IMPROVING WATER USE EFFICIENCY: THE COLEAMBALLY IRRIGATION AREA MODERNIZATION PROJECT

摘要

This paper provides an overview of the Coleambally Irrigation Area (CIA) modernizationrnproject. The CIA irrigation district is located in the southern Murray-Darling Basin of Australia.rnThe district comprises 477 irrigation farms containing 79,000 ha (hectares) of irrigated landrnsupplied through 700 km of earthen open channel. Development of the CIA modernizationrnproject commenced in 2000 with the objective of improving channel conveyance efficiency,rnreducing operating costs and enhancing water supply services. To date, some AU$16 millionrn(AU$1 ≈ US$0.75) has been expended on capital works for the modernization project.rnConveyance efficiency has been improved from 75% before the project, to around 89% in thern05/06 irrigation season saving approximately 60 billion litres of water per year. The cost of thernproject has been recovered by selling water savings to district irrigators and to government forrnuse as an environmental flow. This paper focuses on two key areas of the modernization project:rnautomation of canal operations and accurate flow measurement in farm turnouts.