GIS-Based Irrigation District Flow Routing/Scheduling

In 2007, the Irrigation Training and Research Center (ITRC) at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo undertook to develop a prototype of an intelligent and scalable real-time GIS-based water scheduling and routing software system for irrigation districts, capable of integrating multiple data sources into an information access and management facility featuring collaborative tools with automatic reasoning and analytical capabilities. Improving the infrastructure and management capabilities of irrigation districts in order to provide flexible delivery schedules and increase participation in peak demand reduction programs has been identified as having a significant potential to achieve energy conservation and resource efficiencies. The results of this study highlight a number of important lessons that will be applied towards future modernization efforts in the state’s irrigation districts. These key lessons are outlined in this report, showing a significant progression in the conceptualization, organization, and execution of irrigation district-level DSS tools