KALINGA STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

IRRIGATION, FLOOD CONTROL

AND DRAINAGE
CHAPTER 1- IRRIGATION ENGINEERING
LESSON 1: CROP WATER REQUIREMENT

ENGR. ELIZABETH C. LUMIOAN

2nd SEMESTER
2020-2021
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IRRIGATION ENGINEERING

INTRODUCTION

IRRIGATION
Irrigation may be defined as the process of supplying water by artificial means to agricultural field for crop production. If
water available to the plants from rainfall is not sufficient, it is supplemented by irrigation water.

Three basic requirements of agricultural production are soil, seed, and water. In addition, fertilizers, insecticides,
sunshine, suitable atmospheric temperature, and human labour are also needed. Of all these, water to soil is essential
fro plant growth and it serves the following functions:

(i) It supplies moisture to the soil essential for the germination of seeds, and chemical and bacterial processes
during plant growth.
(ii) It cools the soil and the surroundings thus making the environment more favorable for plant growth.
(iii) It washes out or dilutes salts in soil.
(iv) It softens clods and thus helps in tillage operations.
(v) It enables application of fertilizers.
(vi) It reduces the adverse effects of frost on crops.
(vii) It ensures crop success against short-duration droughts.
In several parts of the world, the moisture available in the root-zone soil, either from rain or from underground waters,
may not be sufficient for the requirements of the plant life. This deficiency may be either for the entire crop season or
for only part of the crop season. For optimum plant growth, therefore, it becomes necessary to make up the deficiency
by adding water to the root-zone soil. Tis artificial application of water to land for supplementing the naturally available
moisture in the root-zone soil for the purpose of agricultural production is termed IRRIGATION.

Irrigation water delivered to the soil is always more than the requirement of the crop for building plant tissues,
evaporation, and transpiration. In some cases the soil may be naturally saturated with water or has more wa ter than is
required for healthy growth of the plant. This excess water is as harmful to the growth of the plant a slack of water
during critical stages of the plant life. This artificial water can be naturally disposed of only if the natural drainage
facilities exist in or around the irrigated area. In the absence of natural drainage, the excess water has to be removed
artificially. The artificial removal of the excess water is termed DRAINAGE which, in general, is complementary to
irrigation.

To keep the optimum content of water in soil, irrigation supplies water to land where water is deficient and drainage
withdraws water from the land where water is in excess. The object of providing irrigation and drainage is to assist
nature in maintaining moisture in the root-zone soil within the range required for maximum agricultural production.
Usefulness and importance of irrigation can be appreciated by the fact that without irrigation, it would have been
impossible for India to have become self-sufficient in food with such huge population.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

You are expected to:

 know what Irrigation is and the importance of it in line with Civil Engineering.
 know and understand the benefits and disadvantages of irrigation.
 know the water requirements for crops.
 Understand the current situation of irrigation in your Barangay/Municipality/Province/Region.

WARM-UP ACTIVITY

Before reading the next page, take time to do this Warm Up Activity. As a future Civil Engineer, why is there a
need to study Irrigation Engineering? Using a Graphic Organizer, present your opinions in the attached
Classwork in your Google Classroom.

IRRIGATION, FLOOD CONTROL AND DRAINAGE- LESSON 1 ENGR. ELIZABETH C. LUMIOAN

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LEARNING INPUT

CROP-WATER REQUIREMENT

Crop Water Requirements are defined as the depth of water (mm) needed to meet the water
consumed through evapotranspiration by a disease-free crop, growing in large fields under non-restricting soil
conditions including soil water and fertility, and achieving full production potential under the given growing
environment. Defining crop evapotranspiration as the rate of evapotranspiration of a given crop as
influenced by its growth stages, environmental conditions and crop management to achieve the potential crop
production, then the is the sum of for the entire crop growth period. When management or
environmental conditions deviate from the optimal then that rate of evapotranspiration has to be adjusted to
the prevailing conditions and is called Adjusted or Actual Crop Evapotranspiration . Both and
concepts apply to either irrigated or rain fed crops.
For irrigated crops, the concept of has to be complemented by that of irrigation water requirement
, which is the net depth of water that is required to be applied to a crop to fully satisfy its specific crop
water requirement. The IWR is the fraction of not satisfied by rainfall, Soil water storage and
groundwater contribution. When it is necessary to add leaching fraction to assure appropriate leaching of salts
in the soil profile, this depth of water is also included in . In practice, has to be converted into Gross
Irrigation Requirements to take into consideration the efficiency of the irrigation systems utilized.

NEED OF THE IRRIGATION

 Philippines is basically an agricultural country
 Water is evidently the most vital element in the plant life.
 Water is normally supplied to the plants by nature through rains however, the total rainfall in
particular areas may be either insufficient, or ill-timed that is why artificial supply is necessary.

BENEFITS OF IRRIGATION:
 Improvement of communication Increase in food production
 Protection from famine
 Cultivation of cash crop (Sugarcane, Tobacco etc.)
 Adds to the wealth of the country
 Increase the prosperity of people
 Generation of hydro-electric power
 Domestic & industrial water supply
 Inland navigation
 Canal plantations
 Improvement in the groundwater storage
 General development of the country

IMPACT OF IRRIGATION IN HUMAN ENVIRONMENT

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TYPES OF IRRIGATION OR CLASSIFICATION OF IRRIGATION:

Natural Irrigation
 No engineering structure is constructed.
1. Rainfall irrigation – Rainfall is only used for raising crops
2. Inundation Canal System – Flood water is utilized for Irrigation purpose by properly direction flow of
water.

Artificial irrigation
 Properly designed engineering structure are constructed.
1. Flow Irrigation – water flows to the iriigated land by gravity. Water sources is to be higher level than
the irrigated land.
a. Perennial Irrigation – water is supplied according to the requirements throughout the crop period
through storage canal head works & Canal distribution system.
b. Inundation Irrigation – Lands are submerged & thoroughly flooded when floods occur in the river.
Lands are allowed to drain off & the crop are sown. Now the soil retains sufficient moisture for the
crops to grow.
c. Direct Irrigation – Water is directly diverted to the canal from the river. Discharge in the river shall
be higher than the water requirement during the crop period. A low diversion weir or a barrage is
constructed across the river to raise the water level and divert the same to the canal. Direct
Irrigation can be adopted only where there is enough flow in the river to provide sufficient quantity
of water required for irrigation throughout the crop period.
d. Storage Irrigation – River flow is not perennial or insufficient during crop period thus, storage
irrigation is adopted. A dam is being constructed across the river to store water in the reservoir. In
some area rain water that runs off from a catchment area is stored in tanks and is used for
irrigation during the crop period.

2. Lift or Well irrigation – Water is lifted up by mechanical such as pump or manual to supply for
irrigation. This is adopted when the water source is lower than the level of lands to be irrigated.

DEVELOPMENTAL ASPECTS OF IRRIGATION:

Irrigation is practiced to maintain the different developmental parameters. Those are:
IRRIGATION, FLOOD CONTROL AND DRAINAGE- LESSON 1 ENGR. ELIZABETH C. LUMIOAN
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1. To make up for the soil moisture deficit.

2. To ensure a proper & sustained growth of crops.
3. To make harvest safe.
4. To colonize the cultivable wasteland for horizontal expansion of cultivation.
5. To shift from seasonal cultivation.
6. To promote more intensive cultivation by multiple cropping.
7. To improve the level of agricultural productivity by acting as an agent for adoption of modern
technology.
8. To lessen the regional & size-class inequalities in agricultural productivity that will reduce in turn socio-
economic imbalances.

DISADVANTAGES OF IRRIGATION:
 Water logging
 Salinity and alkalinity of land
 Aeration of soil
 Pollution of underground water
 Results in colder and damper climate causing outbreak of diseases like malaria.

TYPES OF CROPS:
1. Wet Crops – which lands are irrigated and crops are cultivated
2. Dry crops – which do not need irrigation
3. Garden crops – which needs irrigation throughout the year
4. Summer crop – which are sown during the south west monsoon
5. Cash crop – which has to be encased in the market. As it cannot be directly be cultivated.

CROP ROTATION – Rotation of crops implies the nature of the crop sown in a particular field is changed year
after year.

NECESSITY FOR ROTATION:

 The necessity for irrigation when the same crop is grown again and again in the same field, the fetility
of land gets reduced as the soil becomes deficient in plant foods favorable to that particular crop.
 If different crops were to be raised there would certainly be more flooding and soil deficient in one
particular type of nutrient is allowed to recouped.
 Crop diseases and insect pests will multiply at an alarming rate, if the same crop is to be grown
continuously. Rotation will check the diseases.
 A leguminous crop (such as gram) if introduced in rotation will increase nitrogen content of aoil thus
increasing its fertility.
 The deep rooted and shallow rooted crops in rotation draw their food from different depths of soil.
The soil will be better utilized.
 Rotation of crops is beneficial to the farmers as there would be rotation of cash crops, fooder and soil
renovating crops.

CONSUMPTIVE USE OF WATER – Considerable part of water applied for irrigation is lost by evaporation &
transpiration. These two processes being difficult to separate are taken as one and called Vapor-transpiration
or Consumptive use of water.

DUTY – Area of the crop irrigated/ Volume of water required.

DELTA – The depth of water required every time, generally varies depending upon the type of the crop. Base
Period-time between the first supply of water to the land and the last watering before harvesting.

FACTORS AFFECTING THE DUTY:

1. Soil Moisture – in clayey soil less water is required since its retentive capacity is more.
2. Topography – uniform distribution depends on topography. If the area is sloping the lower portion will
get more water than the flat portion, & hence water requirement is increased.
3. Nature of rainfall – if rainfall is high over the crop period, water requirement becomes less, otherwise
it will be more.

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4. Nature of crop irrigated – Dry crop required less water where as wet crop requires more water.
5. Method of Cultivation – if the fields are properly ploughed it will have high retentive capacity & the
number of watering are reduced.
6. Season of Crop – less irrigation water is required for rainy season crop and the duty is increased.
7. System of Irrigation – in perennial irrigation, continuous supply of water is given & hence water table
is lept high & porcelain losses is minimized. In inundation type, wastage is more by deep percolation.
8. Canal Condition – well maintained canal will have more duty as the losses are less.

IMPROVING DUTY:
a. The water losses can be reduced by having the irrigated area nearer to th head of the canal.
b. Evaporation losses can be minimized by using the water as quickly as possible.
c. Water losses can be minimized by using the water as quickly as possible.
d. The cultivators should be trained to use water economically without wasting.
e. The soil properties should be studied by establishing research stations in villages.

CROP PERIOD OR BASE PERIOD:

 The time period that elapses from the instant of its sowing to the instant of its harvesting is called the
crop period
 The time between the first watering of a crop at the time of its sowing to its last watering before
harvesting is called base period.

DUTY AND DELTA OF A CROP DELTA

The total quantity of water required by the crop for its full growth may be expressed in hectare-meter
or simply as depth to which water would stand on the irrigated area if the total quantity supplied were to
stand above the surface without percolation or evaporation. This total depth of water is called delta .

Example:
Problem 01 – if wheat requires about 7.5 cm of water after evry 28 days, and the base period for wheat is 140
fays, find out the value of delta for wheat.
Solution:
No. of watering required
Total depth of water required in 140 days
for wheat

DUTY:
 It may be defined as the number of hectares of land irrigated for full frowth of a given crop by supply
of of water continuously during the entire base of that crop.
 Simply we cn say that, the area of land can be irrigated for a crop period using one cubic meter of
water.

FACTORS ON WHICH DUTY DEPENDS:

1. Type of crop
2. Climate and season
3. Useful rainfall
4. Type of soil
5. Efficiency of cultivation method

IMPORTANCE OF DUTY
- It helps in designing an efficient canal irrigation system.
- Knowing the total available water at the head of a main canal, and the overall duty for all the crops
required to be irrigated in different seasons of the year, the area which can be irrigated can be worked
out.
- Inversely, if we know the crops area required to be irrigated and their duties, we can work out the
discharge required for designing the channel

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MEASURES FOR IMPROVING DUTY OF WATER:

The duty of canal water can certainly be improved by effecting economy in the use of water by
resorting to the following precautions and practices:
1. Proper Ploughing – Ploughing should be done properly and deeply so that the moisture retaining
capacity of soil is increased.
2. Methods of supplying water – the method of supppying water to the agriculture land should be
decided according to the field and soil conditions. For example,
o Furrow method for crops sown in rows
o Contour method for hilly areas
o Basin for orchards
o Flooding for plain lands
3. Canal lining – it is provided to reduce percolation loss and evaporation loss due to high velocity
4. Minimum idle length of irrigation canals – the canal should be nearest to the command area so that
idle length of the canal is minimum and hence reduced transmission losses.
5. Quality of water – good quality of water should be used for irrigation. Pollution in the route of the
canal should be avoided.
6. Crop rotation – the principle of crop rotation should be adopted to increase the moisture retaining
capacity and fertility of the soil.

CONSUMPTIVE USE OF CROPS

- It is the quantity of water used by the vegetation growth of a given area.
- It is the amount of water required by a crop for its vegetated growth to evapotranspiration and
building of plant tissues plus evaporation from soils and intercepted precipitation.
- It is expressed in terms of depth of water. Consumptive use varies with temperature, humidity, wind
speed, topography, sunlight hours, method of irrigation, moisture availability.
- Mathematically,
- It is expressed in terms of depth of water

FACTORS AFFECTING THE CONSUMPTIVE USE OF WATER

1. Evaporation which depends on humidity
2. Mean monthly temperature
3. Growing season of crops and cropping pattern
4. Monthly precipitation in area
5. Wind velocity in locality
6. Soil and topography
7. Irrigation practices and method of irrigation
8. Sunlight hours

TYPES OF CONSUMPTIVE WATER USE

1. Optimum Consumptive Use – it is the consumptive use which produces a maximum crop yield.
2. Potential Consumptive Use – if sufficient moisture is always available to completely meet the needs of
vegetation fully covering the entire area then resulting evapotranspiration is known a sPotential
consumptive use.
3. Seasonal Consumptive Use – the total amount of water used in the evapotranspiration by a cropped
area during the entire growing season.

SOIL MOISTURE
Classes and availability of soil water
Water present in the soil may be classified under three heads
1. Hygroscopic water – water attached to soil particles through loose chemical bonds. This water can
be removed by heat only. But the plant roots can use a very small fraction of this soil moisture
under drought conditions.
2. Capillary water – held within soil pores due to the surface tension forces which act at the liquid-
vapor interface.
3. Gravitational water – water which drains away under the influence of gravity. Soon after irrigation
(or rainfall), this water remains in the soil and saturates the soil, thus, preventing circulation of air
in the void spaces.

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POSTTEST

AFTER READING LESSON 1, YOU ARE ABLE TO ANSWER THE FOLLOWING:

1. What does “duty” mean in Irrigation Engineering? What are the factors in which duty depends?
2. What are the pros and cons of Impacts of Irrigation in Human Environment?
3. What is Ploughing and how does it improve the duty of water?
4. What are the two classifications of irrigation?
5. Why is crop rotation necessary?
6. Discuss what are the factors affecting duty of water. Limit your discussion to three paragraphs. 4
sentences per paragraph.
7. Problem-01: If rice requires about 10 cm depth of water at an average interval of about 10 fays, and
the crop period for rice is 120 days, find out the delta for rice.

** all answers must be submitted via Google Classroom. Kindly check your Classwork.**

FOLLOW-UP WORK
With the aid of other resources, you will be able to answer the following.

1. Why should a Civil Engineer be knowledgeable of Irrigation Engineering? You may write your answers on
a short bond paper. Submit a picture or scanned copy of your handwritten output via Google Classroom. You may
also encode your answers on a short bond paper (8.5” x 11”), font size: 12, font style: Times New Roman, 1” over-
all margin and submit via Google Classroom.
2. Philippines is an agricultural country. Most, if not, all of the municipalities of Kalinga Province need
irrigation (may it be natural or artificial). Is the irrigation system in your municipality/barangay
running dry? Are there some problems in irrigation in your municipality/barangay? What are these
issues/problems? As a future Civil Engineer, what are your recommendations to somehow ease
these problems/issues? You may write your answers on a short bond paper. Limit your answers/opinions to
three paragraph. 5 sentences per paragraph. Submit a picture or scanned copy of your handwritten output via
Google Classroom. You may also encode your answers on a short bond paper (8.5” x 11”), font size: 12, font style:
Times New Roman, 1” over-all margin and submit via Google Classroom.
3. What are the crops in your barangay/municipality? Cite at least five (5). Among these crops which of
them requires more water? Why? You may write your answers on a short bond paper. Submit a picture or
scanned copy of your handwritten output via Google Classroom. You may also encode your answers on a short
bond paper (8.5” x 11”), font size: 12, font style: Times New Roman, 1” over-all margin and submit via Google
Classroom.

REFERENCES/ additional readings

Asawa, G.L. 2008. Irrigation and Water Resources Engineering. New Age International (P), Limited Publishers.
New Delhi, india.

College of engineering, Tisaiyanvilai. Department of Civil Engineering. Irrigation Engineering.

“And the Lord will continually guide you, and satisfy

your desire in scorched places, and give strength to
your bones: and you will be like watered garden, and
like a spring of water whose waters do not fail”
Isaiah 58:11

IRRIGATION, FLOOD CONTROL AND DRAINAGE- LESSON 1 ENGR. ELIZABETH C. LUMIOAN