مجله مدیریت آب و آبیاری
سال یازدهم شماره 3 (پاییز 1400)

A solution for optimal management of water resources is to add superabsorbents to the soil to increase water consumption efficiency. Due to the importance of soil infiltration in the design and evaluation of surface irrigation methods, several methods including multi-level optimization, Elliott and Walker two-point method, IPARM and SIPAR-ID were used in this study to estimate the volume of infiltrated water in soil with the presence of superabsorbents. This study was carried out during spring and summer of 2019, in experimental filed of Aboureyhan College of Tehran University. With 5 times irrigation in 10 furrows, two dosages of A200 and Stockosorb superabsorbents (16 and 32 g/m2) and two flow rates (0.3 and 0.6 Ls-1). According to the results, adding superabsorbent to the soil increased soil infiltration. The effect of superabsorbent was reduced with the increase of the flow rate to the furrows (In low flow rate from 5.9% to 18.9% and 5.5% to 18.1% in high flow rate). Stockosorb superabsorbent had a greater effect on increase of water infiltration in the soil compared to A200 (3.4% and 3.3% for low and high dosages of superabsorbent and low flow rate and respectively 0.5% and 1.7% in high flow rate). Multi-level optimization method estimated soil infiltration parameters with the lowest relative error (1%). Having high relative error, the SIPAR-ID model did not perform properly during the evaluation. Results also showed that with increasing the flow rate to the furrows, the performance of the IPARM model and two-point method decreased.

In this study, the performance of Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Radial Base Neural Network approach in predicting the water quality of SiminehRood River was examined. For this purpose, the Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR) and Chlorine ions were considered as indicators of water quality in agricultural use. Sodium, calcium, magnesium, pH, Ec, and river flow rate were utilized as input monthly parameters throughout a 12-year period (2003-2014). The results evaluated based on correlation coefficient, root means square error and mean absolute error. The results of the validation period in 4 stations of Pol Bukan, Dashband Bukan, Ghezel Gonbad and Kaullan showed that the SVM model in comparison with the neural network of the radial base function, has higher correlation coefficient (SVM: 0.71 to 0.94, RBF: 0.3 to 0.5), the lowest root means square error (SVM: 0.028 to 0.075 mg/l, RBF: 0.0672 to 0.317 mg/l), a lower absolute mean error (SVM: 0.003 to 0.033 mg/l, RBF: 0.087 to 0.19 mg/l) for the chlorine ion parameter and in the same order SVM values: 0.63 to 0.88 and RBF: 0.21 to 0.38, SVM: 0.0013 to 0.0282 mg/l and RBF: 0.047 to 0.025 mg/l, SVM: 0.0085 to 0.046 mg/L and RBF: 0.0653 to 0.0996 mg/l for sodium absorption ratio.Therefore, the Support Vector Machine model has better accuracy and performance for predicting water quality parameters of SiminehRood River than the Radial Basis Function Network.

Water is one of the main important environmental factors limiting rice cultivation, in arid and semiarid regions like Iran. In order to evaluate the effect of growth inducers on sub-irrigation technology performance in rice water requirement, this field experiment was conducted as a factorial plot, based on completely randomized design with 6 replications, with two irrigation treatments (flooding and sub-irrigation with porous clay capsules), and two inducers (Mycorrhiza and salicylic acid) in 2016 at the research farm of GKU. Salicylic acid was used as seed treatment along with leaf spray in the concentration of 2 mM, two times in vegetative and reproductive growth. Mycorrhiza was used as root inoculation and was also mixed (20 gr.m-3) with the top 40 cm of soil. In this study, some morphological traits including plant height, the main panicle length, the weight of filled seeds, 1000-grain weight, weight of main panicle, the weight of whole panicles, grain yield, biological yield, water consumption, water productivity, water use efficiency and harvest index were measured, calculated, and assessed after harvesting. Grain yield for flood irrigation method for salicylic acid, mycorrhiza and control treatments were 5170, 4710, and 4202 kg.ha-1, respectively. While these values were 4985, 4807 and 4063 kg.ha-1 for the subsurface irrigation method, respectively. The results showed that rice grain yield, biological yield and harvest index were not significant in the two irrigation methods. But the water use efficiency and water productivity index in the subsurface irrigation system were significantly higher than the flood irrigation. Finally, the near-saturated soil matric potential method was able to increase the subsurface irrigation efficiency compared to the flood irrigation method at rice culture.

In the study of water resources development projects, in addition to technical issues, economic, social and environmental aspects should also be considered. Therefore, the use of simulation model is the key to develop a reasonable strategy and to decide on the future of water resources in each region. To simulate Karkheh basin, MODSIM model is used as a decision support system. Two main types of policies are investigated, one related to the pattern of water consumption in terms of minimum, medium and maximum consumption, and the other related to how to develop basin dams and add them to the system. The indicators used to study each of the scenarios include the area under cultivation, the GDP from agricultural sector, the environmental flow to maintain the Hoor al-Azim wetland and, most importantly, the Williamson coefficient, which examines the issue of reducing economic inequality and equilibrium in the distribution of agricultural income among the provinces of the Karkheh basin. Finally, using the multi-criteria decision making methods (MCDM) called AHP and ANP and also the MCDM software Super Decision, the results are compared and the policies ranked. The results show that in both AHP and ANP methods, scenarios including the development of the under study dams and minimal water consumption (which is an ideal scenario) and then the scenario of development of under study and construction dams in medium water consumption, respectively, are the best policies for planning in the basin based on the considered criteria.

Accurate determination of water requirement of plants plays an essential role in determining the dimensions of water facilities, irrigation planning, increasing productivity and irrigation efficiency. The most accurate and standard method of determining the water required by plants is the water balance method using a lysimeter. Purslane as a medicinal plant crops as weeds, special importance has grown in many regions of the world. Purslane many adverse conditions such as drought, salinity and lack of food is consistent. Accordingly, in order to determine crop coefficient (Kc) herb purslane and using three drainage lysimeter during a season in Shiraz. Actual daily evapotranspiration was estimated by water balance equation in lysimeter and potential evapotranspiration with grass plant 12 cm (plant source) was calculated. By dividing the actual evapotranspiration of the plant on potential evapotranspiration, crop coefficient was measured daily during the growing period studied. At the end of the season and at different stages of growth, the values related to portulaca oleracea plant coefficients including initial, developmental, middle and endpoints were 0.9, 1.1, 1.4 and 0.8, respectively. The seasonal water requirement of portulaca oleracea in the study area was 358.97 mm. The average evapotranspiration of the initial, the development, the middle and the final periods were obtained 68, 87.6, 96.11 and 107.24 mm, respectively. The general conclusion of this study is the cultivation of this low water consumption plant in arid and semi-arid regions, including Shiraz.

Estimation of evapotranspiration of the reference plant is one of the important components in the design of irrigation systems and water management for irrigation of plants. In this study, four coefficients of evaporation pan Schneider (1992), Aurang (1998), Allen and Perot (1991) and Konica (1989) to estimate the reference evapotranspiration compared to the FAO-Penman-Monteith model using indices RMSE, MAE, AARE, MR and Spearman coefficient were evaluated. Information required for different coefficients for estimation (ETo) was collected from Khorramabad synoptic station. The results of statistical evaluation showed that in the daily period, Orang (1998) and Schneider (1992) pan coefficients with RMSE equal to 1.004 and 1.13 (mm.day-1), respectively, as the most appropriate and Allen and Prot coefficients ( 1991) and Konica (1989) were selected as the most unsuitable coefficients with RMSE of 1.83 and 1.47 (mm.day-1), respectively. On the other hand, the results of statistical evaluation for the 10-day period of Konica (1989) and Schneider (1992) pan coefficients with RMSE of 6.01 and 8.25 (mm.day-1), respectively, as the most appropriate coefficients and coefficients of Allen and Perot (1991) and Aurang (1998) were selected as the most unsuitable coefficients with RMSE of 13.90 and 9.43 (mm.day-1). Spearman correlation test also showed that the results of all coefficients have an acceptable correlation with the reference method.

This study was conducted to investigate the main factors affecting groundwater level fluctuations in the Najafabad plain. For this analysis, the 10-year period from 2004 to 2014 was considered and changes in temperature, precipitation, in river discharge between the beginning and end of the study area, groundwater withdrawal and in water flow in irrigation and drainage networks, were analyzed. In order to establish the relationship between each of the mentioned components with the changes in groundwater level in the study area, two general classifications were considered to determine the groundwater unit hydrograph. In the first classification, a groundwater unit hydrograph was prepared for all observation wells in the study area. In the second category, this hydrograph was prepared for observation wells around the river. Then, using multivariate regression analysis in SAS software, the best relationship between these components with changes in groundwater level was determined. Results showed that if the changes of groundwater unit hydrograph level are considered in the first group, changes in groundwater withdrawal with a share of 36.19%, had the maximum impact on changes in groundwater level. After that, the changes in the river flow with a share of 28.60%, had the greatest share in groundwater fluctuations. On the other hand, when the groundwater unit hydrograph is considered for the second group, changes in flow in the river with a share of 34.64% will have the maximum effect on changes in groundwater level and the share of groundwater withdrawal will reach to 28.53.

Water loss from water transmission pipelines is on average 20 to 30% of their transferred water, and this amount reaches over 50% in older systems, especially in systems with inefficient maintenance. In this study, the relationship between leakage and pressure for different diameters and pipe types was investigated. Experiments were performed at Imam Ali reservoir in Ilam city in three ST pipes of 80, 150 and 200 mm and two PE pipes with diameters of 110 and 160 mm. Leakage was performed artificially in the relevant pipes with different hole diameters. The minimum and maximum diameters of the leak holes were 8 and 60 mm, respectively. The minimum and maximum pressures in the pipes were 4 to 12 bar, respectively. The coefficients n and k, which are related to the leakage power formula, were calculated for each of the holes in the ST and PE pipes.Variations of n coefficients against hole diameters for pipes are between 0.351 to 0.754. Changes in the coefficients k versus hole diameter for pipes showed that this coefficient increases with increasing hole diameter. In a ST pipe with a hole diameter of 20 mm and a pressure of 12 bar, the maximum leakage rate of 8.75 liters per second was obtained.

In order to evaluate the SWAP model a study was conducted in 2017 in the farm of the Department of Irrigation and Reclamation Engineering, University of Tehran, located in Karaj as a factorial experiment in a randomized complete block design. The treatments consisted of three maize hybrids SC-704, SC-400 and SC-260 (V1, V2 and V3, respectively) and three levels of irrigation water salinity 0.7, 3 and 5 dS m-1 (S1, S2 and S3, respectively). In each maize cultivar, for the model calibration, the crop yield data measured in the field from the salinity level of irrigation water 3 dS m-1 and for its validation, the salinity levels of 0.7 and 5 dS m-1 were used. Also, to evaluate the model in estimating soil moisture and salinity, field data of V1S2 (calibration) and V1S3 (validation) were used. Based on the obtained results, SWAP model has a good performance in estimating soil moisture so that in the validation stage in three soil layers (0-20, 20-40 and 40-60 cm) with RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) of 0.03, 0.03 and 0.04 cm cm-3 respectively and has a good accuracy in predicting soil salinity of 0-20 cm surface layer (RMSE = 0.67 mg cm-3) but with increasing soil depth, the accuracy of the model decreases so that RMSE of 1.16 and 1.19 mg cm-3 were obtained in two layers of 20-40 and 40-60 cm, respectively. The SWAP model detected the inherent differences between different cultivars of maize and the best simulation results were obtained for SC 704.

This study investigated the effects of non-structural methods, as practical alternatives for upgrading the operational performance of the irrigation canal. To fulfill this objective, a hydraulic flow simulator model for the Nekoabad irrigation network's main canal was developed, calibrated and then, using two performance evaluation indicators, the adequacy and dependability of water distribution were evaluated. To evaluate water distribution improvement in each one of the non-structural solutions, daily water distribution planning; according to each solution was provided in MATLAB and linked to a simulated mathematical model. To determine the effectiveness of each approach, spatial analysis of changes insecure distribution (sufficient and sustainable) of agricultural water from upstream to downstream of the irrigation network, was done in GIS. The obtained results indicate that the adequacy of surface water distribution was improved 10-11% and 9-7% in the first and second non-structural alternatives, respectively. Besides, the dependability of surface water distribution shows about 13-15% within the application of the alternatives. The results reveal that the second alternatives, fulfilling appropriate water distribution along with the middle and downstream canal reaches, show a more or less good performance.

Utilization of groundwater resources in arid areas is an important factor in the development and landscape of the region. This has led to the use of different approaches to assess and determine the volume of groundwater resources. In this study, Bayesian network, which is a probabilistic network based on recorded data, was used to reduce uncertainties. The use of two single states of piezometers and a combination of piezometers in the estimation of aquifer hydrographs using Bayesian network was evaluated using HUGIN v8.3 software. In order to implement two simulation approaches with Bayesian network, single state simulation for each observation well and integrated mode simulation for five observation wells at the aquifer level were performed. The results of two simulation models for two years predicting the future trend of the aquifer indicate a high level of statistical indicators between observational data and simulation. The final results in the single method indicate an average explanation coefficient of 0.85 with an average error square of 0.42 and in the integrated method with an average explanation coefficient of 0.8 with an average error square of 0.25. The results also showed that the use of Bayesian method to predict groundwater level and aquifer volume is highly accurate and the use of a single approach to predict groundwater level in each observation well and integrated method in predicting aquifer hydrograph has good accuracy.

One of the basic issues of that country is monitoring system. The monitoring process is carried out by considering the managerial and technical, social, economic and environmental indicators in the monitoring system. Consecutive assessment, pathology and optimization in long-term monitoring; Leads to proper management of output data, system efficiency and reduces costs. In this study, multi-criteria decision making methods have been used to evaluate the performance of the quality monitoring network of the country's rivers by considering various criteria. In this study, the total quality stations of the country's rivers with four main criteria including: economic, social, environmental, managerial and technical have been considered. The weight of the criteria is determined by experts. The weight of the options is calculated using mathematical standards and the network analysis process method. The network analysis process method is proposed in order to modify the hierarchical analysis process method based on the technique of sup matrices. Finally, the results of the method were controlled using the network analysis process method, compatibility ratio and sensitivity analysis. Most of the challenges in the managerial and technical criteria, then the environmental and water health criteria are considered important, and finally the next economic and social criteria are obtained. In the managerial and  technical criteria in water monitoring stations, the sub-criterion of data quality control and assurance, in the social criterion sub-criterion of water quality parameters, in the economic criterion sub-criterion of pollution detection and in the environmental criterion sub-criterion of optimization of monitoring network at specific time and place.

Knowledge of the spatial distribution and intensity of an impending heavy rainstorm improves the accuracy of management decisions made before, during, and after the storm. Thanks to advances in science, particularly in the field of computer calculations and solving advanced atmospheric equations based on valid physical and dynamic equations, everyone, especially managers and planners of water resources, now can predict how the weather will change in the near future with less uncertainty than in the past. Researchers have recently regarded the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) mesoscale model as an essential tool for atmospheric studies and forecasting, because it combines the most recent advances in atmospheric sciences with a set of physical parameterization options (cloud microphysics, radiation, convection, boundary layer turbulence, surface temperature, and moisture treatment at a sub-grid scale) to produce a dynamic downscaling model in simulating atmospheric processes. Therefore, in the current study, we attempted to collect, review, and summarize the results of several studies conducted (within the country) in order to familiarize the audience with the WRF model with ARW core, as well as to provide a set of constructive points of view and suggestions regarding the application of the WRF-ARW model in precipitation simulation. Naturally, domestic researchers have published so many investigations both within the country and overseas that there was no way to examine them all in the form of a review article; however, this will undoubtedly be one of the authors' future study goals.

Balancing aquifers located in agricultural areas requires improving the performance of the surface water transmission, distribution and delivery system. This study investigates the effectiveness of improving the performance of the water distribution system (main irrigation canal) in balancing the aquifer. In the first step, the numerical model of Qazvin aquifer, with MODFLOW code in GMS software, was developed to show the effect of operation methods in the main irrigation canal. Next, the hydraulic flow simulator model of the water distribution system in the main irrigation canal was developed, calibrated and validated with MATLAB software. Finally, it was linked to the predictive automatic control system. Finally, the effect of predictive automatic control system on aquifer balance was investigated. The results showed that by improving the performance of the water distribution system in the main irrigation canal, the adequacy index improved by upgrading the existing operation method to a centralized automatic control system (MPC). It is about 30% in the end areas of the irrigation district. Accordingly, the rate of reduction of abstraction from the aquifer by using the automatic predictive control system is about 401.86 million cubic meters per year. The results of numerical modeling of the aquifer showed that in the present method, the operation of the groundwater level continues to maintain an increasing trend of decline. As the results show the amount of annual drop of about 150 cm in the usual operation method. The use of predictive centralized automatic control system has increased the adequacy of water delivery to reservoirs and this has led to an increase in water levels in observation wells located in agricultural areas.

In order to investigate the effect of forage maize biochar and urea fertilizer application on bell pepper cultivar, a factorial experiment in a completely randomized design with three replicates and nine treatment was conducted. The treatments consisted of three levels of forage maize biochar (zero, 2, and 5% Soil weight) and three required urea fertilizer (75% 100%, and 120%). One bell pepper was transferred in 4-leaf pots containing 5 kg of soil and biochar, then in three stages and in each stage, 236, 314, and 376 mg kg-1 N of urea fertilizer was added to the pot. At the end stage of cultivation, EC, pH, Na, K, Ca+ mg, carbon organic, total nitrogen and wet yield fruit bell pepper measurements were done. The results indicated that the treatment of 120% urea fertilizer and 5 percentage biochar EC, pH, sodium, and total nitrogen cumulative in soil 41.7, 12.5, 2.1 and 58.3% and soil organic carbon 4.16 times, were compared to the control treatment. respectively. In 120% urea fertilizer and 5 percentage biochar treatment soil potassium increase by 96.8% in comparison with the control treatment. Also, the highest increase calcium and magnesium the treatment 100% urea fertilizer and 2 percentage biochar cumulative in soil by 58.3%. In addition, the results indicate that the treatment of 120% urea fertilizer without biochar increased the wet yield fruit of bell pepper by 61.5% compared to the control treatment.

Debris flows can create severe damage for humans' life and estate especially in the mountainous areas. The frequency of debris flow occurrence has an increasing trend due to climate change. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the prediction methods of this phenomenon to identify an appropriate approach for reducing its danger and people awareness. In recent years, rainfall threshold, regression logistic model and data mining methods were mainly employed for predicting these flows. In this study, a review on the mentioned methods for predicting debris flows reveals that it is better to select the convenient method for predicting debris flow based on the conditions and characteristics of the case study so that one or a combination of these methods may provide appropriate results. Generally, among the mentioned methods, data mining approaches are recommended as superior method in this study because of easy application, high accuracy and lack of requirement for the large number of observed data especially in areas that have data shortage problem. The current study can be effective for identifying debris flows prediction approaches to reduce its damage.

Assessment of water security can be considered as a comprehensive approach towards analysis of status of water resources and water resource management practices. This approach can be especially helpful for Iran, which faces complex problems in the management of water and natural resources. In this paper, an index is developed for assessing the state of water security in Iranian provinces using the geometric mean as the aggregation method. Finally, the Iran provinces were ranked by this index and a number between 0 (for the worst condition) and 1 (for the best condition) is estimated as water surety index for each of them. The results indicated that the security index value can not be more than 0.43 for none of the provinces, which shows weak water security for all of the provinces. The provinces located on the eastern border and the eastern part of the central Iranian plateau, Sistan and Baluchestan, Khurasan Razavi, Yazd, and Kerman are provinces that face the worst conditions and had the least values for water security index (all below 0.22). Mazandaran province with water security index of 0.416 was ranked first mostly due to good condition in resource dimension. East Azerbaijan province due to balance and relatively good status in all dimensions was ranked second. Hormozgan province with water security index of 0.386, because of the best condition in economic dimension was ranked 3rd.

Over time, as the population increases and the useful volume of the reservoir decreases as a result of sediment build-up, the need for more water storage increases. One option to obtain more water storage is to increase the reservoir capacity of the dam by increasing the level of the spillway. One of the necessary research to assess the feasibility of implementing this solution in earth dams is the analysis of the stability of dam slopes in the height-increasing state. In this study, the static stability analysis of the Kamal-Saleh dam was performed at current level of the spillway at end of construction, steady-state seepage, and rapid drawdown conditions using GeoStudio software and applying limit equilibrium methods of Bishop, Janbo, Morgenstern-Price, and ordinary. Also under steady-state seepage, the stability of the dam was analyzed during the steps to raise the level of the spillway (up to 4 meters of acceptable height based on seepage analysis). The results indicated the dam was stable for all three conditions in the current spillway level. Although in the case of rapid drawdown, the factor of safety (FOS) initially decreased to a minimum and then increased as the water level continued to decrease, however, acceptable stability was provided for the least amount of it. In the case of increasing the storage capacity of the dam up to 4 m, the FOS for downstream slope stability was reduced; however, in all methods, the magnitude of this reduction was not significant and the required FOS was still provided.

Field study of factors affecting crop water productivity is one of the most important strategies to achieve sustainable agriculture. In this study, the effect of water resources utilization methods on physical and economic indicators of water use efficiency was investigated. To achieve this goal, 30 olive groves including 16 groves under personal ownership and 14 groves under collective ownership wells were selected in Tarom located in Zanjan province. In order to calculate the water use efficiency indicators, irrigation parameters such as water consumption volume, irrigation schedule, crop yield, as well as production costs and sales revenue were determined. The average of water consumption in groves under the personal and collective ownership wells were obtained at 9800 and 12680 m3/ha, respectively. The average of CPD, BPD and NBPD indices in groves under the personal ownership wells were calculated 0.4 kg/m3, 46.9 and 24.4 thousand Rials/m3 and in groves under the collective ownership wells were 0.3 kg/m3, 36.4 and 15.2 thousand Rials/m3. The results of the independent T-test showed that there is no significant difference between the mentioned indicators in the two types of exploitation methods. Lack of control and supervision on water resources utilization, low knowledge of farmers in irrigation management and the incompatibility of water allowance with the crop water requirement, especially in groves with collective ownership wells were recognized as the most significant reasons for reducing the water use efficiency in some olive groves of study region.

Kinetic and potential energies available in water dissipating using structures like drops can be used for generating electricity on small scale. To this aim, the Archimedes screw turbine, as an emerging turbine, can be employed for converting kinetic and potential energies to mechanical energy in irrigation canals. However, there is no literature in this regard. In this research, the effect of tailwater on turbine performance was investigated. To this end, an Archimedes screw turbine was designed and validated using FLOW-3D, and the effect of different submersion ratios was investigated. The results showed that there needs 0.5 to 0.75 submersion ratio in the downstream canal to avoid extra power loss, resulting in maximum power and efficiency in the same conditions.