The Water Resources Information Systems Division (WRID) of the National Informatics Centre has developed an Irrigation Management Package for the Bhadra Reservoir of Karnataka. This software package has replaced the manual procedures in the existing irrigation management practices.
The canal system of the Bhadra Reservoir consists of the Left Bank Canal (LBC) and the Right Bank Canal (RBC). The LBC is 78 km in length with a designed capacity of 9.50 cumecs and covers an area of 8,292 hectares. The RBC is designed for a capacity of 75 cumecs and runs for a length of 103 km to irrigate an area of one lakh hectares.
The complete canal network has been coded and stored in a database. A canal can be identified by specifying its upstream node and downstream node numbers. A unique 19-digit code has been evolved to map the canal network structure. The System calculates the crop water requirement using the modified Penmen method. Daily, as well as monthly and seasonal, water release tables and water budget tables are also computed by the System. The software also graphically represents the supply Vs requirement chart for the selected distributary, and also for actual flow Vs advised flow chart for any particular distributary.
The System will help the project authorities in improving water use efficiency and in effective monitoring of water supply with respect to crop water requirement.
The software simulates the quantity of flow which passes through the main canal section immediately after each distributary or branch. The System computes the seepage losses in the main canal, distributories and minors. The water availability status in different sections of the canal against the head discharge and the differences between the target flow and the observed flow can also be seen. If the differences are greater than the pre-specified percentages, a report is flashed to the System Manager who can take action accordingly.