Management of irrigation and drainage systems using mathematical modelling

Bangladesh is an agrarian country with a huge population and limited per capita land. In the next 25 years, the population of the country may increase by 40%. The agricultural land will be reduced by about 17%. This increase in the population will increase the rice demand in the next 25 years by about 29%. The Command Area Development of the existing irrigation projects will meet the demand. Since 1996 the Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) has been providing modelling support in irrigation and drainage management. In many irrigation and drainage projects of Bangladesh Water Development Board, benefits have been achieved after the implementation of IWM's suggestions. After implementing model study results in the Teesta Barrage Project, phase-I has become flood-free and irrigation water can reach to almost every canal resulting in an annual gain from increased paddy to about US$ 37.5 million. The benefits of using modelling tools for optimum utilization of water resources in irrigation and drainage management of this project are discussed in this paper.