Chapter 4

IRRIGATION DISTRIBUTION
NETWORK
 Definition

 A conveyance/distribution system refers to structures or

ways through which water is transferred from the source
to the irrigated area.
 Irrigation networks are man made facilities for water
conveyance, distribution and application.
 Includes Irrigation and drainage networks
 The network includes diversion headwork, conveyance
system, distribution system and structures.
 Conveyance Structures
 The conveyance system assures the transport of water
from the main intake structure or main pumping station
up to the field ditches.
 The distribution system assures the transport of water
through field ditches to the irrigation fields.
 The field application system assures the transport of
water within the fields.
 Water conveyance structures include, but are not limited
to: reservoirs and dam, diversion structures, head gates,
pipe lines, ditches, canals and tunnels.
 Cont---
Two types of conveyance systems:
 Pressurized conveyance system
 Canal conveyance system
Pressurized Conveyance System
• This system consists of pressurized conduits or pipe lines.
• Pumps or boosters ensure the flow of water from the source to
the farm out let. This is mainly is used in lift irrigation system.
 Canal Conveyance System
 A canal conveyance system refers to open channel irrigation
systems that delivers water from the source up to the farm gate.
 The theory of open channel hydraulics is applied to the design
of this system.
 The force of gravity is the one that ensures the flow in the
channel.
 A canal is defined as an artificial channel constructed on the
ground to carry water from a river or another canal or a
reservoir to the fields.
 An irrigation canal is a hydraulic system whose main objective
is to convey water from a source (dam and river) to different
users.
 Irrigation canals are irrigation structures (open channels)
through which irrigation water is conveyed by gravity.
 Classification of canals
i) Classification of Canals Based on Capacity:-
(a) Main Canal: It is the principal channel of a
canal system taking off from the head works
or a reservoir or tail of a feeder.
 It is a large capacity channel and usually
there is no direct irrigation from it.
 Small capacity ditch distributaries running
parallel to the canal are taken off from the
main canal to irrigate adjoining areas.
 Main canals deliver supply to branch canal
and main distributaries.
 Branch or secondary canal
 Branch canals take their supply from the main
canal and convey to the distributaries.
 Sub-branch is a canal, which takes off from the
branch canal but has capacity higher than a
distributary.
c) Major Distributary:
 It is a distributing channel, which may take off
from a main canal, branch canal or sub branch
and has discharge capacity less than that of a
branch canal.
 It supplies water to another distributary.
 d) distributary
 It is a channel receiving supply from branch
canal or major distributary and has discharge
less than that of major distributary.
 Minors take off from it, besides irrigation is
done from it through outlets.
Cont…
 ii) Classification based on canal alignment
a) ridge canal (Watershed canal)
 A Ridge canal or watershed canal is one which runs along the
ridge or watershed line.
 It can irrigate the fields on both sides.
 In case of ridge canals the necessity of cross drainage works
does not arise as the canal is not intercepted by natural streams
or drains
b) Contour canal
 A contour canal is one which is aligned nearly parallel to
the contours of the country/area.
 These canals can irrigate the lands on only one side.
 The ground level on one side is higher and hence bank on the
higher side may not be necessary.
 A contour canal may be intercepted by natural streams/drains
 c) Side slope canal
 A Side slope canal is one which is aligned at right
angles to the contour of the country/area.
 It is a canal running between a ridge and a valley.
 This canal is not intercepted by streams and hence
no cross drainage works may be essential.
 This canal has steep bed slope since the ground has
steep slope in a direction perpendicular to the contours
of the country/area.
 iii) Classifications based on permanency
• Based on permanency or otherwise, the canals can be divided
into the following two types:
a) Permanent canals b) Temporary canals
a) Permanent canals: A canal is said to be permanent when it is a
regular-shaped channel and has suitable masonry structures for
regulation and distribution.
• The permanent canals are usually perennial canals as
these carry water throughout the year.
 b) Temporary canals
 A canal is said to be temporary (or non-perennial) if
it carries water only for a part of the year just after the
rainy season.
 These canals are also called inundation canals.
 Temporary canals, for their supplies, depend upon the
periodical rise of water level of the river during
floods.
 Such canals are not provided with any headworks for
the diversion of river water into them.
 v) Classification based on canal surface
 Based on canal surface, the canals can be classified in to two
types:- a) lined canal b) unlined canal
a) Lined canals
• A lined canal is the one which has its surface lined with an
impervious material on its bed and sides to prevent seepage of
water.
• Therefore, the seepage losses in a lined canal are small.
• Moreover, in a lined canal, a relatively high velocity can be
permitted and, therefore, the cross­-sectional area is less.
• However, the lined canals have high initial cost.
b) Unlined canals
• An unlined canal is the one which has the surface of the natural
material through which it is constructed and it is not provided with
a lining on its surface.
• The seepage losses are large.
 Design of unlined and lined canals
 An irrigation and drainage network should be designed
and operated in such a way that:
 The required discharge flows are passed at design water
levels
 No erosion of canal bottoms and banks will occur,
 Any sediment that enters the system not settle in the
network
 According to FAO (1981), the objective of a canal design is to
select such a bottom slope and geometric dimensions of the cross
section that during a certain period the sediment flowing into an
irrigation canal is equal to the sediment flowing out of the canal.
 Determination of Design discharge (canal capacity)
 Design discharge also called canal capacity is the maximum
discharge that the cross section of a canal reach is designed for.
 This discharge is the maximum expected flow in the canal during
peak periods of peak flow.
 The design discharge of a canal reach is the sum of the following:
 The simultaneous maximum flows through the outlets in the reach;
 The outflow into the next reach of the canal; and
 Seepage and other losses (conveyance seepage and operational
losses).
 Cont---
 The design discharge of a canal can be determined as follows:
1. Determine the total area irrigated from the canal under
consideration;
2. Based on the crop water requirement, determine the water demand
for each unit irrigated in l/s/ha;
3. For each outlet in the canal reach, determine the outflow by
multiplying the area by the water requirement;
4. Determine the outflow into the next reach of the canal;
5. Add all the outlet discharges and the outflow into the next reach
of the canal to determine the design discharge of the canal reach
under consideration.
 Cont---
 The outlet discharges are;
Qi = A*q
Where A= Area to be irrigated from the outlet

q= peak water demand rate (l/s/ha)

The design discharge of the reach is thus,

Qd = Q1+Q2+Q3+…+ Qo+ losses

Where: Q1, Q2, Q3… are outlet discharges downstream of the
reach and Qo outflow into the next reach.
 Canal cross section
 Irrigation and drainage canals can be constructed of earth
(unlined canals) or lined canals:
 Irrigation canals are usually designed as trapezoidal sections;
however lined irrigation canals can also be designed as rectangular
sections.
 The components of the canal cross section are bottom width b, total
canal depth, water depth d and canal side slope z.
 Cont---
 The design of irrigation canal cross section basically means fixing appropriate

 bottom width b
 depth of flow d
 total depth and
 side slope z
 The other parameter used in the design canals is the longitudinal slope, S of the
canal.
 This is bottom slope of the canal along the flow direction.
 It is usually fixed before the cross section of the canal is determined based on
the general slope of the ground along the alignment and the discharge of the
canal.
 Design of lined canals
 In lined canals the cross section of the canals is covered (lined) with
some kind of harder material than earth (soil) to provide resistance
against erosion and avoid seepage losses.
 Materials which can be used for lining include cement concrete,
plastered stone masonry, precast concrete slabs, Brick with
sandwiched mortar and soil cement.
 Design of lined canals is usually done based on the permissible
velocity approach.
 A minimum permissible velocity is that which will not start
sedimentation in the canal and is determined by the sediment
transport capacity of the flow.
 A maximum permissible velocity for lined canals is usually higher
for lined canals than earthen canals.
 Maximum permissible velocities are given depending on the type of
bed material.
 Cont---
 For the design of lined canals, uniform flow equations for open channel
flow can be used. This can be the Chezy equation or Manning’s formula:
Q * A Continuity equation

Where: Q is design discharge, m3/s

A is the x-sectional area of flow
C is Chezy constant
R is hydraulic radius, m
S is longitudinal slope of the canal
n is Manning’s coefficient
 Design procedure for lined canal
i) For a known permissible velocity V, Manning’s n, and longitudinal
slope S of the canal, determine the hydraulic radius from
Manning’s or Chezy equation;
ii) Form two equations with two unknowns, determine bottom width b
and depth of flow y, as follows: (One from the relationship
between hydraulic radius, area of flow A and wetter perimeter
P and another from continuity equation).
Trapezoidal canal:

Rectangular canal
A = by P = b+2y
Then, A = A/P
Where y is flow depth, b is bottom width, m is side slope, A is the area
of flow and P is the wetter perimeter.
 Cont---
 The concept of best hydraulic section is also usually used for
design of small lined canals.
 In ordinary lined canals, the steepest satisfactory side slope from
construction point of view is z = 1.25 or z = 1.5 (z = cotangent of
side slope).
 The best hydraulic section is the one with minimum wetted
perimeter for a given discharge.
 The best hydraulic section for a trapezoidal canal is R= y/2.
 Design of unlined canals
 Unlined canals can be classified into two classes based on the stability of the
boundaries of the canal for design purposes:
 Canals with stable (non-erodible) bed and
 Canals with erodible bed (Alluvial) with significant amount of sediments
flowing
 For design of these two canal types, different considerations and different
approaches will be employed.
1. Design of non-erodible (stable bed) canals
 Non-erodible canals are canals with fairly stable boundary.

 The design of such canals should ensure that any sediment entering into the
canal go on flowing and avoid settlement.
 Flow velocity however should be in such a way that does not cause any
erosion of the canal boundary.
 Design of the canals involves the conditions of Steady uniform flow.
 Cont---
For the design of such canals, the following
equations are employed:
Continuity equation;
Manning’s/ Strickler formula
 There are two approaches for the design of such canals:
 The recommended (b/d ratio) approach and
 The Tractive force (permissible velocity) approach
Design of canals on b/d ratio approach
 For a known Strickler’s ks (ks=1/n) and S, the highest flow
velocity will occur when the R is maximized.
 Cont---
 The resulting best hydraulic section is a semi-circle.
 For a trapezoidal section the best is a semi-hexagon, and for a
rectangular section, it is half a square.
 For any given hydraulic gradient S and side slope z, an infinite range of
bed width/depth ratios can be used.
 Minimizing the wetted perimeter - results in a ‘best’ hydraulic cross
section if:

In earthen canals, best hydraulic section is seldom applied because:

 the cross section would not be stable;

 the excavation would be too deep- deep excavation is often more

costly; and change of flow heavily affects the depth of flow and
velocity distribution in deep and narrow canals.
 Cont---
 Empirical rules can be used. The bed width/depth ratio of a small
earthen irrigation canal is often close to unity; the ratio is gradually
increased for larger canals.
 Current practice is to relate the b/d ratio to the discharge Q.
 The recommended ratios as related to the design discharge of the
canal Q are as follows:
 (b/d)recom. =1.76*Q0.35 , for Q > 0.2 m3/s
 (b/d)recom. = 1.0, for Q ≤ 0.2 m3/s
 In most small and medium size earth canals, the freeboard
varies from 50% to 60% of the depth d, with a minimum
of 0.15 or 0.20 m.
 2. Design of canals on Tractive force (Permissible velocity) approach

 The balance of forces on a sediment flow is an important aspect

that often controls the cross section of earthen irrigation canals.
 Sediment transport is a function of velocity of flow, steepness of
banks and characteristics of the sediment grain.
Tractive force theory
Tractive force or shear force is the force applied by the flowing
water on the canal bed and sides in the direction of flow. This force
per unit area is called Unit tractive force or shear stress.
 Tractive force…

• .g.A.L.si
nθ

• W=
• L .g.A. L
Considering a canal reach of length L and area A, the volume of
water stored in the canal reach is, V= A*L and the weight of water
stored in the canal reach is, W= ρ.g.A.L= ɣ.A.L. The component of
this weight in the flow direction is = ɣ.A.L. sin θ = ɣ.A.L.S where S
is the canal slope
 Cont---
• The component in flow direction is called tractive force. The ratio
of this force to the wetted area of flow is the shear stress (o).

Shear stress =

Where R is the hydraulic radius.

• Since the method assumes “no bed material transport”, it is only
relevant for canals with zero (or very small) bed sediment material
input.
 Design of unlined canals on Permissible velocity approach

 A minimum permissible velocity is that which will not start

sedimentation or induce the growth of aquatic plants. It is
determined by the sediment transport capacity of the flow.
 A maximum permissible velocity is that which will not cause
erosion of the canal. Maximum permissible velocities are given
depending on the kind of bed material.
 2. Design of erodible (Alluvial) canals
 Erodible canals are canals with movable bed.
 Such canals designed on erodible (alluvial deposits) not only have
erosion problem but also in most cases the water carries sediments
with it.
 Design of such canals can be made based on the maximum and
minimum permissible velocities.
 This velocity which does not cause theoretically erosion of the bed
and that does not silt the canals is called non-silting and non-
scouring velocity.
 However, experience showed that alluvial canals designed on the
principle of maximum and minimum permissible velocities have
not functioned satisfactorily.
 Regime channels
 Canals designed for non-silting and non-scouring velocity are
called regime canals.
 A channel is in state of regime means that whatever sediment
entering the canal at the head is kept in suspension and local
sediments are not produced by erosion.
 Thus design of canals on alluvial deposits requires design of the
canal for non-silting and non-scouring velocity.
 Two researchers called R.G. Kennedy and Lacey from India who
have done a remarkable research for finding a solution for design
of stable (non-silting and non-scouring) alluvial canals.
 Kennedy’s Theory

 Kennedy selected some straight reach of a canal which had not

caused serious silting and scouring for the previous more than 30
years.
 He concluded that whether a sediment particle will be kept in
suspension or will settle down is a function of generation of eddies.
 If the velocity of flow is sufficient to generate eddies that are just
sufficient to keep the sediment just in suspension, silting do not
occur.
 According to Kennedy, a critical velocity is the velocity which will
just keep the canal free from silting and scouring.
 Cont---

Where: Vo is the critical velocity

Y is the depth flow, m
0.55 and 0.64 are constants which depend on silt charge.
As this formula is purely empirical depending on observations, in
order to apply it to other canals reaches, some factor which takes into
account the soil type is needed.
 He introduced a factor called critical velocity ratio (m), which
depends on the size of the silts.
 Procedure for design of regime canals on Kennedy’s theory

The following procedure can be used for canal design:

1. Assume a trial depth of flow y and determine the critical velocity

Vo;

2. Determine the area of flow, A from A=Q/Vo;

3. Workout the canal cross sectional parameters;

4. Calculate the actual mean velocity V in the canal from the

Kutter’s formula, Manning’s formula or Chezy equation;

5. Compare V and Vo. If the same, ok; if not the same assume
another y and repeat steps 1 through 4.
 Cont---
Kutter’s Formula:

Where: V is flow velocity, m/s,

R is Hydraulic radius,
S is Slope of the canal
n is roughness coefficient
 Lacey’s Regime Theory

 Lacey came up with three kinds of regimes called initial,

true and final regimes after carrying out investigations
for the design of regime canals on alluvial deposits.
 According to him, for a given discharge, silt charge and
silt grade, there is only one canal section and one canal
slope at which a canal would be in regime.
 He mentioned that the regime theory can be applied to
only channels in true regime or final regime.
 Cont---

 A canal in true regime is a canal in which discharge, velocity,

depth of flow, amount of silt and size of silt are constant.
 However, in irrigation channels, true regime can never be
attained.
 A canal is said to be in final regime if there is no resistance of the
sides so that the flow can adjust the canal cross section (depth,
slope, perimeter etc) according to discharge and silt grade.
 Lacey argued that bed material size is an important parameter to
be considered. As a result, he introduced a silt factor (f) which is
a function of the mean particle size.
Procedure for design of regime canals on Lacey’s Theory
 Economics of canal lining

 In considering the economy of canal lining, it is

necessary to evaluate the tangible( which can be
measured in terms of money) and additional benefits, and
then to compare these with the cost of lining.
 Benefit cost ratio can, therefore, be worked out, so as to
justify the necessity of lining.
 Mathematically speaking, expenditure on project is
justified if the resultant annual benefits exceed the annual
costs(including interest on the capital expenditure) i.e
benefit cost ratio is more than one.
 Cont---
 The justification for lining the existing channels is
different from that of constructing new lined channels in
a new project.
 It is because of the fact that a large number of additional
advantages; such as lesser earth work- handling, lesser
land acquisition, lesser impounding reservoir capacities,
etc – are obtained in new project, by adopting lining for
new canals.
 Irrigation structures

 Structures are widely used in Irrigation, water

conservation, flood alleviation, river works where water
level and discharge regulation are required.
 These are hydraulic structures that are used to
regulate, measure, and/or transport water in open
channels.
 These structures are called control structures when
there is a fixed relationship between the water
surface elevation upstream or downstream of the
structure and the flow rate through the structure.
 Cont-----
 Hydraulic structures can be grouped into three
categories:
i) Flow measuring structures, such as weirs
ii) Regulation structures such as gates and
iii) Discharge structures such as culverts
Weirs
 A weir is a barrier (structure) constructed across a river
to raise the water level in the river behind it so as to
enable regulated diversion of water.
 There are two types of weirs in common use:
 Sharp-crested weirs and the broad-crested weirs.
 Barrage
 A barrage is also an obstruction constructed across a river
for raising the water level and regulate the diversion of
water to canals.
 However, the crest wall of a barrage is low and ponding of
water takes place by gates.
 The gates are fitted on the top of the crest wall and can be
closed and opened as required based on the flow in the
river .
 Advantages and disadvantages of weirs and barrages

Weir:
Advantage
• Low initial cost
Disadvantage
 High afflux (increase in water level) during floods;
Siltation or sedimentation problem due to relatively
high crest;
 Lack of effective control during floods.
 Barrage

Advantage
 Effective control of flow is possible
 Afflux and thus flooding is small during floods;
 Silt inflow into the off-taking canal can be effectively
controlled.
Disadvantage
 It has a disadvantage that its initial cost is high
 Gates
 Gates are used to regulate the flow in open channels
 They are designed for either over-flow or underflow
operation, with overflow operation appropriate for
channels in which there is a significant amount of
floating debris.
 The common types of gates are vertical and radial
(Tainter) gates.
 Drop Structures:
 Drop structures, typically constructed out of concrete,
can accommodate a sudden change in elevation of the
channel bottom while maintaining control of the
flow.
 Drop structures are used in channels, which must be
laid along relatively steep gradients to allow for
dissipation of energy without causing scour in the
channel itself.
 Cross Drainage Structures
 Cross- drainage structures are structures provided on
a canal where it crosses natural drainage channels like
rivers & streams.
 cross drainage structures are also provided whenever
canals cross each other.
 Types of cross – drainage structures
Based on the relative position of the canal and drainage
c-d works can be classified as:
a) Canal over the drainage
 When bed level of the canal is well above the HFL
of drainage. Example: Aqueduct, Siphon aqueduct .
 b) Canal below the drainage
 When the bed level of drain is well above the FSL of the
canal. Example: Super passage or inverted (canal)
siphons.
c) Canal and drainage at the same level
 When HFL and FSL of drain and canal are at the same
level. Example: level crossing , inlet and out let
 Example
1. Design a Non-Erodible Channel to convey
10m3/s of water, the slope is 0.00015 and the
mean particle diameter of the soil is 5 mm. The
side slope is 2:1 and The permissible velocity is
0.75m/s.
2. Design an irrigation channel to carry 50m3/s of
discharge. The channel is to be laid at a slope of
1in 4000. The critical velocity ratio for the soil is
1.1 use kutters rugosity coefficient as 0.023.
3.Design a regime channel for a discharge of 50m 3/s
and silt factor 1.1using laceys theory
• End of chapter Four
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