1General Manager India, Rubicon Water, Australia
2Marketing Communications Manager, Rubicon Water, Australia
3Advisor, Rubicon Water, India
Online published on 1 December, 2017.
Given their relatively inefficient use of water, irrigation supply systems are the ‘low hanging fruit’ that can be targeted in the quest to balance water demand for food, energy and ecological outcomes. Projects that use canal automation to recover water can also improve food security through enabling higher crop production. Automation has the potential to improve efficiency to 90% (G-MW, 2011), recovering substantial quantities of water for productive use. At the same time automation also has the potential to improve effectiveness and equity.
Canal automation meets changing water user requirements by precisely measuring water level and flow data at cross regulators and farm turnouts and undertaking frequent control actions at cross regulators in response.
Beginning in the late 1990s Australia suffered its worst drought on record and was forced to confront the water issues with large scale changes in thinking and technology. In response, the rollout of canal automation has shown great success in terms of water savings but also in terms of more information and better management and in reliability and equity for farmers making it easier for them to increase food security and production.
