Seepage Losses Measurement of Desert Minor and Development of Gauge-Discharge Rating Curve: A case study in District Ghotki, Sindh

Shoukat Ali Shah¹ , Madeeha Kiran² , Tahira Khurshid³

Section:Research Paper, Product Type: Journal-Paper
Vol.8 , Issue.1 , pp.13-22, Mar-2021

Online published on Mar 31, 2021

Copyright © Shoukat Ali Shah, Madeeha Kiran, Tahira Khurshid . This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
 

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Abstract :
Pakistan is blessed with an intricate irrigation system typically comprising a wide network of canals, minors, distributaries, and watercourses. A huge amount of flowing water from irrigation channels is lost by seepage, which is the cause of waterlogging, salinity, and affects the conveyance efficiency of water to the field. This potential menace is solving efficiently by the Government, a lining of irrigation canals, minors, and distributaries to overcome the seepage losses. In this case study, seepage loss, conveyance efficiency, and calibration of the gauge rating curve are typically developed for a Desert Minor. There is a dire need to identify and prioritize the cause of losses in earthen channels so that rehabilitation and maintenance can be done accordingly. The general inflow-outflow technique was properly used to accurately estimate the seepage losses by using the current meter. The proper discharge was carefully measured for the seepage losses in a selected length in Desert Minor. Inflow was carefully measured at 28RD 159.933 and outflow 31.28 RD, 158.533 cusecs in a selected reach. The total selected reach length was 3.28 RD where the key difference of proper discharge of 1.35 cusecs was noted. Seepage loss of 2.35 cusecs was determined. The total wetted area of the minor was 2834093 ft² calculated. The total seepage loss of Desert Minor 17.46 CFS and 17.4% were carefully estimated. The conveyance efficiency of desert minor 83% was properly recorded. For calibration of the Gauge rating curve, three different discharges were measured head of Desert Minor 95.463, 163.198, and 202.534 cusecs on different gauge levels 0.95, 1.5 and 2 feet. An equation and rating table of a Desert minor was developed to calculate the different discharges with gauge height.

Key-Words / Index Term :
Seepage Losses, Conveyance Efficiency, Desert Minor, Rating Curve

References :
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