JWSS - Journal of Water and Soil Science

In order to optimize the irrigation system performance, it is essential to get information about water balance components in the farm. So, the objective of this study was evaluating the performance of the WFD device in determining water penetrated fate in the soil at each irrigation occurrence as one of the important components in evaluating the irrigation water efficiency. By having the water amount infiltrated in the root zone and the deep percolation amount collected and determined by WFD device, contribution of surface losses related to every irrigation occurrence can be determined by the employing water balance equation. This research was carried out in the form of completely randomized design blocks in three replications and under the treatments of 60, 80, 100 and 120% of the irrigation requirement supply of a potato plant in the research farm of Shahr-e Kord University in 2014. To gather the growing season data, before the planting operation, various WFD devices were installed at different depths and locations along furrow. In addition to WFD data, input discharge (using counter), output discharge (measured by flume type 1) and values of soil moisture (theta-probe device) were collected during the harvesting season. The results showed that the mean Nash–Satcliffe coefficient of comparison between the  values of calculated and measured surface losses corresponding to it, and also comparison of  the values of the calculated and measured residual moisture before each irrigation occurrence were obtained to be 0.87 and 0.98, respectively. Quantity of this indicator in the two conducted comparisons represented the correct and exact performance of the WFD device in the farm operation evaluation. During the farm evaluation process under the experimental furrow, distribution uniformity averages in the experimental treatments were acquired to be 75.56, 83.78, 88.06, and 90.34%, respectively. Likewise, water amount average percolation of root zone (depth losses) in experimental treatments at each irrigation occurrence was measured to be 0.02, 0.07, 0.27 and 0.47m³ for each furrow.

This study focused on proposing a new operational perspective within main and lateral irrigation canals based on the economic value of water. To achieve this objective, the operation-economic framework offered in this study consisted of two main components of the PMP model and Operation model. The estimated economic values of water in different regions of the network were employed as the starting point for connecting the economic model with the operation model. It is worth mentioning that the technical perspective targeting adequacy of water distribution within the canals was modified in this study to be applied for the operation-economic framework since the original forms of the indicator were based on physical inherent of the water. Roodasht Irrigation District, located at Zayandeh-Rud basin, was selected as the case study, and the proposed framework was tested on the district. The obtained results revealed that in response to implementing the proposed framework in water distribution within the canal under the water shortage condition, alfalfa and safflower were the two crops those cultivation was decreased drastically in comparison with the other crops. The primary reason for the decrease was the lower values of the economic value of water for these two crops. Also ,the results of the canal operation appraisal from the adequacy of water delivery revealed that for the traditional operating system (without considering the economic perspective), the maximum values of the adequacy indicator were obtained for the upstream four canal reaches. On the other hand, the off-takes numbers of 1, 6, 5, and 12 got the maximum values of the adequacy indicator when the proposed operation-economic framework was applied for the canal system.

Soil erosion and sediment transport are among the key challenges in the management of water and soil resources in Iran. In this study, the Modified PSIAC (MPSIAC) empirical model was applied to estimate sediment yield and evaluate the erosion status in the Plasjan watershed. The model is based on the assessment of nine influencing factors, including geological characteristics, soil properties, climatic conditions, runoff, land slope, vegetation cover, land use, surface erosion, and channel erosion. By assigning scores to each factor and integrating the spatial layers, the sediment yield intensity of each sub-watershed was quantified both qualitatively and quantitatively. The required base data were prepared and analyzed using the Geographic Information System (GIS). Subsequently, the final erosion index for each sub-watershed was calculated, and erosion hazard classes were determined according to the model’s standard tables. The total annual sediment production in the watershed was estimated at 803,301 tons, and the Sediment Delivery Ratio (SDR) was calculated as 14.48%, indicating considerable sediment deposition along the transport paths.  The results showed that most sub-watersheds fall within the “moderate” erosion class, while insufficient vegetation cover, steep slopes, and land-use changes were identified as the main contributing factors to increased sediment yield. Based on these findings, identifying critical areas, implementing erosion control measures, and utilizing remote sensing and sediment monitoring technologies are strongly recommended. This study provides a scientific basis for improving watershed management and mitigating erosion-related risks in similar basins.