Integrated Assessment Of Water Use Efficiency In LMD Canal System Using Python-Based Data Analytics And CROPWAT Simulation

Abstract

The management of irrigation water is a pillar to sustainable agriculture in areas experiencing increasing demands, water shortage in certain periods, and the inability to predict as a result of the variability of climate. This paper is an overview of the integrated method of evaluating the water use efficiency (WUE) in the Lower Manair Dam (LMD) command area, one of the leading major canal irrigation systems in Telangana state of India, and a component of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project. To find the trend of the system, its operation efficiency along with the correlation between water supply and demand between seasons, historical hydrological data of the 2017-2022 periods of inflow, outflow, and spillway discharges were analyzed with the use of Python libraries. The analysis of climatic records extracted in the NASA POWER database was located and exported to CROPWAT 8.0, which was designed to calculate the reference evapotranspiration and the particular crop water requirements of major crops, i.e., paddy, maize and cotton using Penman-Monteith procedure. The study found that the supply of water exhibited strong interannual and seasonal as well as canal operation inefficiencies with serious discrepancies between crop water demand and crop water delivery (particularly in pre-monsoon and Rabi seasons). The analysis based on a mapping of the geographical area showed areas where the WUE was low and there are frequent spill losses, representing areas of specific targets of improvement. Such integrated use of Python-based data analysis and CROPWAT modeling offers a flexible platform of diagnostic evaluation and dynamic water management. The results indicate that flexible, data-driven scheduling, improved reservoir operation and more automation in the canals are required to address the goals of fair and sustainable irrigation management in large command areas.