Performance of Water Delivery by Direct Pumping System at Farm Level: Case Study of Abu-Gabal Tertiary Canal, Egypt

Abstract

The Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (MWRI) initiated a national program to improve the existing irrigation system of agricultural lands in the Nile River Delta during the past five decades. The program implemented a series of interventions in the irrigation delivery system. Eventually, electric pumps are used to directly supply irrigation water (direct pumping system) instead of using an open stand tank. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the direct pumping system for an irrigation improvement project in the El-Baslaqoun command area, Abu-Gabal Tertiary Canal (at farm level canal), as a model example in the Kafr El-Dawar area, Egypt. The results of water delivery performance reveal that efficiency, equity, and dependability were evaluated as “poor” according to the performance standards. Using MATLAB code, different scenarios were explored to improve water delivery performance. It is found that when the riser diameter is mostly modified to be four inches for all valves, the system not only delivers an adequate amount of water required to crops without excess flow but also gives a fair share of water among farmers.