing District system needs; thereby improving service and reducing costs to
the customer.
Figure 2. Plant Control and SCADA system layout.
Patterson Irrigation District 303
THE INTEGRATION APPROACH
The District chose to implement the first phase of the control systems using an
integrator. An integrator is a person or entity familiar with all aspects of such
systems including hardware, software, communications, RTU programming,
Human-Machine Interface (HMI) software programming, computer set-up, etc.
An integrator was solicited to provide a cost estimate based upon a project
concept and on a list of system desires and functions. In this case the ITRC helped
the District find an integrator and the District, the ITRC and the integrator sat
down and developed the "project scope". The District performed all the field
work within its collective employee's abilities such as trenching, laying conduit,
installing junction boxes, pulling signal cable and installing stilling wells and
pressure transducers. District staff also learned to program the HMI software
allowing the District to use its own labor for some initial programming debugging
and subsequent additional system function desires. The ability to program the
HMI software allowed District staff to set-up an alarming system using alpha-
numeric pagers and develop data logging applications which tracked water
diversions, electrical usage, pumping hours, water elevation data, pump
starts/stops, etc.
The approach requires adequate technical expertise and understanding at the
District level to manage all aspects of the project construction and integration.
The District must also decide on the level of detail it can live with regarding
project documentation such as material lists, catalog cuts, equipment and
fabrication layouts and details, schematics, wiring and interconnection diagrams,
software and hardware programming printouts and electronic copies, system and
component test reports, operation and maintenance manuals and as-built
drawings. In the District's experience adequate documentation is a key
component to a successful project and system. As there are many integrators,
electrical contractors, and engineering companies who service, design and
upgrade these systems documentation will provide flexibility when needing
additional control system services. Money and man hours saved on non-inclusion
of documentation in the beginning of a project can be costly and time consuming
when service, troubleshooting, component replacement, modifications, additions
and upgrades are desired in the future, as somebody has to figure the system out
to do anything with it.
ADDITIONAL SCADA PHASES
By using the open architecture system approach, the District was positioned to
expand on its successful first phase. Prior to the 2000 irrigation pumping season,
using Pumping Plant #1 as the model, Pumping Plants #2 and #3 were automated
and tied into the SCADA system. With some gathering of water elevation data
and continuing to work with the ITRC, the first three pumping plants were
working in unison and debugged in the first couple months of the pumping
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season. The District continued to operate Pumping Plants #4 and #5 by hand at
the plants, but there were now no full-time staff dedicated to pump operations.
The pump operation duties were shared by the water department personnel.
Prior to the 2001 pumping season the District added five -(5) solar powered
remote RTU sites along the Main Canal. These sites provide the District with
monitoring of all the flows in main laterals coming off the Main Canal; either by
4-20 rnA output signals received from McCrometer open flow propeller meters or
4-20 rnA output pressure transducers reading water elevations over broad-crested
weirs. By logging volume data the District can now look at individual lateral
delivery efficiencies on any time basis and move toward further delivery
efficiency improvements where needed. The District can also monitor flow and
remotely operate its three deep wells on its main canal system and gather and
store volume data for any time period reference. This reduces field personnel time
needed to travel and perform these tasks as well as staff time needed to update
historical diversion spreadsheets. While trenching and installing conduit and
signal cable for the pressure transducers on each lift the District pre-wired for
future use of gate actuators at the heads of the main laterals.
The District also added a sixth remote RTU site for monitoring and control of its
turnout on the Delta-Mendota Canal. This site is 5 miles from the District office
and was equipped with an old flow meter that did not have instantaneous flow
reading capability. The site is now equipped with two -(2) digital display
McCrometer open flow propeller meters and two -(2) Limitorque electric gate
actuators. The gates can be operated both remotely and on-site and have full flow
control capability. The District now has valuable real-time data allowing more
precise and frequent analysis of data for water and energy management purposes
without leaving the office.
The District favors the phased implementation approach for a small District like
PID. This phased approach served the following needs of the district:
Allowed the system to be implemented in stages providing maximum
reliability and benefits to the district. Each stage can be evaluated and
debugged before the next step is started.
Economics - as capital costs for SCADA systems can be rather large,
phasing these costs in over a period of years can provide less "sticker
shock" than doing a complete, sophisticated SCADA system at once.
Allowed the district to become familiar with the system one piece at a
time
Allowed the district to maximize its in-house personnel for
installations as they became familiar with the equipment and the
system from phase to phase
Allowed the District to maintain maximum flexibility with critical site
installations on an as-needed basis.
Patterson Irrigation District 305
UPGRADING TO INTELLIGENT MOTOR CONTROL CENTERS
In the Spring of 2000 the District hired an electrical engineering finn to complete
a system study of the District's Main Canal Electrical Distribution System. The
District receives preference power from the Western Area Power Administration
(W APA) for its pumping loads along the Main Canal. The interconnection point
with Pacific Gas & Electric Co., which provides transmission of the District's
W AP A power, is at Pumping Plant #2. From this interconnection point the
District owns its own distribution lines and wires which travel east to Pumping
Plant #1 and west to service Pumping Plants #3 through #5. The study
documented installed hardware, including motor control centers, power factor
correction capacitors and the pole mounted transfonners (installed on concrete
pads on the ground) used to transfonn the power from 11.47 kV to 480 volts. As
may be the case in many older Districts some records were not kept up as well as
others. The study also looked at reliability, remaining useful life and reliability of
all system components. The study clearly showed neglect and age was quickly
catching up with the electrical equipment and reliability would quickly become an
issue. Safety issues were also identified. Of main concern was the remaining
useful life of the 1960's vintage GE Motor Control Centers, the ineffectiveness of
the existing capacitors and the safety and liability issues involved with the
transfonner installations.
As the District is almost entirely reliant on its Main Canal electrical and water
system to accomplish its water deliveries, replacing the Motor Control Centers
(MCC) and the transfonners were made top priorities. In developing the
specifications for new motor control centers, the District expressed interest in
more advanced intelligent motor control centers with soft start capabilities, a
central Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) and both power monitoring and
radio communications capabilities. Included in the specifications were desired
documentation, warranties, standards, enclosures and bus, electrical ratings, solid
state motor controller alternatives, power factor correction capacitors, circuit
breakers & protectors, digital multifunction meter to monitor the incoming
W APA power, and PLC requirements. Using these specifications requests for bids
were sent out to major manufacturers for replacement of the existing motor
control centers at Pumping Plants #1 and #2. Bids were received from only two
manufacturers. Of the bids received it was evident that the standout product and
also the most cost effective was the IntelliCENTER line by Allen-Bradley,
Rockwell Automation. The IntelliCENTER was a complete hardware, software
and communications system fully configured and tested, as close to plug and play
as we could get, a complete solution which met the District's needs as outlined in
the specifications for bid. The District was sold on the IntelliCENTER's as a
complete product including the communications and software which would allow
integration into the Districts current SCADA system monitoring and controlling
main canal operations. Considering all factors the Board approved the purchase of
the IntelliCENTER's for Pumping Plants #1 and #2 in late 2000. The District
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concurrently awarded the contract for the MCC installations. They were installed
and ready for operation prior to the 2001 irrigation season.
INTELLICENTER SOFTWARE
One of the main features of the IntelliCENTER system is the IntelliCENTER
software which provides the following:
preconfigured screens which provide MCC line-up with nameplates and
indicators so users can get needed information at a glance (Figure 3)
Individual unit views allow for easy changing of parameters to be viewed
and monitoring (Figure 3)
Allows MCC monitoring locally or remotely; using Ethernet, ControlNet
and DeviceNet
Optimized polling to ensure software system performance, realtime status
and historical trending
AutoCAD documentation including unit wiring diagrams, elevation
drawings and single line drawings
User Manuals
Event Logging such as warnings, faults and parameter edits
Figure 3. MCC Line-up showing nameplates, indicators and individual unit view
allowing monitoring, parameter viewing and editing.
Monitoring the MCC's in real time would provide the district with real answers
on a SCADA PC as opposed to locked in an enclosure in the field, such as in the
event of an MCC or unit failure. This would simplify troubleshooting and
minimize downtime and eliminate the need to have a dedicated electrician at the
District. With the IntelliCENTER software, User Manuals, drawings, diagrams
and parts lists, existing District personnel can handle maintenance and
troubleshooting of the MCC's.
Patterson Irrigation District 307
SCADA RTU AND MCC PLC CONNECTION
As the canal control equations and logic were still housed in the original RTU' s
the District was at a crossroads. Should the District move all canal control
programming into the MCC PLC? This would eliminate the need for two PLC's,
and the associated software knowledge maintenance requirements. As the District
was comfortable with the current RTU's from the prior year and the current
irrigation season was upon us, the District decided to postpone moving the canal
control programming from its current RTU. It was originally intended that the
digital I/O from the RTU would be hardwired to the MCC and continue to
monitor and control pumps as it had prior. This would likely have been the best
idea, but the District chose to have an integrator develop a cable connection and
have the existing RTU poll and direct the MCC PLC for pump status and control
commands via Modbus communications. As it turned out having two PLC' s
communicate over a cable connection was not in our best interest. There were
some bugs in the new I/O addressing and Ladder Logic modifications. The
District learned to live with the limitations created by this decision and knew
there would be time to correct the problem after the irrigation season.
UTILIZING THE INTELLICENTER'S
Throughout the first year of operation the IntelliCENTER's proved their worth.
As the year 2001 began it was clear California was facing uncertainty in the
electric utility arena due to problems associated with the States deregulation of
energy markets. In response to these conditions the California Energy
Commission (CEC) began an energy conservation grant and funding assistance to
encourage irrigation and water districts to improve efficiencies and reduce loads.
The District participated in this program by testing all pumps on its main canal for
pumping plant efficiency. The IntelliCENTER ability to display load information
made it extremely simple, safe and quick to determine pumping loads at Pumping
Plants #1 and #2. In contract it was difficult to obtain good load data at Pumping
Plants #3 - #5 as hand held power meters were required using complicated
procedures. There were also safety issues as the 480 volt panels had to be opened
while charged and two sets of hands hand to be used to make all required
connections. The poor condition of the capacitors at Pumping Plants #3 - #5 also
proved a hindrance in collecting good load data, as power quality was a problem.
As the District has approved the installation ofIntelliCENTER MCC's at
Pumping Plants #3 - #5, pump testing will be redone at those plants. Obtaining
load data in the future for frequent pump testing of all Main Canal pumps will be
easier, safer, more reliable and far less time consuming than in the past.
As with any complicated electrical device, the District did experience problems
with individual MCC units and motors. The soft starters proved valuable in
displaying fault conditions such as thermal overload, current imbalance, device
status, warning status, trip history, etc. Looking up fault conditions in the user
l
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manual, helped guided District personnel through the proper procedures to get the
motor back up and running or determine if there were greater problems in need
professional attention. In the past if a motor were to trip, standard procedure was
to reset the breaker and start it back up. Only cal1 for help if you smel1 smoke or
see fire. It is anticipated that the IntelliCENTER system will help the District
better protect motors and electrical panel equipment by pinpointing problems that
may otherwise have gone unnoticed and attending to them at the proper time - not
upon complete failure.
UTILIZING INTELLICENTER'S FULL CAPABILITIES
Going into the 2002 irrigation season, the District will perform the fol1owing
tasks to al10w the District to utilize the complete capabilities of the
Intel1iCENTER's for total water and energy management:
Instal1 IntelliCENTER MCC's at Pumping Plant #3, #4 & #5; PLC's will
be Control Logix with Ethernet Radio capabilities
Add a Power Monitoring SCADA PC and Terminal at the Office which
will run IntelliCENTER software and monitor al1 MCC's via Ethernet
Radio communications
Upgrade the PLC's at Pumping Plants #1 and #2 to Control Logix and add
Ethernet Radios and antenna's
Add new Modified Bi-Val Control (proportional Integral with Filter)
algorithms developed by the ITRC using CanalCAD to IntelliCENTER
Control Logix PLC's at Pumping Plants #1, #2, #3, #4 and #5.
The District also had to modify its existing office network (Figure 5) for receiving
of both serial and Ethernet radio communications. Ethernet communications are
required at the pumping plants to make this total SCADA system effective for
real-time remote operation. High bandwidth and frequent polling is required as
there are 5 MCC's with 29 individual motor buckets with over 100 110 points to
monitor for each bucket. This is in addition to al1 the water system data being
pol1ed. The remote RTU sites will continue to communicate via Modbus (Figure
5). The original RTU equipment removed at Pumping Plants #1, #2 and #3 will be
saved and used as spare parts for existing remote RTU sites or utilized for the
creation of additional remote SCADA sites in the future, such as lateral spi\1s or a
proposed tailwater recovery reservoir.
Patterson Irrigation District
Patterson irrigation DIstr1ct
SCADA Systom
Computer Network Diagram
(Complete)
'-'1',:I00I
CONTROL ... w ~
Figure 5. SCADA System Network with Firewall Router
SUMMARY
309
This paper documents the development of a Plant Control and SCADA Systems
using a phased approach. These systems have changed the way water distribution
systems can be run and automated the once manual arduous task of gathering vital
field data used to make resource management decisions. In this case a Plant
Control and SCADA system integrated into an intelligent motor control center,
combined with the technical expertise to develop effective downstream canal
control algorithm's, has proved to modernize a small irrigation district, improve
distribution system operational efficiencies and help it manage its resources. The
remote monitoring functions of SCADA also allow for real-time reaction to
system malfunctions and shut-downs which in the past may have gone un-noticed.
REFERENCES
Blair, D.B., Doan D.R., Jensen, D.L., and Kim T.K. "Integrating Networks into
Motor Control Systems." Forty-Eighth Annual Technical Conference of the
Petroleum and Chemical Industry Committee. September 24-26,2001. Toronto,
Cananda
Burt, C.B., Lehmkuhl, M., Sweigard, J.1. and Styles, S. "Case Study:
Modernization of the Patterson Water District." Proceedings of the U.S.
Committee on Irrigation and Drainage. October 17-21, 1999. Phoenix, AZ