Optimizing Flood and Sediment Management of Spate Irrigation in Aba’ala Plains

Gebrehiwot, Kbrom Ambachew; Haile, Abraham Mehari; Fraiture, C.M.S. de; Chukalla, Abebe Demissie; Embaye, T. G.

doi:10.1007/s11269-014-0846-1

Cited by 18 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…In drought-prone semi-arid lowlands where there is not sufficient rainfall to grow food crops, farmers rely on spate irrigation, basically depending on the hydrological response of highland catchments to complement rainfed agriculture (van Steenbergen et al, 2010;Libsekal et al, 2015). Despite the systems gaining importance, increases in temperature and evapotranspiration, and declining rainfall which is the primary hydrological input in drylands among other climate variables, have been contributing to moisture stress (Tilahun, 2006;Pechlivanidis et al, 2011;Gebrehiwot et al, 2015). This would therefore challenge the availability of sufficient soil moisture and therefore limit the hydrological response, threatening sustainability of the system.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of climate and land‐cover changes on runoff response in Guguf spate systems, northern Ethiopia

Negash

Gebresamuel

Embaye

et al. 2019

Irrigation and Drainage

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Irrigated agriculture in the rainfall‐deficit semi‐arid lowlands of the Raya valley rely on spate systems to produce food crops. Climate and land‐cover dynamics upstream are, however, threatening runoff response reaching these spate systems. The objective of this study was thus to analyse the hydrological response of dryland catchments to changing climate and land cover in Guguf spate systems. Thirty‐six years of climate data were analysed using Mann–Kendall, Pettitt's test and linear regression methods, and time‐series land‐cover information extracted from Landsat satellite images in a remote‐sensing interface. The Soil Conservation Systems curve number method was then employed to formulate the likely impact of climate and land‐cover changes on runoff response, and trends analysed. Results showed that temperature, evapotranspiration and rainfall varied at least by 0.11°C, 15.2 mm and −5.1 mm yr−1 respectively, intensifying moisture stress. Moreover, improving vegetation cover in the highlands enhanced the water‐abstraction capacity of the soil, impeding the runoff curve number by 9.2%. Thus, the combined effects of climate induced moisture stress and land cover led water abstraction upstream has threatened runoff response at a rate of 0.23 × 106 m3 yr−1. In other words, the runoff response reaching Guguf spate systems degenerated by 7.96 × 106 m3 over 36 years. Such unusual highland–lowland hydrological linkage has therefore endangered the availability of surplus water to irrigate spate‐based farms downstream. Appropriate policies and strategies would therefore be desirable to address conflicting interests in scarce water resources in the face of climate change. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of climate and land‐cover changes on runoff response in Guguf spate systems, northern Ethiopia

Negash

Gebresamuel

Embaye

et al. 2019

Irrigation and Drainage

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“…So far the Delft3D model has been used primarily for rivers [23][24][25][26] and for estuaries [21,27] in 2D and/or 3D modes. The model has been used by Reference [16] for irrigation canals in both 2D and 3D.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Gate Operation in Reducing Problems with Cohesive and Non-Cohesive Sediments in Irrigation Canals

Theol

Jagers

Suryadi

et al. 2019

Water

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Sediments cause serious problems in irrigation systems, adversely affecting canal performance, driving up maintenance costs and, in extreme cases, threatening system sustainability. Multiple studies were done on the deposition of non-cohesive sediment and implications for canal design, the use of canal operation in handling sedimentation problems is relatively under-studied, particularly for cohesive sediments. In this manuscript, several scenarios regarding weirs and gate operation were tested, using the Delft3D model, applied to a case study from the Gezira scheme in Sudan. Findings show that weirs play a modest role in sedimentation patterns, where their location influences their effectiveness. On the contrary, gate operation plays a significant role in sedimentation patterns. Reduced gate openings may cause canal blockage while intermittently fully opening and closing of gates can reduce sediment deposition in the canal by 54% even under conditions of heavy sediment load. Proper location of weirs and proper adjusting of the branch canal’s gate can substantially reduce sedimentation problems while ensuring sufficient water delivery to crops. The use of 2D/3D models provides useful insights into spatial and temporal patterns of deposition and erosion but has challenges related to running time imposing a rather coarse modelling resolution to keep running times acceptable.

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“…A few examples are the spate irrigation system in Africa [31][32][33][34] and the ancient irrigation system in the Central Negev desert [35].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability of the Dujiangyan Irrigation System for over 2000 Years–A Numerical Investigation of the Water and Sediment Dynamic Diversions

et al. 2020

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The Dujiangyan Irrigation System (DIS), located in the western portion of the Chengdu Plain at the transitional junction between the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Sichuan Basin, has been in operation for about 2300 years. The system automatically uses natural topographical and hydrological features and provides automatic water diversion, sediment drainage and intake flow discharge control, thus preventing disastrous events in the region in a ‘natural’ way. Using a numerical modeling approach, this study aims to investigate the reasons behind this natural behavior of the system and provide a better understanding of the complex mechanisms which have caused the sustainability of the DIS for over two millennia. For this purpose, a two-phase flow model based on the Shallow Water Equations (SWEs) is developed to simulate the fluid and sediment motions in the DIS. A coupled explicit-implicit technique based on the Finite Element Method is applied for the fluid flow and a Sediment Mass (SM) model in the framework of the Lagrangian particle method is proposed to simulate the sediment motion under different flow discharge conditions. The results show how different components of the DIS make full use of the hydrodynamic and topographical characteristics of the river to effectively discharge sediment and excess flood to the downstream and create an environmentally sustainable irrigation system.

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Optimizing Flood and Sediment Management of Spate Irrigation in Aba’ala Plains

Cited by 18 publications

References 5 publications

The effect of climate and land‐cover changes on runoff response in Guguf spate systems, northern Ethiopia

The effect of climate and land‐cover changes on runoff response in Guguf spate systems, northern Ethiopia

The Role of Gate Operation in Reducing Problems with Cohesive and Non-Cohesive Sediments in Irrigation Canals

Sustainability of the Dujiangyan Irrigation System for over 2000 Years–A Numerical Investigation of the Water and Sediment Dynamic Diversions

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