Irrigation Systems

Irrigation Systems
Author: Adrian Laycock
Publisher: CABI
Total Pages: 315
Release: 2011
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1845938747

Of all the confrontations man has engineered with nature, irrigation systems have had the most widespread and far-reaching impact on the natural environment. Over a quarter of a billion hectares of the planet are irrigated and entire countries depend on irrigation for their survival and existence. Considering the importance of irrigation schemes, it is unfortunate that until recently the technology and principles of design applied to their construction has hardly changed in 4,000 years. Modern thinking on irrigation engineering has benefited from a cross-fertilization of ideas from many other fields including social sciences, control theory, political economics and agriculture. However, these influences have been largely ignored by irrigation engineers. Drawing on almost 40 years of experience of irrigation in the developing world, Laycock introduces new ideas on the design of irrigation systems and combines important issues from the disciplines of social conflict, management, and political thinking.

Managing Canal Irrigation

Managing Canal Irrigation
Author: Robert Chambers
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 312
Release: 1988
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9780521347884

A challenge to re-examine beliefs, biases and actions is presented through the exposure of misleading research and faulty diagnosis in the current policies and pratices of canal irrigation.

Mediterranean Desertification

Mediterranean Desertification
Author: N. A. Geeson
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 456
Release: 2003-04-11
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0470856866

Desertification includes land degradation due to both climatic and anthropogenic causes, where land includes water, soil, and the biosphere. This book presents the most recent findings from the European Community's MEDALUS project, which was formed to understand and manage semi-arid environments that are undergoing great change. * Covers climate and land use processes and responses in the Mediterranean * First book to provide guidelines for the management of land degradation in Mediterranean environments * Based on first-hand experience of the problems by those responsible for solving them

Water Requirements for Irrigation and the Environment

Water Requirements for Irrigation and the Environment
Author: Marinus G. Bos
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 186
Release: 2008-11-23
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1402089481

Irrigated agriculture produces about 40% of all food and fibre on about 16% of all cropped land. As such, irrigated agriculture is a productive user of resources; both in terms of yield per cropped area and in yield per volume of water consumed. Many irrigation projects, however, use (divert or withdraw) much more water than consumed by the crop. The non-consumed fraction of the water may cause a variety of undesirable effects ranging from water-logging and salinity within the irrigated area to downstram water pollution. This book discusses all components of the water balance of an irrigated area; evapotranspiration (Ch.2), effective precipitation (Ch.3) and capillary rise from the groundwater table (Ch.4). Chapter 5 then combines all components into a water management strategy that balances actual evapotranspiration (and thus crop yield) with the groundwater balance of the irrigated area (for a substainable environment). Chapter 6 presents CRIWAR 3.0, a simulation program that combines all water balance components into a single simulation procedure. The chapter describes the use of the CRIWAR software for developing water requirement tables and other useful information based on the selected water management strategy. This version greatly expands upon the capabilities of previously published programs.

Acid Rain in the West

Acid Rain in the West
Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Environment and Public Works
Publisher:
Total Pages: 308
Release: 1986
Genre: Acid pollution of rivers, lakes, etc
ISBN: