Title: Water balance modelling with climate change effects, Narromine Irrigation Scheme, Macquarie River, Australia
Abstract: Narromine Irrigation Scheme (NIS) located in central New South Wales, Australia, is a gravity-fed delivery system from Macquarie River, consisting of more than 250 km of earthen channels (a main channel and a series of laterals). The channels have been formed across soil types varying from impervious clays to free-draining sands and loams. The existing scheme has several features which are contributing to inefficient delivery of water, i.e. highly porous soils in some sections which in some parts have been lined with clay which had deteriorated in some areas and was not applied to the batters or sides of the channels in most areas, larger than required channel sections resulting in higher seepage and evaporation and a number of unmetered extraction points. Several Electro Magnetic (EM) surveys have been undertaken throughout the scheme and channel seepage is identified as a serious issue and the main contributor to water loss. This issue can be rectified by lining the channels with an appropriate liner. The proposed options for lining are clay, synthetic material and concrete. NIS is eligible to apply for Federal Government funding for modernisation in return for the amount of water which will be saved by the modernisation practice. To estimate the amount of water loss in the existing scheme and the amount that could be saved by modernisation of the scheme, a water balance model was created by WEAP (Water Evaluation and Planning system) software. The model was run for different flow allocation scenarios as well as climate change effect scenarios based on CSIRO recommendations on climate change effects in Australia and total water losses (sum of seepage and evaporation) were estimated for the existing condition as well as for different water allocation and climate change scenarios.
Publication Year: 2012
Publication Date: 2012-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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