Upgrading existing databases: recommendations for irrigation districts

Presented during the Third international conference on irrigation and drainage held March 30 - April 2, 2005 in San Diego, California. The theme of the conference was "Water district management and governance."All of the district in the Lower Rio Grande Valley currently store all of their accounting and water delivery records in computer databases. It has been known for several years that these database systems in the Lower Rio Grande Valley are in need of replacement. The current database systems are not compatible with modern software, including GIS and management software. Due to this lack of software compatibility the districts are unable to directly access the historic watering records in their databases. Without access to these records the districts are losing out on a valuable management and decision making tool. To determine the best upgrade option available, we considered the current database requirements of the district, as well as any foreseeable future requirements. We compared the costs and benefits of several free and commercially available database systems, taking into consideration software compatibility, ease of management, operating system requirements, and future software support. Based on our findings we are recommending upgrading to a Windows server running a SQL Server database. This configuration will give the districts the ability to fully utilize there existing datasets, while giving them the ability to be compatible with GIS and other management software.Sponsored by USCID; co-sponsored by Association of California Water Agencies and International Network for Participatory Irrigation Management

Irrigation and drainage in the new millennium

Presented at the 2000 USCID international conference, Challenges facing irrigation and drainage in the new millennium on June 20-24 in Fort Collins, Colorado.Includes bibliographical references.In 1998, eight irrigation districts in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas initiated efforts to develop GIS-based District Management Systems (DMS). This paper provides a description of GIS (geographical information system) as applied to irrigation districts, its potential for improving the day-to-day management of districts, and the progress and difficulties encountered by the 8 districts in GIS mapping and implementation. Examples of how districts are using GIS are given, along with the value and use of the DMS in a regional water planning project

District management system

Presented at Contemporary challenges for irrigation and drainage: proceedings from the USCID 14th technical conference on irrigation, drainage and flood control held on June 3-6, 1998 in Phoenix, Arizona.Includes bibliographical references.The Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas is undergoing rapid population growth and industrial development. No additional water rights are available in the lower Rio Grande River Basin, and future development will depend on water transfers from agriculture. The potential for saving water in irrigation districts is being studied as part of a regional water resources planning project. An Irrigation District Management System (DMS) is under development to aid in this analysis. The DMS is built upon GIS-based maps and databases for organizing and displaying district information on water accounts, fields, and distribution systems. Various other components are being linked to the DMS or are under development to enhance its capabilities, including a crop growth and irrigation scheduling model for determining water use under various water supply scenarios, and a routing model for determining the ability of the distribution systems to deliver the volumes of water needed for each scenario. The implementation of the DMS in the Valley and its use in regional water planning is described

Real time GIS decision support system

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.GIS technology has been utilized in the past years by drainage and irrigation districts mostly for organization of spatial data, and as decision support system. However in some cases, GIS has not reached its full potential due to such factors as lack of interest after initial set up, effort required for and the high costs of keeping the system updated, and a disconnect with daily management. This paper discusses the development of a real time GIS decision support system for the Brownsville Irrigation District of Texas (District). The objectives were to provide the District with a simple tool that would improve the management of water orders, allow access of data by landowners through the internet, and to improve the availability of pump flow data from the existing SCADA system. An important component of the project was to interact and train District personnel. The final product of the project is a website, where water orders and pump operations information are displayed in real-time, along with links to related historical data, and other information. The activity resulted in an expanded interest on the use of GIS as a real time decision support system by District personnel, the identification of solutions for limits in the existing database, and recommendations for further improvement. In this paper, we present the steps that were taken with District personnel to set up the system, the website features, and the initial benefits that have been identified by District personnel and the manager

Soil Moisture Management.

8 p

Irrigation Water Quality Standards and Salinity Management Strategies

20 pp., 5 illustrations, 15 tablesThis publication contains guidelines for determining whether water is suitable for irrigation and explains how water is classified by the type and degree of salinity problems it poses. Methods of alleviating these problems include seed placement, leaching and other irrigation management techniques

Managing Texas Groundwater Resources.

20 p

Meeting irrigation demands in a water-challenged environment

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.Delivering water efficiently through distribution networks is a priority for irrigation districts but often is a difficult goal to achieve. SCADA shows promise of improving operational efficiency, increasing flexibility in the amount and timing of water deliveries, and reducing spills and other losses in distribution networks. However, implementing SCADA in a district for the first time is a difficult process. Districts often do not understand or are distrustful of the technology. They often do not know or understand how their system actually operates, thus making it difficult to design SCADA systems and to determine operational parameters and control algorithms. Selecting equipment that is easy to integrate into district operations is not a simple decision. Simple tasks such as selection of sensors and communication hardware become time consuming because of the need to explain advantages and disadvantages of each component. District boards of directors are normally reluctant to spend money, which further complicates the process. Once SCADA is installed, district personnel have to be trained on how to use the equipment to perform daily operations. In this paper we discuss the process of implementing SCADA projects for the first time in a district that had no previous experience with such technology or control systems. The paper will cover both hardware aspects as well as human consideration, and discuss some of the many lessons learned

Potential Water Savings in Irrigated Agriculture in the Lower Rio Grande Basin of Texas

This report was completed for the Senate Bill 1 Rio Grande Regional Water Planning Project (Region M) by the District Management System (DMS) team under the direction of Dr. Guy Fipps. Funding was provided through the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station under a contract from Turner, Collie and Braden, Inc. Project activities began in March 1999, and the draft final report was submitted on June 19, 2000. We also conducted a similar, but more limited analysis for the Integrated Water Resource Plan Project - Phase II (Phase II) which was completed in February 1999. That project was confined to the counties of Cameron, Willacy and Hidalgo and was administrated by the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) Development Council. For the Phase II project, mapping and data collection was limited to the main water distribution networks of the LRGV's irrigation districts. Generally, data and estimates provided by the district managers were used to calculate water savings with little independent verification. For this study, our analysis was extended to the entire Rio Grande Planning Region (Region M). To the degree possible, we obtained information independently and verified data provided by districts. Detailed mapping and data collection was also initiated for the Maverick Irrigation District, the only district not a part of the Phase II project

Rapid assessment tool

Presented during the Third international conference on irrigation and drainage held March 30 - April 2, 2005 in San Diego, California. The theme of the conference was "Water district management and governance."Includes bibliographical references.A rapid assessment tool (RAT) is being developed for evaluating irrigation network performance. As part of that development, the relationship between condition rating factors and seepage loss measurements was examined. The statistical analysis was based on 32 ponding test sites in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LGRV). The results indicate that seepage losses from the lined canal segments can be modeled as a function of a rating factor describing the spacing of large cracks in the lower part of the canal cross-section. Cross-section appears to be a moderating variable in relating seepage loss to canal condition. Separate ratings are proposed for overall canal condition and seepage loss condition for lined canals. There was no statistical relationship between seepage loss and condition rating factors for unlined canals. The overall condition of the lined canal was correlated with the rating of canal bank condition. Presently the RAT is the only reported rating scheme that utilizes Geographic Information System (GIS) to display the rated conditions.Sponsored by USCID; co-sponsored by Association of California Water Agencies and International Network for Participatory Irrigation Management