2. Course Contents
• Introduction: Definition, necessity of irrigation, water resource and irrigation
system of Pakistan, Indus Basin Treaty, water budget of Pakistan
• Water Requirement of Crops: Functions of irrigation, preparation land for
irrigation, crop period, base period, duty and delta, relationship between duty and
delta, factors affecting duty, depth and frequencies of irrigation, Kharif-Rabi ratio,
optimization of irrigation water, irrigation efficiency, uniformity coefficient,
consumptive use of water, effective rainfall, net irrigation requirements, gross
irrigation requirement, estimation of consumption use, Blaney Criddle, Hargreaves
Methods, assessment of irrigation water charges
• Methods of Irrigation: Classification of irrigation methods, factors affecting the
choice of irrigation methods, surface methods, sub-surface irrigation methods
• Hydraulic Structures: Introduction: Dams, weirs, and barrages. Classification of
dams, Gravity dams, Forces acting on a gravity dam, Modes of failure, Principal
and shear stresses, Stability analysis, Elementary profile of a gravity dam, Practical
profile of a gravity dam, Limiting height of a gravity dam, Profile of high masonry
gravity dam.
• Water conveyance structures: Introduction: Canals, distributaries, minors, and
water courses. , Basic definitions, alignment of canal, water distribution system,
required canal capacity, seepage losses, empirical formula for channel Losses,
channel section for minimum seepage losses.
• Design of irrigation channels: Design of stable channel, regime channels,
Kennedy’s theory, Lacey’s theory, estimation of transported sediment, bed load
equations, design procedure for unlined non-erodible irrigation channel,
maintenance of irrigation channels
3. Practicals
• Study of characteristics of various irrigation structures
in the near by area.
• Design and layout of a canal for a given command.
• A field visit to canal irrigation system and structures.
• Design of outlets.
• Computer aided design of a watercourse for a command
area.
• Sampling and measurement of sediments in canal
water.
4. Recommended Books
• Irrigation Engineering & Hydraulic Structures by Santosh Kumar, Garg, 10th
revised Edition, 1993
• Irrigation & Water Power Engineering by Dr. B.C. Punmia, Dr. Pande B.B. Lal
• Siddiqui, I. H. 2003. Irrigation and Drainage Engineering. Royal Book Company,
BG-Rex Centre Fatima Jinnah Road, Karachi.
• Iqbal Ali. 2001. Irrigation Engineering, Oxford University Press, London.
• Withers, Bruce & Vipond, S. 1980. Irrigation Design and Practice, Batsford
Academic and Education Limited London.
• Aisenbrey, A.J., Hayes, R.B., Warren, H.J., and Young, R.B., 1983. Design of small
canal structures, USBR, Denver Colorado, USA.
• Ahmad, N. and Chaudhry, G.R. 1988. Irrigated Agriculture of Pakistan, Shahzad
Nazir Publisher, Gulberg-III, Lahore.
• Ahmad, N. 1993. Water Resources of Pakistan, Shahzad Nazir Publisher, Gulberg-
III, Lahore.
• Michal, A.M. 2003. Irrigation Theory and Practice, Vikas Publishing House (Pvt)
New Delhi, India.Arora, R.K. Irrigation and Water Power Engineering.
5. Definition: Irrigation
Artificial application of water to the soil through
manually or mechanically managed system for
the purpose to
• Supply moisture essential for plant growth
• Encourage plant root development
• Cool the soil and atmosphere
• Create favorable condition for plant growth
• Transport nutrients from soil to plant
6. OBJECTIVES OF IRRIGATION
• To Supply Water
Partially or Totally for
Crop Need
• To Cool both the Soil
and the Plant
• To Leach Excess Salts
• To improve
Groundwater storage
• To Facilitate continuous
cropping
• To Enhance Fertilizer
Application- Fertigation
7. History: Irrigation
Joseph Canal (1900 b.c.)
Greatest system inherited by Ramses II
World’s oldest Dam (3100 b.c.)
Alhazen (Aswin Dam)
Community of Saba (Marib Dam)
Kanates/Karez in Baluchistan
Irrigation in China (Tu-kiang Dam)
Western Jamuna Canal Systesm
8. History: Irrigation Indo-Pak
• The agriculture of Pakistan mainly depends upon the irrigation
water which is a critical source for sustainable and economic
development of the country.
• The origin of irrigation in Pakistan can be found in the pre- British
time.
• The objective of the colonial policy was to extend the agriculture to
all the areas of Indus Basin where agriculture can boom. This would
hence keep the rural population engage in agriculture, avoid
conflicts, protect against drought and hence secure the colonial rule.
• Available water was thus distributed among the farmers based upon
the principles of equity.
• After green revolution in 1960s, the colonial mantra exposed.
Limited supply of water was far away less than the demand of
individual farmers. Water is still being distributed among the
farmers based on their land holdings.
9. Irrigation Engineering
This involves
• Conception,
• Planning,
• Design,
• Construction,
• Operation and
• Management of an irrigation system.
An irrigation engineer is one who has a long theoretical
and practical training in planning, design, construction,
operation and management of irrigation systems.
10. Necessity of Irrigation
In areas with unreliable rainfall, watering of crops is essential.
Irrigation is necessary where rainfall amount is not sufficient to meet
crop water requirement.
In Pakistan
Average Annual Rainfall 10-14 inch
Potential demand of water for Agriculture is about 70 inch
11. Drainage
Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of surface and
subsurface water from an area.
An agricultural drainage system is a system by which the water
level on or in the soil is controlled to enhance agricultural crop
production.
12. Precipitation
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation
of atmospheric water vapour that falls under gravity.
Generally, any form of moisture received on earth is called as
precipitation.
It includes,
Rain (liquid form of precipitation)
Snow (Crystalline water ice form)
Hail (Irregular lumps of ice called hailstone)
Sleet (Rain and partially melted Snow)
13. Arial distribution of rainfall zones in Pakistan
Sr. No. Rainfall Zone Percent area Average annual
rainfall
1 Arid 67 <10 inch
2 Semi-arid 24 10-20 inch
3 Humid 5.5 20-30 inch
4 Para Humid 3.5 >30 inch
