Optimal estimation of irrigation schedule – An example of quantifying human interferences to hydrologic processes

Reliable records of water use for irrigation are often lacking. This presents a difficulty for a qualified water use and water availability assessment. Quantification of the hydrologic cycle processes in regions of intensive agricultural practice requires irrigation as an input to hydrologic models. This paper presents a coupled forward-inverse framework to estimate irrigation schedule using remote-sensed data and data assimilation and optimization techniques. Irrigation schedule is treated as an unknown input to a hydro-agronomic simulation model. Remote-sensed data is used to assess actual crop evapotranspiration, which is used as the “observation” of the computed crop evapotranspiration from the simulation model. To handle the impact of model and observation error and the unknown biased error with irrigation inputs, a coupled forward-inverse approach is proposed, implemented and tested. The coupled approach is realized by an integrated ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) and genetic algorithm (GA). The result from a case study demonstrates that the forward and inverse procedures in the coupled framework are complementary to each other. Further analysis is provided on the impact of model and observation errors on the non-uniqueness problem with inverse modeling and on the exactness of irrigation estimates.     

International trade buffers the impact of future irrigation shortfalls

There is increasing interest in the water–food nexus, especially the restrictive effect of water on food production in hot spots where irrigation stress is growing. However, little is known about the larger-scale implications of future irrigation shortfalls for global trade and economic welfare, as well as of the potential buffering impacts of international trade on the local impacts of irrigation shortage. In this paper, we utilize a recently developed model, GTAP-BIO-W, to study the economic effects of changes in irrigation outlook for 126 river basins, globally by 2030. Projected irrigation availability is obtained from the IMPACT-WATER model, and imposed upon the present-day economy. Irrigation availability in 2030 is expected to drop by 30–60% in several key rivers basins, including: Hai He, Indus, Luni, and the Eastern Mediterranean basin, leading to significant output declines in China, South Asia, and the Middle East. We find that the regional production impacts of future irrigation water shortages are quite heterogeneous, depending on the size of the shortfall, the irrigation intensity of crop production, the possibility of expanding rainfed areas, as well as the crop mix. These changes in regional output significantly alter the geography of international trade. To compensate for the loss of productivity caused by the irrigation constraint, an estimated 7.6 million hectares of cropland expansion is needed to meet the demand for food. In spite of the remarkable reduction of irrigation in some basins, the resulting welfare impact is relatively modest as a result of the buffering capacity of global markets. The global welfare loss amounts to $3.7 billion (2001 prices) and results from a combination of the reduction in irrigation availability as well as the interplay with agricultural support policies.     

宝鸡峡灌区水文要素变化特征分析

选取宝鸡峡灌区降水、蒸发及径流资料,应用变差系数,累积距平法和Kendall秩次相关检验等分析方法分析各要素的变化趋势,绘制灌区气象要素空间分异性等值线图,并探究灌区主要灌溉水源历史演变过程及规律。结果表明:灌区降水,蒸发,林家村水文站年径流量年内分配都不均匀。年蒸发量有增加趋势,但趋势不显著;年降水量表现为减少的趋势;林家村水文站的年径流量减少十分显著。     

浙江慈溪市土地生态质量调查和评估

土壤、大气、水和农产品质量共同构成土地生态质量的内涵。通过慈溪市基本农田质量调查试点项目,开展了高精度土壤地球化学调查和农产品、灌溉水、大气质量调查,建立了土地生态质量评估模型。以土壤地球化学质量评估为基础,进行了大气、水、农产品综合质量评估,以及慈溪市农用地土地生态质量评价。评价显示,慈溪市农用地土地生态质量绝大部分优良,只有局部如城市周边等地存在生态风险。试点成果为浙江省国土资源特别是基本农田的数量、质量和生态管护并重的精细化管理提供了示范和依据。     

Drought as an agri-environmental determinant of irrigation land: the case of Bardenas (Spain)

Irrigated agriculture is causing certain deterioration of the quality of rivers and aquifers. The objective of this study is to analyse the agri-environmental repercussions caused by climatic changes in a typical irrigated land in the Ebro valley (Spain). The irrigation efficiency and agri-environmental impact in a basin of irrigated land (95 ha) were compared for two hydrological years with different pluviometry [October 2000/September 2001 (526 mm/year) vs. October 2004/September 2005 (211 mm/year)]. For this end, water balances were carried out in every plot and the quantity and quality (salinity and nitrates) of the water circulating through the drainage of the basin were gauged. The results indicate that in 2004/2005 farmers adjusted the irrigation doses better on each irrigation occasion, thus diminishing the fraction of drainage of the same (50% vs. 31%) and increasing the consumptive water use efficiency (56% vs. 79%). Nevertheless, the drought of 2004/2005 determined inappropriate irrigation management as the crops suffered a greater hydric deficit (3% vs. 23%). In 2004/2005, drainage waters presented higher electric conductivity (0.92 dS/m vs. 0.94 dS/m) and smaller nitrate concentration (96 mg/l vs. 74 mg/l). Last year, 55, 54 and 65% less of water, salts and N–NO₃⁻, respectively, were exported in the drainage. The lesser environmental impact in the year 2004/2005 was influenced by more appropriate use of water and agrichemical resources. Nevertheless, it is necessary to continue optimizing agricultural practices, mainly irrigation and fertilization, in order to minimize nitrate pollution and to confront years of drought.     

Entrainment of E. coli and Listeria monocytogenes from sediment in irrigation canal

E. coli and Listeria monocytogenes (or L. monocytogenes) are bacteria affecting fresh produce that is harmful for health of humans and animals. If these bacteria are present in surface waterbody (e.g., irrigation canals), they will impair irrigation water quality and threaten produce safety. This paper studied the resuspension of E. coli and Listeria from bed sediment into irrigation water through several sets of laboratory experiments in an open channel flume. We studied three types of sediments using several flow rates in different velocities and shear stress. Bacteria's concentration in water increases with the bed shear stress. Two empirical relations were derived to correlate the concentration of E. coli and L. monocytogenes with the dimensionless bed shear stress. The experimental data favorably verified the relationships for sandy loam, loamy sand, and loam. The results showed that both bacteria could entrain from sand more efficiently compared to other sediments (i.e., sandy loam or loam). These relationships can be applied to water quality models for simulating E. coli and L. monocytogenes transport in irrigation canals for better managing irrigation water quality.     

Sedimentation in small-scale irrigation schemes in Ethiopia: Its sources and management

Numerous irrigation schemes in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) exhibit excessive sedimentation, resulting in underperformance and high maintenance costs. In the current study, a participatory monitoring program was used to investigate sediment causes and sources, measure the annual sediment load, and monitor desilting campaigns in two small scale irrigation schemes in Ethiopia, Arata-Chufa (100 ha) and Ketar (430 ha), for three years (2016–2018). Sedimentation quantities were huge, where the annual river sediment influx ranged from 220 m³ for the Arata-Chufa scheme to 1,741 m³ for the Ketar scheme. On average 0.3 m³/m of sediment were removed from the main canal for Arata-Chufa costing 794 days of labor per year. In Ketar, sediment quantities were even greater: 1.1 m³/m was removed requiring 3,118 days of labor per year. The sediment influx from the river source amounts to up to 95% for Arata-Chufa and moderately reaches 46% for Ketar, with the remainder of the sediment entering with overland erosion flows. Farmers reported increased sedimentation over time and difficulty paying operation and maintenance fees instead preferring to contribute labor for the desilting campaigns. Sedimentation management is fragile and mainly involves frequent desilting campaigns and unharmonized efforts to reduce overland sediment inflows. Factors contributing to sediment deposition include mild longitudinal bed slopes, the location of the intake, canal layout, and lack of canal banks for protection against surface water inflow in addition to sub-optimal canal operations. Excessive sedimentation is a major challenge resulting in underperformance of numerous irrigation schemes in SSA, and the stakeholders’ lack of awareness of the sources of sedimentation is an underlying factor aggravating sedimentation problems. It is concluded that investigating the sources, extent, and types of sedimentation entering a small-scale irrigation scheme is the basis for reducing maintenance costs and for effective management of sedimentation problems.     

The irrigation technozone: State power,expertise, and agrarian development in the U.S. West and British Punjab, 1880–1920

Many of the world’s deserts were transformed by irrigation expertise at the beginning of the 20th century. An irrigation “technological zone” emerged to facilitate the circulation of engineering expertise and the territorial expansion of the U.S. and British imperial states. Hydraulic engineers considered themselves globally connected technicians providing practical solutions to the political problems of poverty and famine. Although premised on the neutrality and universal applicability of scientific principles, the practices and environmental expertise of irrigation engineers were firmly rooted in regional state/society formations, which sought to increase agricultural production and induce settlement with irrigation. This paper analyzes the globalization of irrigation expertise through a relational comparison of the irrigation narratives of the British Punjab and the Western U.S., 1880–1920. The analysis demonstrates that the irrigation technological zone was significantly formed by place-based dynamics that, in turn, shaped irrigation as a mode of environmental expertise.     

黑河流域中游人工水循环系统在分水前后的变化

介绍了黑河流域中游人工水文循环过程及其中各系统之间的关系,目标是为黑河流域生态—水文过程模拟提供一套较准确的数据集。利用张掖市水利年报、莺落峡水文站资料以及张掖市水资源管理年报等调查数据分析了黑河分水前后,2000年和2010年黑河流域中游引水、输水和用水系统的变化过程,得出以下结论:①人工水文循环过程通过引水系统、输水系统、储水系统和用水系统来影响农业水资源在时空上的分配,它是人类活动影响下的中游水文循环过程的重要组成部分;②2010年比2000年引水口门减少了26处,渠道综合水利用率提高了3.6%;③与2000年相比,2010年地表水和地下水资源开发利用在空间上产生了很大变化,地表水引水量减少了1.05亿m3,地下水开采量增加了1.64亿m3。最后,从径流、地下水、大气水方面分析了人工水循环过程对自然水循环过程的影响。