Investigating the Problems Involved in Operation of Nekoabad Irrigation Network in Isfahan Province

Most regions of our country have an arid or semi-arid climate. However, available water is not efficiently used in agriculture. One of the major sources of water is that stored behind dams, which is used through modern irrigation networks downstream the reservoirs.Usually, this important source of water is not properly used. Therefore, by improving the management of an irrigation network, more water can be saved. Hence, the cultivated area can be extended which would result in higher amount of crop yield.In this study, due to far extension of the Isfahan modern irrigation network, only some branches of the network located in Mobarakeh and Falavarjan area (the Nekoabad network), were selected and the following objectives were investigated: study of the annual records of water intake from the river during various years, within-the-year water intake to the fields, measurement of conveyance and water application in integrated and non-integrated farms, ground water operation and shallow wells distribution, cropping pattern and intensity within the network district, changes in the network over the years of operation, network maintenance during operation and non-operation months, and, the reasons for malfunctioning of the water structures caused by some farmers and the situation of canal destruction.The results of this study showed that varition in inflow within the network during recent years are primarily due to disagreement between the beginning date of canal operation and water demand. Insufficient information about crop water requirements, low field application efficiency due to easy access to abundant water, low conveyance efficiency in traditional channel occasionally is due to various reasons, among them the abuse of ground water resources by operators and undesirable conditions in maintenance of channel. Some recommendations were made for the roles of Agricaltural Organizations and Regional Water Authority of Isfahan.