USCID fourth international conference

Presented at the Role of irrigation and drainage in a sustainable future: USCID fourth international conference on irrigation and drainage on October 3-6, 2007 in Sacramento, California.Includes bibliographical references.Water is the lifeblood of the American West and the foundation of its economy, but it remains its scarcest resource. The explosive population growth in Western United States, the emerging additional need for water for environmental uses, and the national importance of the domestic food production are driving major conflicts between these competing water uses. Irrigated agriculture in particular is by far the largest water user of diverted water – 80% country wide and 90% in the Western U.S. — and since it is perceived to be comparatively inefficient user, it is frequently asked to decrease its water consumption (Oad and Kullman, 2006). The case of the Middle Rio Grande illustrates the problem very well. The river is the ecological backbone of the Chihuahuan Desert region in the western United States, and supports its dynamic and diverse ecology, including the fish and wildlife habitat. The Rio Grande Silvery Minnow is federally listed as endangered species, and the irrigated agriculture in the Middle Rio Grande has come under increasing pressure to reduce its water consumption while maintaining the desired level of service to its water users. This paper will present our on-going research on options to make irrigation system operations more efficient in the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District. Specifically, it will describe formulation and implementation of a Decision-Support System (DSS) that can assist the MRGCD managers to more efficiently plan and implement their water delivery operations, thereby reducing river diversions. Since year 2000, MRGCD has been modernizing their physical water delivery network, and the DSS will be used in tandem with SCADA software in making water delivery decisions based on real-time knowledge of available water supplies and crop water requirements. In irrigation systems, the conceptual problem addressed by the DSS is how best to route water supply in a main canal to its laterals so that the required water diversion is minimized. The MRGCD DSS uses linear programming to find an optimum water delivery schedule for canal service areas in the MRGCD irrigation system. For the past three years, the model has been validated in the field and the evaluation indicates that the model recommendations are realistic and represent ditch-rider practices

Emerging challenges and opportunities for irrigation managers

Presented at Emerging challenges and opportunities for irrigation managers: energy, efficiency and infrastructure: a USCID water management conference held on April 26-29, 2011 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.Includes bibliographical references.Scheduled water delivery (SWD) provides the opportunity to increase overall irrigation system performance and define legitimate water use in regions without adjudication. A well-managed program of scheduled water delivery is able to fulfill seasonal crop water requirements in a timely manner, but requires less water than on-demand water delivery. In order to successfully realize SWD in an irrigation district, several components need to be addressed and developed simultaneously. This paper will present results of on-going research in the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District (MRGCD) related to implementation of scheduled water delivery supported by a decision-support system (DSS) and modernization of irrigation infrastructure. A DSS developed over the last four years uses linear programming to find an optimum water delivery schedule for all canal service areas in the MRGCD irrigation system. The DSS has been developed for the entire MRGCD and a significant validation effort of input parameters and model logic has been completed. The second component for implementing scheduled water delivery is a program of irrigation infrastructure modernization with Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. Over the past six years, the MRGCD has modernized canal infrastructure and developed a SCADA system with the focus being to improve water use efficiency. The third component in implementing scheduled water delivery is its acceptance by all water users as a matter of district policy and practice. To gain acceptance and disseminate information regarding SWD, a public outreach program was formulated that includes providing water users information through newsletters, websites, and public meetings. It also included training related MRGCD staff in the concepts and practice of scheduled water delivery and the use of related decision-support systems

The Effect of Developmentally Supportive Care Training Program on Nurses' Performance and Behavioral Responses of Newborn Infants

Developmental care is a strategy used in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) to help reduce the amount of stress that a newborn infant is exposed to. Developmental care helps NICUs to be more "baby friendly”. The aim of the current study was to examine the effect of developmentally supportive care training program on nurses' performance during tub bath provided for neonates in NICU, and to explore the effect of developmentally supportive care training program on behavioral responses of newborn infants during tub bath in NICU. The study adopts a quasi-experimental research design.  The study was conducted in the NICU at Benha Specialized Pediatric Hospital. The data were collected using structured interview sheet, newborn assessment sheet, Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale developed by Brazleton and Nugent (1973) and an observational checklist to evaluate the nurses’ performance during tub bath. Apparently, the study results evident that there was highly statistically significance differences between the means of the total scores of nurses’ performance regarding tub bath for newborn infants before and after application of developmentally supportive care program (DSC). Moreover, the means of NBAS items were all significantly improved among newborn infants and they exhibited less stress and greater comfort during tub bath after application of DSC program. The study recommended that collaboration and continuing education of the staff in the NICU are vital to improve the quality of care provided for newborn infants. Keywords: Developmentally supportive care-Nurses’ performance- Behavioral responses of neonate

Scheduled water delivery

Presented at Meeting irrigation demands in a water-challenged environment: SCADA and technology: tools to improve production: a USCID water management conference held on September 28 - October 1, 2010 in Fort Collins, Colorado.Includes bibliographical references.Scheduled water delivery (SWD) provides the opportunity to increase overall irrigation system performance and define legitimate water use in regions without adjudication. A well-managed program of scheduled water delivery is able to fulfill seasonal crop water requirements in a timely manner, but requires less water than on-demand water delivery. In order to successfully realize SWD in an irrigation district, several components need to be addressed and developed simultaneously. This paper will present results of on-going research in the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District (MRGCD) related to implementation of scheduled water delivery supported by a decision-support system (DSS) and modernization of irrigation infrastructure. A DSS developed over the last four years uses linear programming to find an optimum water delivery schedule for all canal service areas in the MRGCD irrigation system. The DSS has been developed for the entire MRGCD and a significant validation effort of input parameters and model logic has been completed. The second component for implementing scheduled water delivery is a program of irrigation infrastructure modernization with Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. Over the past six years, the MRGCD has modernized canal infrastructure and developed a SCADA system with the focus being to improve water use efficiency. The third component in implementing scheduled water delivery is its acceptance by all water users as a matter of district policy and practice. To gain acceptance and disseminate information regarding SWD, a public outreach program was formulated that includes providing water users information through newsletters, websites, and public meetings. It also included training related MRGCD staff in the concepts and practice of scheduled water delivery and the use of related decision-support systems

Scheduled water delivery

Presented at the fifth international conference on irrigation and drainage, Irrigation and drainage for food, energy and the environment on November 3-6, 2009 in Salt Lake City, Utah.Includes bibliographical references.Scheduled water delivery (SWD) provides the opportunity to increase overall irrigation system performance and define legitimate water use in regions without adjudication. A well-managed program of scheduled water delivery is able to fulfill seasonal crop water requirements in a timely manner, but requires less water than on-demand water delivery. In order to successfully realize SWD in an irrigation district, several components need to be addressed and developed simultaneously. This paper will present results of on-going research in the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District (MRGCD) related to implementation of scheduled water delivery supported by a decision-support system (DSS) and modernization of irrigation infrastructure. A DSS developed over the last four years uses linear programming to find an optimum water delivery schedule for all canal service areas in the MRGCD irrigation system. The DSS has been developed for the entire MRGCD and a significant validation effort of input parameters and model logic has been completed. The second component for implementing scheduled water delivery is a program of irrigation infrastructure modernization with Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. Over the past six years, the MRGCD has modernized canal infrastructure and developed a SCADA system with the focus being to improve water use efficiency. The third component in implementing scheduled water delivery is its acceptance by all water users as a matter of district policy and practice. To gain acceptance and disseminate information regarding SWD, a public outreach program was formulated that includes providing water users information through newsletters, websites, and public meetings. It also included training related MRGCD staff in the concepts and practice of scheduled water delivery and the use of related decision-support systems

Groundwater flow simulations and management under imprecise parameters

This dissertation considers modeling groundwater flow under imprecisely known parameters and managing a plume of contaminant. A new approach has been developed to study the effects of parameters uncertainty on the dependent variable, here the head. The proposed approach is developed based on fuzzy set theory combined with interval analysis. The kind of uncertainty modeled here is the imprecision associated with model parameters as a result of machine or human imprecision or lack of information. In this technique each parameter is described by a membership function. The fuzzy inputs into the model are in the form of intervals so are the outputs. The resulting head interval represents the change in the output due to interval inputs of model parameters. The proposed technique is illustrated using a two dimensional flow problem solved with a finite element technique. Three different cases are studied: homogeneous, mildly heterogeneous and highly heterogeneous transmissivity field. The groundwater flow problem analysis requires interval input values for the parameters, the output may be presented in terms of mean value, upper and lower bounds of the hydraulic head. The width of the resulting head interval can be used as a measure of uncertainty due to imprecise inputs. The degree of uncertainty associated with the predicted hydraulic head is found to increase as the width of the input parameters interval increases. Compared to Monte Carlo simulation approach, the proposed technique requires less computer storage and CPU time, however at this stage autocorrelation and crosscorolation are not configured in the presented formulation. In the plume containment problem two formulations are presented using the hydraulic gradient technique to control the movement of the contaminants. The first one is based on multiobjective analysis and the second, on fuzzy set theory. Multiobjective analysis yields a set of alternative strategies each of which satisfies the multiple objectives to a certain degree. Three different techniques have been used to choose a compromise strategy. Although they follow different principles, the same preferred strategies are selected. It is also noticed that rapid restoration results in a large pumping volumes and high costs. Using a fuzzy formulation for plume containment yields the optimum pumping rates and locations in addition to the membership function at each pumping location. The resulting membership functions at these pumping locations can be used to study the sensitivity of each location to a change in objective function and constraints bounds. Overall, both the fuzzy and multiobjective methodologies, presented in this dissertation, provide new and encouraging approaches to groundwater quality management.hydrology collectio