Downstream-Water-Level Control Test Results on the WM Lateral Canal

On steep canals, distant downstream-water-level control can be challenging. The Software for Automated Canal Management was developed, in part, to test various distant downstream water-level controllers. It was implemented on the WM canal of the Maricopa Stanfield Irrigation and Drainage District, Stanfield, Ariz. to compare the performance of various controllers. In 2004, Clemmens and Schuurmans used optimization to determine the coefficients for a variety of controllers. These controllers vary in their complexity from a series of simple, single-input-single-output, proportional-integral controllers to a fully centralized, multiple-input-multiple-output, optimal controller. The controller design also varies regarding which pools are under downstream, or upstream, control and according to the conditions (e.g., flow rate) assumed for controller design. These controllers were tested under actual operating conditions and with unscheduled disturbances. The results of these tests are presented in this paper.