Development and application of a simulation model for reservoir management

The success of irrigation system operation and planning depends on accurate quantification of supply and demand, and an equitable distribution of available water. The ultimate aim of this study was to determine how to meet the irrigation water demands if possible or to minimize the gap between the water supply and the demand. Most of the irrigation literature focuses only on the demand and the distribution aspects of this issue Irrigation projects that receive water from reservoirs, however, can be challenging to manage because the annual fluctuations in available water release from a reservoir can have a considerable impact on the irrigation management strategy. In real‐world situations, the reservoir operating rules guide reservoir operators in making actual water release decisions. This study develops a water balance simulation model for reservoir management, as well as testing it for Kangsabati Reservoir, West Bengal, India. Two rule curves for deciding irrigation water available from the reservoir were generated by taking the average and minimum stage values on a daily basis for a 16‐year period (1988–2003). Maintaining a minimum stage of 120.4 m throughout the year served as another rule to decide the release water available for irrigation. The minimum allowable stage of reservoir corresponding to a particular date of the year can be determined from those reservoir specific rule curves generated for irrigation purposes. The maximum permissible water release/outflow for irrigation from the test reservoir was taken as the volume of water available above the minimum allowable stage corresponding to the selected rule curve. The saturated hydraulic conductivity value (K_S) was calibrated to be 4.31 mm day^?1 for Kangsabati Reservoir.