مقالات رزومه دکتر محمدجواد منعم

Arranged delivery is recommended for higher irrigation management flexibility and water productivity in irrigation networks. For arranged delivery, the spatial and temporal variations of numerous requests increase the complexity of the operation and the probability of operational errors. The objective of this research is to consider the operational errors and analyze their impact on output uncertainty. To this end, in a canal, two options of increase and decrease in demand, and four scenarios of structural operational errors are studied. The structural operational error scenarios include one check structure, one check and one intake, two check structures, two checks, and one intake. In each scenario, random numbers for structural adjustment were generated using the Monte Carlo simulation method. The canal system, operational scenarios, and delivery options were simulated using the Irrigation Conveyance System Simulation (ICSS) model. The analyzed outputs are delivery discharge, adequacy, efficiency, stability, and depth control error. The uncertainty of outputs is calculated for the operational error range of 38 to 95 %. The uncertainty band of the flow delivery for the increasing scenario was between 38 to 95%, and 33 to 85% for the decreasing scenario. Therefore, increasing scenarios produce higher uncertainty, and require a more accurate operation. By increasing the number of structures that encounter operational error, the uncertainty of almost all outputs has increased. The highest increment of 12% was seen in the stability index for the increasing scenario and an 8% uncertainty band increase in the depth index for the decreasing scenario. For increasing scenarios, delivery discharge with an uncertainty band of 38 to 95% is the most sensitive parameter. For decreasing scenarios, the depth control parameter with an uncertainty band of 36 to 82% is more sensitive compared to delivery flow. Therefore, for increasing scenarios the delivery discharge, and for decreasing scenarios, the water depth are more important parameters to be controlled.

In the quantitative model development of the Nexus chain within the boundaries of irrigation networks, the role of social parameters is as much important as technical parameters if it is not higher. The social parameter’s role is essential in the explanation, definition, and description of the governing equations. The social parameters explain many systemic archetypes and become the balancing or reinforcing factor of some system loops. Of course, the main goal of extension programs is not limited to agricultural development; Rather, it aims to solve the three basic problems of third world rural communities, i.e. weak production, lack of equality in income distribution and lack of participation of villagers in social activities, so as to pave the way to achieve sustainable rural development in all its dimensions and elements. Nevertheless, although sometimes agricultural education and extension programs are considered ineffective and undesirable; But it cannot be ignored in the present and future development of rural areas.

Agricultural education and extension factors are the parameters that affect technical parameters in several aspects. These factors affect the cultivation pattern, method of water use, amount of required water, and irrigation management. The conceptual and quantitative model of the Nexus chain in the boundaries of the Qazvin irrigation network is developed. In addition to several technical relevant parameters in the Nexus chain, the agriculture extension is considered as well. The effects of agriculture extension parameters were investigated on the three integrated systemic archetypes defined in the model (a subsystem of "limit to growth" of agricultural expansion, "shifting the burden" of groundwater resources problem and "fixes that backfire" of development of arranged delivery).

• According to the extraction of the available historical education data in the last twenty years from the sites affiliated with the Ministry of Agriculture, the equations in the three subsystems were calculated by multivariable linear regression and curve regression.
The model was run for the years 2005 to 2016. Verification and validation tests were performed for the model and its results were interpreted for the Nexus index. It should be noted that all the input data in the model were entered into the model in a standardized way and the results between zero to one were calculated in a dimensionless manner. Nexus index is a linear combination of 8 partial indices in Qazvin irrigation network: water productivity in food, surface productivity in food, energy efficiency in food, economic productivity of food, economic productivity of water, economic productivity of energy, food production index in the network relative to the province and the index of the amount of water delivered to the water demanded. Because each part of the training was effective in a different variable; Therefore, the amount of changes in that variable was observed and their changes were recorded, and finally, in loading the model during the years of implementation of the model, the amount of the Nexus index, which was a combination of all three trainings; It was observed that they are shown in the diagrams of figures 6 to 8. and figure 9 shows changes on Nexus index in modelling years.
• The model was set for the coming years (by 2031). For this purpose, all inputs of the model were calibrated until the aforementioned year. By implementing the model, it is possible to monitor the effects of training on key indicators and finally the nexus index and study their effectiveness. Diagrams 9 to 11 show the impact of the continuation of the current trend in the farmers' training system on the vital parameters of the Nexus chain in Qazvin irrigation network. Also, the diagram in Figure 12 shows the effect of the downward trend in the education system on the trend of the Nexus index. It should be noted that the water productivity index reflects the training parameter in the direction of reviving water resources, and the index of the ratio of delivered water to the requested water reflects the network's utility index, which itself reflects the adjustment of the water demand from the network and ultimately reflects water storage in Qazvin network, and finally, the index of the ratio of agricultural products produced in the network to its similar amount in the province reflects the training parameter in line with the method and pattern of cultivation in the irrigation network.
The existing relationships in these interactions as well as the amount of their variations in the differential equations of each subsystem indicate the effectiveness of the agricultural extension activities on the subsystems. According to the developed regression equations and considering the effect of balancing extension parameters, it is expected that the increasing extensional activities as a policy lever will stop or at least balance the decreasing utility and weakening performance of the irrigation system.

The involvement of many factors in a complex model such as the improvement of irrigation networks and their complex interactive relationship on the performance of the water, food and energy system (Nexus) in the long term makes the use of the system dynamics approach inevitable. The aforementioned approach in addition to being holistic, explains the system simulation realistically. The present research modelled the dynamics governing structural and non-structural actions for rehabilitation of irrigation networks to improve the utility of the network, and by supplying the Nexus index, using the strategy of systemic thinking. For this purpose, subsystems of "water productivity improvement", "definition of network utility index" and "description of Nexus in networks" were compiled and conceptualized using system dynamics tools based on the years 2006 to 2016. A quantitative model was developed and validated in 2016-2023 based on the developed conceptual model. According to the results of the research, the use of structural and non-structural solutions had the greatest effectiveness in the Nexus index and the network utility index, compared to the use of each of the solutions separately; thus, for the scenarios of increasing 25, 50 and 75% of structural and non-structural solutions together, the amount of Nexus index improved by 17.37, 23.83 and 26.89%, respectively.

This study explores the impact of modernizing water distribution systems on the efficiency of agricultural water distribution from surface water resources. While previous studies have focused on technical and hydraulic evaluations of modernization options for irrigation networks, this research uses the life cycle assessment (LCA) method to compare selected modernization options regarding environmental performance. This is crucial given the increasing global focus on the environment and the importance of addressing environmental issues related to irrigation. The modernization options in this study were selected from structural and non-structural methods proposed in previous studies and were evaluated in terms of environmental impact over a 30-year lifespan. The environmental model of each option was developed in SimaPro v.9 software to use the LCA method. The results showed that the highest environmental impacts in all three scenarios were related to global warming potential, particulate matter formation, and human toxicity, respectively. However, environmental emissions were found to be lower in the structural scenario than in the current situation, while the non-structural scenario showed greater reduction. Further analysis revealed that carbon dioxide emissions equivalent had decreased by 9% in the structural scenario compared to the current situation. This is due to the decrease in electricity consumption caused by pumping wells by farmers. Over 99% of carbon dioxide production is due to electricity consumption, so using the structural modernization method during its service life could significantly reduce environmental pollution. Using non-structural methods could also reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 22%. Given these findings, the non-structural modernization scenario was found to be the most environmentally friendly among the scenarios examined in this study. The authors recommend that future research use the life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) method, which includes evaluating LCA as an environmental criterion, LCC as an economic criterion, and social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) as a social criterion.

The main purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual model for integrated management of irrigation network based on water, food and energy linkage (Nexus). This requires identifying the main concerns related to irrigation networks, introducing and reflecting important decision variables and interactions between them, which explains the dynamics of water, food and energy chains within the boundaries a unit (irrigation network) of a catchment. This approach has received less attention in the management of irrigation networks, which is expected to solve some of the problems of irrigation network management. The method used in this research is based on a review of the Nexus chain management literature, the concepts of sustainability and security of water, food and energy resources in irrigation networks, and a practical approach to system dynamics. The major part of the research relied on field activities, including inspection to irrigation networks and interviews with provincial experts, specialists and technicians, Agricultural water users. Important variables affecting the integrated management of irrigation networks, which have been used in designing the framework, analyzing and determining behavioral patterns, were identified.

The eight main concerns of irrigation networks as important mechanisms of system dynamics for both levels (network management and field management) were identified as follows:- Subsystem of water resource limitation in the domain of an irrigation network that affects the growth of the most important economic loop in the region (Limit to growth Archetype). The combined subsystem in the face of the weakness of the equity index in the network (the success to the successful archetype in obtaining more water resources, the shifting the burden archetype in providing the water needs of the downstream farmers and the escalation archetype in the increase in the amount of water needed as a result of changes in the cultivation pattern in general Agriculture of the region). The set of personal and managerial actions in the face of the shortage of water volume available in the network resulting from the adoption of decisions without long-term consequences (combined archetypes of fixes that backfire in meeting water needs from groundwater resources, allocation of more water resources to meet network obligations and changes in the cultivation pattern to obtain more yields).The set of individual decisions of farmers and the symptomatic solutions of managers in the face of unsupplied water demand in the agricultural sector (a combination archetypes of fixes that backfire for unauthorized access to groundwater resources and the archetype of shifting the burden in the face of network managers with the problem of illegal harvesting activities by providing a solution for choking wells).Product performance subsystem (problem of using agricultural inputs) (combined archetypes of fixes that backfire in farmers' use of agricultural inputs and the its consequences on land salinity, as well as increasing the farmed area to achieve more yield).The subsystem of facing the most important problem of the agricultural sector (water productivity in agriculture), (the archetype of shifting the burden in dealing network officials with improving water productivity through improving network efficiencyversus the fundamental solution of improving water productivity at the agricultural block level and archetype of fixes that backfire of the development of the arrangement delivery plan with the tools of educating to farmers in front of the long-term side effects of more management of water delivered to farmers). The subsystem of noticeable decrease in the utility of the network (the archetype of eroding goals in accordance with the pressures on the network managers and ultimately the downgrading of the initial goals of the irrigation network plan, which requires a review of the structural infrastructure and managerial empowerment in the irrigation network). The explanation subsystem of the Nexus index as the main combined index from the point of view of water, food and energy (providing a fundamental solution to improve the utility versus increasing the farmed area as an ineffective symptomatic solution in this field).

According to the main concerns, behavioral patterns were explained and identified based on the decision mechanisms of water users and network managers, in the short and long term, and their side effects. Six system archetypes were identified that represent the dynamics of the irrigation network and predict the future utility of the network based on the water, food and energy chain (Nexus). These archetypes include: "Limit to Growth", "Fixes that Backfire", "Success to the Successful", "Escalation", "Eroding goals" and "Shifting the Burden".

Three strategies for controlling the above mechanisms as regional Solution (local strategies) are proposed as follows: a- Water Distribution Improvement Schemes, b- Determining the Crop pattern and Irrigation density in proportion to the network capacity and c- Groundwater Extraction Control. As a result of this research, a conceptual model has been developed whose main achievement is to recommend the modification of the existing process of distribution schemes along with the modification of the crop pattern in accordance with the primary design and the water need of farmers.

Improper water distribution and delivery will cause poor performance of irrigation networks which requires improvement. Improvement of delivery method from rotational to arranged method increases farmers’ flexibility in irrigation management, improves water use productivity, and decreases water losses. In addition to higher flexibility, arranged delivery does not need expensive infrastructures and could be implemented in existing networks with manual operation. One of the important problems in the design of irrigation networks is the calculation of the canal capacity which is more complex for arranged delivery methods. Clements’model is used for the determination of canal capacity for arranged delivery. In this research, the application of Clements’ model in determining the capacity of two canals in the Ghazvin irrigation network and arranged delivery is investigated. The probability distribution function of water delivery to the tertiary intakes is determined. The results show that the best distribution function is the extreme value function. However, Clements’ model with the assumption of normal distribution for the requests shows acceptable performance for canal capacity determination. The level of flexibility of water delivery is a function of the degree of freedom of farmers and the possibility of simultaneous water exploitation of intakes. Considering the existing canal capacity, and calculated required canal capacity the attainable flexibility in the studied canals is determined. The results showed that for the degree of freedom equal to 1, the existing capacity of both canals allows all intakes to receive water simultaneously. For an accumulative probability of 75 percent, the degree of freedom could be increased up to 35, and 59 percent.

Our generation is facing the daunting challenges of climate change and growing pressure on the environment; Challenges caused by human activities. Considering these environmental conditions and their relationship with social and economic challenges, to achieve the United Nations sustainable development goals, comprehensive and strong tools are required to make decisions to identify the solutions supporting sustainable development in the best way. Decisions should have a systematic perspective, and consider the life cycle and all its related impacts. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool possessing these characteristics. In this study, the life cycle assessment method is introduced first and then, several applications of this method in water distribution systems are examined using some articles. The review of previous studies showed that replacing the gravity transfer of water by pumping can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 64-81%. Also, choosing the right type and diameter for the pipes of the water distribution network - which will reduce leakage from the network - will increase the life of the network and save up to 75% of costs. Finally, recycling the network after its useful life has significant positive environmental effects and can reduce the potential of human poisoning and pollution of natural resources by 60-88%.

Irrigation Researchers has recommended to change water delivery methods from rotational to on-request methods to enhance flexibility. The diversity of requests in the on-request method makes it difficult to plan and implement the water distribution. The intensified unsteady flow is a challenge concerning the hydraulic performance and flexibility of canals. Flow instability may be associated with excess or deficiency of water delivery, leading to poor performance contrary to the initial intention. Thus, the hydraulic performance of various on-request methods needs to be assessed before recommending them. In this research, based on classification of on-request methods three options are defined. To facilitate the evaluation of different options identical volume of water delivered to the turnouts during the irrigation cycle in all delivery rotations. To this end, out of the three delivery factors of flow rate, duration, and frequency, two factors are considered to be variable. An overall of 14 scenarios was defined by separating the conditions for increasing and decreasing demands. The scenarios were simulated and evaluated in the East Aghili canal using ICSS model. The results show that, even though with increasing the flexibility, unsteady flow behavior is increased, however, if the structures are adjusted accurately, the hydraulic performance of the canal would not be much different. The maximum deviation of water delivery to turnouts among scenarios is about 3% by volume. The lowest values of Adequacy and Efficiency indexes of water delivery are equal to: 0.970 and 0.968, respectively, and the highest values of Equity and Dependability indexes are 0.082 and 0.056, respectively, which shows that all of them are very close to their ideal values. Hence, regardless of the hydraulic behavior of the flow, different levels of flexibility can be achieved for a variety of on-request methods by correctly determining and performing the operation instructions.

One of the most important issues in modeling wetland basins is estimating water balance by simulating its hydrological components, For which, various software was developed. DYRESM model was applied to indicate the water quality conditions of the Torogh Dam reservoir (KHAYAMI et al., 2009) and Fifteen-Khordad dam reservoir (ETEMAD et al., 2009) by examining the temporal changes of temperature, salinity, wind speed and dissolved oxygen parameters. Using MIKE SHE model, water balance in Paya Indah Wetlands (PIW) watershed in Malaysian was estimated (Rahim et al., 2012). CE-QUAL-W2 2D model was used for thermal and oxygen modeling in the Sefidrood dam reservoir (Taheri et al., 2014). Modeling of water level changes due to breakwaters in Anzali International Wetland was investigated using MIKE 21 numerical model (Juston and Kadlec, 2019).In this research, a qualitative and quantitative two-dimensional model of Bamdej wetland is developed using MIKE 21 software to operate and manage the wetland for the first time. The model is calibrated and validated using measured data over a one-year period. Finally, changes in hydrodynamic parameters of water depth and velocity in x and y directions and qualitative parameters such as temperature, dissolved oxygen, nitrate, ammonia are analyzed.

Bamdej wetland is located between 48˚ 33’ to 48 ˚ 39’ longitude and between 31˚ 41’ to 31˚ 47’ latitude in Khuzestan province which is far from northwestern Ahvaz city about 40 kilometers.The two-dimensional model, conducted on Bamdej wetland using the MIKE 21 model, is an unsteady model which applies laterally averaged depth-(in X- and Y-direction), revealed by equations 1-4. The hydrodynamic and quality parameters used in this study were shown in ‎Table 1. Using field surveying data initial values of Manning’s roughness for the river bed and the flood plain of the wetland were chosen. ‎Fig. 3 shows the points at which flow and pollution resources were considered. Then, the model results were validated by changing the initial values of the roughness. Finally, boundary conditions, ‎Table 4, were applied and run. The parameters related to determining the time step of the calculations were considered according to ‎Table 5.

Taking into account different values ​​of the Manning coefficient, the final values ​​of the Manning roughness coefficient are equal to 0.04 for the riverbed and 0.06 for the right and left floodplains. Due to the limited data available in the hydrodynamic model, only the roughness coefficient and the pollutant transfer model, only the scattering coefficient parameter (as the most important parameters) were calibrated. For calibrating the roughness coefficient, the most agreement was made between the computational and observational zones of the wetland.The model outputs include the mentioned hydrodynamic and qualitative parameters during one year of simulation time with 2.5 hours. Run times for a year take about 36 hours, and since wet and dry seasons are experienced during the year, an acceptable methodology can be enumerated. We applied ArcGIS software for analysis and zoning of variables. the results are presented only for a limited time in ‎Fig. 4 to 11.The amount of water depth in Bamdej wetland is mostly less than one meter, although it reaches about 2 meters and even up to 2.6 meters in some places. The average depth velocity varies between 0.05 to 0.2 m / s in Bamadj wetland (‎Fig. 3 and 4). Comparing depth magnitudes (‎Fig. 4) and the amounts of water quality parameters (‎Fig. 5 to ‎11) throughout Bamdej wetland revealed that where the depth is greater the values of quality parameters are higher, consistent with the results of previous research.The high concentration of dissolved oxygen in the lagoon reaches up to 5 mg / l, but high levels occur in the main bed. The same is true of biochemical oxygen demand values. However, the maximum ​biochemical oxygen concentration (2 mg / l) is less than the dissolved oxygen concentration.Ammonia concentration varies between 1 and 3; however, the slightest changes and high values ​​ observe only in a few points among the qualitative parameters.In general, the results showed that the simulation accuracy is about one percent, concluded that the prepared two-dimensional and unsteady hydrodynamic model has good accuracy and can calculate the flow parameters and the lagoon area with acceptable accuracy.

Hydrodynamic and quality maps of the wetland procured by two-dimensional modeling of hydrodynamic and quality of Bamdej wetland, developed in this research, show the proper Manning's roughness coefficients for the river and flood plain are 0.04 and 0.06, respectively. Furthermore, the hydrodynamic and quality model is accurate and could precisely calculate flow parameters and wetland zones.

Limited water resources and low productivity of water consumption in agricultural sector, as the largest water consumer, necessitate performance improvement of irrigation networks. One of the necessary measures to do this is to use a systematic and comprehensive approach to evaluate and improve the performance of irrigation systems. The MASSCOTE approach is a comprehensive approach for modernizing medium to large-scale irrigation systems in terms of improving water delivery performance. MASSCOTE helps evaluate and prepare modernization programs in a step-by-step manner. In this research, the performance evaluation and improvement of Gotvand irrigation network was evaluated using the MASSCOTE approach. Based on the obtained results, the participation of users and the integration of their opinions and logical demands in the management of Gotvand Network, can be the solution to many problems. Establishment of water consumer association will reduce the problems related to water abstraction violations, and make it easier for users to access and regulate their contracts. Modifying the conventional method of water distribution, by volumetric distribution method creates a good capacity to reduce water losses and improve productivity in the network. According to the calculations, the annual supplied water, leakage and drainage of the network are 1209.5, 113.2 and 771 million cubic meters, respectively. Based on the network water balance, the evapotranspiration rate of crops was estimated at 325 million cubic meters, and the net irrigation requirement was calculated using meteorological information, was 389 million cubic meters, which is 64 million cubic meters less than the evapotranspiration rate. According to the results of MASSCOTE, in order to improve the network performance, the water balance should be improved to better maintain crop water requirement. It is recommended to change the cultivation pattern to a lower water consume pattern, and to reform the irrigation methods, and network management structure.

The experience of irrigation networks in recent years shows that traditional operation methods are not able to implement proper water delivery in water scarce periods and enhancing is unavoidable. In many cases, delivered water does not match water requirement, and it causes decreasing water productivity and farmer’s dissatisfaction. (Sadeghi and Monem, 2014)Irrigation delivery under these conditions is a complex process. Optimization techniques have limitations in the above situations (Santhi and Pundarikanthan., 1999)Monem et al. showed that using hydrodynamic model and unsteady flow analysis is a suitable approach to determine appropriate operation, and performance improvement of irrigation networks under harsh circumstances. (Monem, et al., 2005)In this paper, the main goal is improving the operational distribution management in irrigation networks in water scarce situation. At the first step, the water delivery and distribution status in Eastern Aghili secondary canal is evaluated for full discharge, 20% and 40% water scarce situation (as scenario 0). At the second step, four management scenarios have been defined, and are simulated to manage water scarcity.

Aghili Irrigation Network is located in Gotvand irrigation area in Khuzestan. In present study, the East Aghili secondary canal is selected. This canal is a concrete lined canal having trapezoidal cross section with side slope of 1:1, and length of 16.215 km. The bed width of the canal in the first half is 1.5 meters and for the second half is 1 meter. For clear presentation and discussion of the results, the 9 km of the canal which has 13 outlets is simulated. Simulations are done using ICSS hydrodynamic model. The ICSS model simulates steady flow by solving gradually varied flow equations proposed by Henderson, and unsteady flow by solving St.Venant equations proposed by Sterlekof. It can simulate different structures with the wide range of operations. Performance indicators proposed by Molden and Gates (1990) are used for evaluation of the scenarios. Delivery efficiency, adequacy, and equity indicators, are calculated and discussed for scenarios. In this paper four scenarios are defined for three irrigation level of 100%, 80% and 60% of the required discharge for 24 hour delivery period. The scenarios are:1. The volume of water delivered to all outlets have been decreased proportionally to the shortage of water at the head of canal. The operation of structures are done at the same time. (Scenario 1)2. The second scenario is defined by a Prioritization based on cultivation pattern. Outlets number 3, 6, 8, 10, 11, are considered to have priority for water delivery. So, these outlets receive full discharge, and water shortage is distributed to other outlets (Scenario 2)3. In this scenario the outlets are divided into two groups, which in both groups, sum of the required discharge is equal. In the first 12 hours the first group (outlet numbers 1 to 5) receive their full required discharge, and the second group receive decreased discharge proportional to remaining water left in the canal. At the second 12 hours, the water distribution and corresponding operation is done reversely. (Scenario 3)4. In this scenario, also, the outlets are divided into two groups, which in both groups, sum of the required discharge is equal. In the first 12 hours the first group (outlets number 1 to 5) are closed, and water is delivered to the second group of outlets. At the second 12 hours, the water delivery and corresponding operation is done reversely. (Scenario 4).

The result of zero scenario shows that under 20 percent water scarcity, the Adequacy Index is less than 90% for five outlets, and 38% outlets have medium adequacy. The Equity Index is 0.07. For 40 percent water scarcity, 9 outlets (70%) have a medium and poor adequacy, and the equity index is 0.13. This results show that in water scarce situation, not only the adequacy is decreased, but also the equity of water distribution is harmed.After the use of four defined scenarios, the results indicate acceptable improvement in all scenarios, under both 20 % and 40 % water scarcity. Under 20% water scarcity the first scenario, and for 40% water scarcity, the fourth scenario has the highest performance indices. For 20% scarcity, the priority of the scenarios are, scenario no. 1, 4, 3, and 2. For 40% scarcity the priorities are, scenario no. 4, 3, 2, and 1.

Water shortage without appropriate management actions, will cause poor performance not only from adequacy point of view, but also from equity aspect. According to the results, all proposed management actions, have acceptable effect in water delivery improvement under both 20% and 40% water scarcity with little differences. For selection of the scenarios in addition to hydraulic performance, operational efforts and social acceptance of different scenarios should be considered as well.

Selection of appropriate water delivery method is one of the most important parameters in irrigation networks that plays an effective role in determining flexibility and improving water productivity. Depending on the management of delivery parameters, water delivery systems can be classified into three main types of, Rotational, on-request (arranged), and on-demand methods. Among main delivery systems, on request system is proposed to increase flexibility. This method, while doesn’t need high cost automatic systems, could be applied on existing irrigation networks with minor changes, and manual operation. Depending on the range of delivery parameters variation, limitation on requests, and method of reaching an agreement between managers and farmers, several on request methods could be defined. Each one of the defined methods has direct impact on management of the network, which requires their appropriate classification in order to facilitate operation planning. So far no basis for classification of on request method is introduced. In this research, data are collected from previous researchers and field investigation from some national and international networks, which are operated using on-request delivery methods. Analyzing the collected data, the basis for classification of on request delivery systems is developed. The on-request delivery method of the studied network are classified. Regarding variation range of delivery parameters, and method of reaching agreement, on request method is classified in to 3 categories with maximum, medium, and minimum flexibility.

Optimization of operational performance in irrigation networks is essential for increasing water consumption efficiency in Urmia Lake Basin and its restoration. Various optimization algorithms have been developed. In this research, PSO algorithm with the ability of swarm intelligence and convergence speed was used to optimize the water delivery schedule of Zarinehroud left bank Irrigation Network in two reduced water allocation scenarios. The first scenario follows the Urmia Lake Restoration Plan (ULRP) based on the reduction of agricultural water consumption by 40%; and the second scenario focuses on the delivery of 70% to 90% of network water demand. Suitable values of model parameters have been determined by sensitivity analysis, and used in the modeling of two scenarios. Results of the first scenario indicated that, with supplement of 66% of water demand, the feasibility of 9% increase in water efficiency, 30% and 38% increase in the stability and adequacy indices can be achieved, respectively. In the second scenario, with 82% supply of water demand; the efficiency, stability and adequacy indices could be increased by 25%, 32% and 42%, respectively. The second scenario is recommended due to the gradually reduction of water allocation and greater values of the performance indices, while preserving the dependability and trust of water-users in the Zarinehroud irrigation network.

Water, food and energy are the main resources needed for the development of societies. Recently, comprehensive management from Nexus' point of view has been examined and evaluated by focusing on these three sources at the macro, regional and basin levels. However Nexus approach has received less attention in irrigation networks, which consumes energy, and the most water, and produce the most food. (Mabhaudhi et al., 2018). International Commission of Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) announced the Nexus as one of the main topics for 2017 and 2018 congress. Some papers were presented with the focus on food security, energy consumption for ground water extraction, and climate change. As conclusion of both congress it is stated that even though the nexus approach is fast growing, however its application is very limited. Therefore Nexus knowledge and capacity building among stakeholders should be developed, and its application in development planning of irrigation networks should be considered (Hassan, et al. 2017 & Pandya, et al. 2018). Relationships of water, food, and energy at irrigation networks, due to the problems of each component, and their interactions are quite complex. In this study systems dynamics approach used to investigate existing structures between these sources, and causal relationship between different components is determined as a conceptual model. Subsequently, by development of quantified model, the Nexus model of Qazvin Irrigation Network from productivity, adequacy and sustainability of water delivery has been produced. Three scenarios regarding water, food and energy, including, reducing surface water resources, increasing cultivated area, and increasing energy consumption, were evaluated. System Dynamic approach enables us to consider the complex interactions between water, food and energy components in long term in irrigation networks, and examined the impact of different scenarios, to decide on more sustainable policies. In this approach by problem definition, and determination of the boundaries of the system, the dynamics of the system in form of casual loops are defined. Four archetypes are identified which are Limits to Growth, Shifting the Burden, Fixes that Fail, and Eroding Goals. Considering casual loops in water, food, and energy systems, the conceptual model of the Nexus in irrigation networks is developed. By collecting the required data from Ghazvin irrigation network the quantitative model is developed and verified using VENSIM model. The quantitative model is developed by defining mathematical relations between different components. The equations are defined in four subsystems including water demand and supply, food production, productivity, and water utility. In these relations, different information such as ground water extraction, surface water supply, required agricultural inputs, etc. are defined based on collected data in form of 10 year time series. Model verification is done by behavior investigation and boundary value test. The model estimated crop production, show good consistency with actual data with average error of 0.1%, and boundary value test show expected results. Therefore the verification results show appropriate performance of the model. Three scenarios for each resources (water, Food, and Energy) were examined which include, increasing energy consumption for ground water extraction, increasing cultivated area, and decreasing surface water.Testing three scenarios provide the following

Continuation of the present condition, will led to increase of crop production up to 60% in early 10 years. However due to activation of controlling mechanisms it sharply decreases by 50% in 5 years. Water utility shows similar manner, initially 20% increase, and 10% decrease afterward. Increasing energy consumption and ground water extraction causes crop production increase in almost all the simulation period with lower variations. Four years delay in impact of controlling mechanism is visible. Water utility has been increased as well, and it is 7% more at the end of simulation period. Due to limited potentials of increasing cropped area, this scenario performs similar to continuation of present condition, with marginal improvement in crop production and water utility. Decreasing surface water has the greatest impact in decreasing crop production and water utility, with respect to continuation of present condition. The maximum decrease in crop production and water utility are 23%, and 32% respectively. Even though due to activation of balancing mechanisms crop production shows 60% increase, however it happens with 5 year delay and decreases sharply afterward. Considering limited water resources, and its greatest impact on crop production and water utility, it could be suggested that water management policies, take higher priority in Nexus approach. As a general conclusion it could be stated that, system dynamic is a suitable method to implement Nexus approach in irrigation networks, and to investigate the long term impact of different scenarios, to select more sustainable policies for irrigation development.

The water, food and energy nexus is an important approach in a comprehensive assessment of water resource management policies. The main objective of the current research is providing a method for decision makers to analysis and quantitative assessment of water–food–energy nexus at the irrigation network level. Through the proposed method, indicators considering the water and energy consumption, water productivity, and energy productivity were suggested. Based on these indicators a water–food–energy nexus index (WFENI) was proposed. This research was conducted on irrigation networks located in the Zayandehrood basin in Isfahan province. The Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) Model has been used to simulate the allocation of resources and basin utilization conditions. Different scenarios were analyzed to existing water resources, energy consumption, and crop patterns. Considering the normalized water productivity index solely, the best scenario is a 20% reduction in water release from zayandehrood dam, with a maximum value of 0.54 for the Nekouabad irrigation network. Based on the normalized energy productivity index, the best scenario is the blockage of illegal wells with a maximum value of 0.49 for the Northern Mahyar irrigation network. While, taking into account the combined index, the prioritization of scenarios in different networks has changed. The results of this research indicated that although each of the Productivity Index alone reflects the effects of each policies in different networks, but based on only one indicator, it is not possible to decide on the effectiveness of the policies. It can be stated that the simultaneous consideration of water, food and energy is essential in analyzing the operation of irrigation networks and in selecting best policies

The submergence threshold of a structure is investigated to determine the boundary between free and submerged flows. Knowing the Submergence threshold of the structure, can help to estimate the discharge in free and submerged conditions with reasonable accuracy. Lopac gates are control structures used to regulate the flow in irrigation canals which has limited reported studies. In this study, the submergence threshold of the lopac gate in different gate opening was investigated. For this purpose, the lopac gate was studied under different hydraulic and operation conditions. Experiments were conducted on a laboratory model at Water Research Institute of Iran. Using the interpolation, the submergence threshold of the lopac gate is obtained for different values of opening angle and flow discharge based on the criteria of one, two and three percent of the depth variation. The graphs of the submergence threshold can be presented as a functional guide. The most important non-dimensional parameters affecting the submergence threshold of the lopac gate are the ratio of the gate opening to the gate width, and upstream Froud Number ( and ). Accordingly, a relationship was found for the submergence threshold of the lopac gate using experimental results in two discharge of 0.025 and 0.030 cms and based on the affecting non-dimensional parameters. The resultant relationship estimates the submergence threshold of the lopac gate with the maximum relative error of ± % 10 which is practically acceptable. In addition the derived figures of the submergence ratio are practical guidelines for determining the boundary between free and submerged flow for different conditions.

Water resources limitation and population growth that requires increased food production, indicates the necessity of promoting water productivity in irrigation networks. Productivity improvement methods in irrigation networks consists of supply and demand oriented methods. In this research considering limitation of supply oriented practices, the emphasis is on demand oriented methods especially under water shortage condition. For this purpose, water distribution management in irrigation networks (including 4 scenarios) are considered. This research has been done on a secondary eastern canal of Gotvand irrigation network in Khuzestan province. Hydraulic flow in this network is simulated with the ICSS hydrodynamic model. The crop production has been simulated with the AquaCrop model. Depending on the management goal i.e. saving water, food production and improving water productivity, the scenarios can have different priorities. If the main goal is to improve water productivity, the first and fourth scenarios are the most suitable strategy with 13.8% and 12.96% improvement in productivity compared to the current situation.

Water shortage and limited water resources, reveals the importance of optimum utilization of irrigation water networks more than ever. In most of the previous studies performance improvement options are given based on individual networks condition, without considerations of providing common solutions for other networks. In this study similar Iranian irrigation networks are classified in different clusters based on the problems of control structures in the main canals, and common improvement options are given. The classical K-Mean clustering method is used for classification. For this purpose the criterion are analysed using AHP technique. The criterion with more than 7 percent rankings are selected for clustering. The most important criterion are network’s covered area, age and capacity of the networks, and No. of structures. 32 of Iranian irrigation networks are clustered in 7 clusters. 38 questionaires collected by Iranian National Committee of Irrigation and Drainage were analysed. The common problems of the networks were determined for each cluster. The most common problems are determined to be operational deficiencies, repairmen requirements, and farmers intervention and manipulation in operation. The common improvement options to resolve the identified problems for each cluster are given.

Lopac gates, controlling and regulating water level in irrigation canals, have recently been considered due to their practical advantages. So far, a few researches have been conducted on Lopac gate. In this study, the stage-discharge relationships of Lopac gate with different structures including no transition, sudden and gradual transition, in free and submerged condition were investigated. The experiments were performed to provide a wide range of effective non-dimensional parameters including gate angle and relative submergence. It was found that there is a relationship between the non-dimensional form of discharge () and the ratio of upstream water depth to gate opening for free condition and between the Q* and the submergence ratio for submerged conditions. In each of the above mentioned circumstances, using dimensional analysis and regression methods between the effective non-dimensional parameters, some explicit equations were presented for stage-discharge relationship of Lopac gates, with no transition, gradual and sudden transitions under free and submerged condition.

Poor performance of irrigation networks due to improper management and operation of irrigation canal structures has attracted the attention of managers to improve operational management of these structures. Regulating in-line reservoirs can have significant impacts on performance improvements of operational management of irrigation systems. To this end, good coordination between inlet and outlet structures as well as downstream demands should be provided. Under the condition that control and management of the reservoir is done with good coordination with other sectors, the flow in the canal would be more stable. This leads to decrease in the water level fluctuations and better services to water users. Reservoir operation and management investigation requires applying hydrodynamic models. In this study, hydrodynamic model of ICSS was adopted for modelling the flow in the regulating reservoir of Moghan Irrigation Network. Eight operational scenarios for entrance hydrograph to the canal system were considered, which consisted of gradual and sudden decreasing of inflow for two status of (i) non operation and (ii) with reservoir operation. Similar scenarios were assessed for the increasing mode as well. The results indicate that response time of the system and stability of water delivery improve by applying reservoir operation. In the decreasing scenarios, the adequacy indicator improves, while in the increasing ones, the efficiency indicator of water delivery increases when the reservoir is operated. According to the results, the latter improvement for the main off-take was obtained as 0.45% and 6.75% for, respectively, adequacy and stability.

Using automated technologies in irrigation networks in the long time affects network performance and will have an interaction with other factors affecting the performance of the network. The purpose of this study is to identify archetypes associated with automation and providing automation applications model in Qazvin irrigation network. For this purpose, after determining the dynamics of automation in Qazvin irrigation network and developing conceptual model based on the completed questionnaires and interviews, automation application model developed for irrigation network. The dynamics of automation of Qazvin irrigation network is studied, on the basis of irrigation networks indicators such as adequacy, efficiency, equity and flexibility and several improvement policies evaluated, so their effects on utility indices investigated. Then the long-term impacts of improvement policies on system utility are determined and the appropriate policies are suggested. By applying improvement policies such as, earning the trust and participation of farmers in the process of automation, promotion of knowledge and skills of beneficiaries and allocation of budget and finance of automation based on the amount required in the whole network, the utility of the network will improve between 9.5 to 21.13 percent.

This paper shows an optimal water allocation and delivery model at two levels of irrigation networks, namely farm level and canal level, for maximizing of the net benefit. For this purpose, three sub models were developed to optimization of water allocation among different crops, water distribution during each crop growth stage, and water delivery scheduling between canal outlets. The model was performed on the K canal of Moghan irrigation network. With purpose of maximizing the net benefit, optimal water allocated among different crops, distribution of water during each crop growth stages, and water delivery factors at canal level were determined based on optimization procedures. Three water content scenarios were considered in the procedure: normal condition, 25 and 50 percent water deficit conditions. The results showed that the net return was reduced at 25 and 50 percent water deficit scenario, but the water productivity was increased 24% and 40% respectively for the other scenarios. The inflow to the distributary canal was 640 l/s, 590 l/s and 360 l/s in the scenarios, respectively. This indicates that the discharge of canal can be decreased in the deficit scenarios up to 8% and 44% less than normal scenario. Therefore it can reduce canal evaporation and seepage loses.

In order to delivery and distribution programs of water in irrigation network have been used the design and implementation of different structures. Lopac gate is one of the upstream control structures having some advantages such as, performing as overflow structure, easy automation, crossing sediments and floating bodies simultaneously. One of the effective tools to study control structures is mathematical model. Due to the unsteady nature of flow in irrigation canals, incorporation of mathematical model of control structure with hydrodynamic models, is necessary. In this research, the Various Hydraulic and Operation Conditions of Lopac Gate is introduced and mathematical model of Lopac gate is developed and linked with ICSS hydrodynamic model. The developed model is validated using physical model data. The maximum error obtained as 6%, which is acceptable for practical purposes. The model was tested on a canal of DEZ irrigation network in Iran under many different conditions. Results showed that, the model is performing well for tested applications and could be used in various studies of irrigation canals equipped with this structure.

Estimation of discharge coefficient for lopac gates plays an important role in determining the discharge of such structure, as a flow control and regulation structure. The present research provides semi-analytical equations to estimate the discharge coefficient for submerged lopac gates for different conditions. The results indicate that the discharge coefficient depends on gate opening and submergence ratios. Theoretical equations for estimating the discharge coefficient were calibrated with experimental information for the conditions of without transition and with gradual and sudden transitions. The results show that the discharge coefficient of lopac gates with transition is less than that of without transition. The proposed equations for the discharge coefficient have maximum of 10% error. Comparing the results of theoretical equations with previous investigation also demonstrates the efficiency of present equations for estimating the discharge coefficient of submerged lopac gates.