Investigation on water transfer efficiency and losses in concrete-lined canals of Khorramabad irrigation network

Considering the successive droughts and the importance of water in the agricultural sector, as well as the spending of government credits in construction projects, the importance of investigating the efficiency of water transfer in irrigation canals is determined. In this research, the transfer efficiency and water losses in 20 cases of concrete and stone and mortar canals in different areas of Khorramabad city were evaluated. For this purpose, the amount of water loss was determined by the field method and calculating the input-output flow. Based on the obtained results, the values of water transfer efficiency in the canals have been determined between 51% and 89.9% and on average 77.3% in the total length. The lowest and highest amount of total losses in the canals respectively equal to 13.7 and 168.7 with an average of 74.8 l/s per kilometer has been measured. Also, the lowest and highest efficiency are 31.5% and 89.1% per kilometer respectively related to Badeh Abestan and Tagh and Togh canals and the amount of loss is calculated from 1.4 to 6.3 m3/m2 per day. The very low efficiency in two cases of the canals shows the large volume of water loss. According to the results of this research, special arrangements should be made to increase the quality of implementation in water supply canals and training of users by the relevant institutions and organizations, including the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad, which is in charge of the implementation of water supply canals in this research.