Improving Performance of Irrigation/Hydro Projects

Abstract

Large‐scale water resburce projects must be operated and maintained so that the benefits for which they were built actually occur. The key to substantial improvement in project performance is in operating the various project components in a comprehensive, integrated fashion. Optimal integration of the system's many facets and analysis of tradeoffs between conflicting objectives requires the assistance of analytical tools to provide information on which to base management decisions. An interactive river basin network flow model called MODSIM2 has been developed for this purpose. MODSIM2 is applied to a large irrigation/hydropower system in the Philippines, while the upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation System (UPRIIS) is in Central Luzon. Through use of the calibrated model, it was possible to: (1) Locate a bottleneck in the conveyance system causing irrigation shortage; and (2) show that with integrated operations, firm energy generation can probably be increased up to four times the current level without causing irrigation shortage.