Automatic surface water distribution systems: A reliable alternative for energy conservation in agricultural section

Abstract The poor performance of surface water distribution systems in reliable, sufficient, and timely agricultural water distribution has significantly increased groundwater extraction. This has posed severe environmental challenges such as the significant decline in groundwater levels and increases in energy consumption. This study investigated the potential for automation of the surface water distribution systems to decrease groundwater extraction and energy conservation. The proposed approach was implemented in Nekoo-Abad Irrigation District, located in the arid region in Iran. The undesirable surface system’s performance results in the annual extraction of 82 Mm3 water from nearly 4181 active tubewells and the annual consumption of 236 MkWh to pump the groundwater for agricultural purposes merely. The automation improved the system performance so that annual groundwater extraction decreased by 16%. Reducing groundwater extraction decreased energy consumption by nearly 26%, 18%, and 14% in the normal and water scarcity scenarios. Moreover, the spatial analysis of research results indicated that groundwater extraction declined by 61–88% in shallow wells ( 120 m. It is expected that the entire system's automation will help achieve more of the research objectives, something which requires additional socioeconomic studies.