Identification of Control System for Canal with Night Storage

Abstract

One way to create night storage in an irrigation system is to use the supply canal for in‐line storage. Control of the canal system, however, will become much more difficult due to fluctuating water levels. In this paper, a control system and accompanying operation strategy for a 110‐km‐long irrigation canal with inline storage is presented. A daily water balance is set up to examine the available storage capacity of the canal versus the required one. The canal system is modeled using a hydrodynamic computer model and local upstream, downstream, and mixed‐control systems are simulated. Downstream control is most suitable for a canal with night storage. The operation strategy of the target levels of a downstream‐controlled canal is relatively simple and easy to derive, compared with an upstream‐controlled canal. If the canal also has to convey floods, additional upstream target levels will be indispensable. The mixed control system is therefore most suitable for canals with night storage and for those that must convey floods.