Application of an Irrigation Scheduling Module of Scheme Irrigation Management Information System(SIMIS) in Mendoza, Argentina

摘要

The Scheme Irrigation Management Information System (SIMIS) developed by FAO is a personal computer software package of integrated databases for efficient operation and management of an irrigation system. The Irrigation Scheduling module of SIMIS, which the authors have been responsible for developing, is designed to improve the efficiency of irrigation system management by providing a practical weekly irrigation schedule. The module was used to simulate water management practices on the tertiary canal unit of an irrigation system in Mendoza, Argentina. A new option of water scheduling based on a supply-oriented approach was added to simulate ongoing management practices. The result showed that current management practice based on a supply-orientedapproach resulted in a large volume of water loss. To alleviate the problems of a supply-oriented approach to water distribution, scheduling methods based on a demand-oriented approach were used to simulate management practices for the same tertiary unit. Scheduling methods based on crop water requirements or soil moisture balance could save as much as fifty percent of the water supply needed for the supply-oriented approach. It was found that the introduction of a supply adjustment factor and a weeklyrotational supply improved the performance and adaptability of scheduling methods over the demand-oriented approach.