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In a companion paper a model for the simulation of water flows in irrigation districts was formulated. The model combines a series of modules specialized in surface irrigation, open channel distribution networks, crop growth modeling, irrigation decision making, and hydrosaline balance. The objective of this paper is to calibrate, validate, and apply the model, using the Irrigation District Five of Bardenas (Spain) as a study area. Two years of study were used for the analysis, which could be classified as normal (2000) and dry (2001) from the point of view of crop water requirements. Model calibration was performed in one of the 11 hydrological sectors in which the district is divided. The control variable was the monthly water demand, while the calibration variables were related to irrigation operation and scheduling. The seasonal differences in observed and simulated water demand amounted to 0.9 and 1.9% for 2000 and 2001, respectively. Model validation was performed in the rest of the sectors, and the regression line of observed versus simulated monthly water demand could not be distinguished from a 1:1 line in both years. Model application explored scenarios based on management improvement (controlling the irrigation time) and structural improvement (increasing drainage water reuse for irrigation). These scenarios permitted one to sharply reduce water demand, halve the irrigation return flows, and reduce the daily irrigation period from 24 to 16 h. CE Database subject headings: Surface irrigation; Irrigation districts; Water management; Reservoir management; Decision support system.

Significant improvements in the profitability and sustainability of irrigated areas can be obtained by the application of new technologies. In this work, a model for the simulation of water flows in irrigation districts is presented. The model is based on the combination of a number of modules specialized on surface irrigation, open channel distribution networks, crop growth modeling, irrigation decision making, and hydrosaline balances. These modules are executed in parallel, and are connected by a series of variables. The surface irrigation module is based on a numerical hydrodynamic routine solving the Saint Venant equations, including the heterogeneity of soil physical properties. The simulation of water conveyance is performed on the basis of the capacity of the elements of the conveyance network. Crop growth is simulated using a scheme derived from the well-known model CropWat. The irrigation decision making module satisfies water orders considering water stress, yield sensitivity to stress, multiple water sources, and the network capacity. Finally, the hydrosaline module is based on a steady state approach, and provides estimations of the volume and salinity of the irrigation return flows for the whole irrigation season. The application of the model to district irrigation management and modernization studies may be limited by the volume of data required. In a companion paper, the model is calibrated, validated, and applied to a real irrigation district. CE Database subject headings: Surface irrigation; Irrigation districts; Water management; Reservoir management; Decision support systems; Water flow.

This paper examines a model for estimating canopy resistance rc and reference evapotranspiration ETo on an hourly basis. The experimental data refer to grass at two sites in Spain with semiarid and windy conditions in a typical Mediterranean climate. Measured hourly ETo values were obtained over grass during a 4 year period between 1997 and 2000 using a weighing lysimeter (Zaragoza, northeastern Spain) and an eddy covariance system (Córdoba, southern Spain). The present model is based on the Penman-Monteith (PM) approach, but incorporates a variable canopy resistance rc as an empirical function of the square root of a climatic resistance r* that depends on climatic variables. Values for the variable rc were also computed according to two other approaches: with the rc variable as a straight-line function of r* (Katerji and Perrier, 1983, Agronomie 3(6): 513-521) and as a mechanistic function of weather variables as proposed by Todorovic (1999, Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, ASCE 125(5): 235-245). In the proposed model, the results show that rc/ ra (where ra is the aerodynamic resistance) presents a dependence on the square root of r*/ ra, as the best approach with empirically derived global parameters. When estimating hourly ETo values, we compared the performance of the PM equation using those estimated variable rc values with the PM equation as proposed by the Food and Agriculture Organization, with a constant rc = 70 s m−1. The results confirmed the relative robustness of the PM method with constant rc, but also revealed a tendency to underestimate the measured values when ETo is high. Under the semiarid conditions of the two experimental sites, slightly better estimates of ETo were obtained when an estimated variable rc was used. Although the improvement was limited, the best estimates were provided by the Todorovic and the proposed methods. The proposed approach for rc as a function of the square root of r* may be considered as an alternative for modelling rc, since the results suggest that the global coefficients of this locally calibrated relationship might be generalized to other climatic regions. It may also be useful to incorporate the effects of variable canopy resistances into other climatic and hydrological models. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]