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REMODELLING OF THE UPPER CHENAB CANAL: A CASE STUDY FROM PAKISTAN
Author(s) -
Shakir A.S.,
Maqbool Nasir
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
irrigation and drainage
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.421
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1531-0361
pISSN - 1531-0353
DOI - 10.1002/ird.579
Subject(s) - hydropower , hydraulic head , hydrology (agriculture) , environmental science , irrigation , upstream (networking) , internal erosion , civil engineering , water resource management , engineering , geotechnical engineering , levee , telecommunications , ecology , electrical engineering , biology
ABSTRACT The paper reviews the problems being faced by the Upper Chenab Canal (UCC) and reports on the existing conditions assessed during various site visits. The water availability in the River Chenab at the Marala Barrage has been analysed based on the previous 20 years of recorded data in order to explore possible options for remodelling this canal. The visit report indicated that the UCC is faced with numerous problems such as bank erosion, bed scouring, side embayment, inadequate freeboard, abnormal behaviour and the deterioration of old hydraulic structures. Deferred maintenance and lack of proper and timely monitoring seem to be the main factors in the continuation of these problems in the canal. The water requirements at the head of the canal have been worked out as 562 m 3 s −1 , nearly 20% higher than the present capacity (477 m 3 s −1 ). The study shows that the required amount of water is available for more than 90 days during the peak demand at 80% reliability for irrigation, hydropower generation and inter‐river transfer to the River Ravi upstream of Balloki headworks for feeding its offtaking channels. The analysis also shows that the existing canal section is insufficient to pass the required discharge and needs to be remodelled to meet the requirements. This can be achieved by revising the canal section using a comprehensive design approach best suited to the local conditions. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.