IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agiwat/v319y2025ics0378377425005013.html

Hierarchical distributed model predictive control for large-scale irrigation canal network under water scarcity condition: A case study of the Zhanghe Irrigation District, China

Author

Listed:
  • Guan, Guanghua
  • Zhu, Zheli
  • Mao, Zhonghao
  • Feng, Tianquan
  • Hu, Xiaomei

Abstract

Irrigation canal networks play a vital role in ensuring water and food security, especially under water scarcity. To address the challenge of accurate water allocation and hydraulic regulation during such periods, this paper proposes a hierarchical distributed model predictive control (HDMPC) strategy. The HDMPC integrates a Decision-making layer, which optimizes daily water distribution based on economic, environmental, and social objectives, and a Control layer, which ensures real-time implementation through model predictive control. A water supply adequacy index is incorporated to improve the execution fidelity of the planned allocations. The method is applied to the Zhanghe Irrigation District in China and evaluated throughout the 96-day growth period of semilate rice under different water scarcity scenarios. Compared to traditional manual control, the HDMPC improves rice yield, economic benefits, and clean energy production by 14.6 %–17.7 %, while maintaining hydraulic stability. This study provides a practical framework for precision irrigation and sustainable canal system management under resource-constrained conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Guan, Guanghua & Zhu, Zheli & Mao, Zhonghao & Feng, Tianquan & Hu, Xiaomei, 2025. "Hierarchical distributed model predictive control for large-scale irrigation canal network under water scarcity condition: A case study of the Zhanghe Irrigation District, China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 319(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:319:y:2025:i:c:s0378377425005013
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109787
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377425005013
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109787?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yaltaghian Khiabani, M. & Hashamy Shahadany, S.M. & Maestre, J.M. & Stepanian, R. & Mallakpour, I., 2020. "Potential assessment of non-automatic and automatic modernization alternatives for the improvement of water distribution supplied by surface-water resources: A case study in Iran," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    2. Zhu, Zheli & Guan, Guanghua & Wang, Kang, 2023. "Distributed model predictive control based on the alternating direction method of multipliers for branching open canal irrigation systems," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).
    3. Barkhordari, Soroush & Hashemy Shahdany, Seied Mehdy, 2021. "Developing a smart operating system for fairly distribution of irrigation water, based on social, economic, and environmental considerations," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 250(C).
    4. Afsaneh Kaghazchi & Seied Mehdy Hashemy Shahdany & Alireza Firoozfar, 2022. "Prioritization of agricultural water distribution operating systems based on the sustainable development indicators," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(1), pages 23-40, February.
    5. Zhao, Xueyin & Chen, Mengting & Xie, Hua & Luo, Wanqi & Wei, Guangfei & Zheng, Shizong & Wu, Conglin & Khan, Shahbaz & Cui, Yuanlai & Luo, Yufeng, 2023. "Analysis of irrigation demands of rice: Irrigation decision-making needs to consider future rainfall," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).
    6. Avargani, Habib Karimi & Hashemy Shahdany, S. Mehdy & Kamrani, Kazem & Maestre, Jose, M. & Hashemi Garmdareh, S. Ebrahim & Liaghat, Abdolmajid, 2022. "Prioritization of surface water distribution in irrigation districts to mitigate crop yield reduction during water scarcity," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    7. Zhi, Ximin & Bian, Xiaohua & Yu, Jinlong & Xiao, Xiaolu & Duan, Bo & Huang, Fangyuan & Jiang, Zhan & Zhou, Guangsheng & Ma, Ni, 2024. "Comparative metabolomics analysis of tolerant and sensitive genotypes of rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) seedlings under drought stress," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 296(C).
    8. Yue, Qiong & Guo, Ping & Wu, Hui & Wang, Youzhi & Zhang, Chenglong, 2022. "Towards sustainable circular agriculture: An integrated optimization framework for crop-livestock-biogas-crop recycling system management under uncertainty," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    9. Huang, Peng & Xie, Hua & Yang, Yiting & Hu, Xuhua & Liu, Chaoli & Xu, Yang & Song, Changhong & Dai, Chunsheng & Khan, Shahbaz & Cui, Yuanlai & Luo, Yufeng, 2024. "Spatiotemporal variation in rice water requirements and area in the cold rice cultivation region of China: Past and Future," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    10. S. Hashemy Shahdany & J. Maestre & P. van Overloop, 2015. "Equitable Water Distribution in Main Irrigation Canals with Constrained Water Supply," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(9), pages 3315-3328, July.
    11. Yue, Qiong & Guo, Ping, 2021. "Managing agricultural water-energy-food-environment nexus considering water footprint and carbon footprint under uncertainty," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 252(C).
    12. Xin Tian & Yuxue Guo & Rudy R. Negenborn & Lingna Wei & Nay Myo Lin & José María Maestre, 2019. "Multi-Scenario Model Predictive Control Based on Genetic Algorithms for Level Regulation of Open Water Systems under Ensemble Forecasts," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 33(9), pages 3025-3040, July.
    13. Jolfan, Mohsen Hosseini & Hashemy Shahdany, S. Mehdy & Javadi, Saman & Milan, Sami Ghordoyee & Neshat, Aminreza & Berndtsson, Ronny & Tork, Hamed, 2023. "Modernization in agricultural water distribution system for aquifer storage and recovery – A case study," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    14. Hasanzadeh Saray, Marzieh & Baubekova, Aziza & Gohari, Alireza & Eslamian, Seyed Saeid & Klove, Bjorn & Torabi Haghighi, Ali, 2022. "Optimization of Water-Energy-Food Nexus considering CO2 emissions from cropland: A case study in northwest Iran," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Avargani, Habib Karimi & Hashemy Shahdany, S. Mehdy & Kamrani, Kazem & Maestre, Jose, M. & Hashemi Garmdareh, S. Ebrahim & Liaghat, Abdolmajid, 2022. "Prioritization of surface water distribution in irrigation districts to mitigate crop yield reduction during water scarcity," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    2. Han, Xinxueqi & Hua, En & Cao, Xinchun & Engel, Bernie A. & Sun, Shikun & Wang, Yubao, 2026. "Deciphering water-energy-food synergies through a multi-level symbiosis framework: Insights from the Yellow River Basin," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    3. Jolfan, Mohsen Hosseini & Hashemy Shahdany, S. Mehdy & Javadi, Saman & Milan, Sami Ghordoyee & Neshat, Aminreza & Berndtsson, Ronny & Tork, Hamed, 2023. "Modernization in agricultural water distribution system for aquifer storage and recovery – A case study," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    4. Afsaneh Kaghazchi & Seied Mehdy Hashemy Shahdany & Alireza Firoozfar, 2022. "Prioritization of agricultural water distribution operating systems based on the sustainable development indicators," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(1), pages 23-40, February.
    5. Barkhordari, Soroush & Hashemy Shahdany, Seied Mehdy, 2021. "Developing a smart operating system for fairly distribution of irrigation water, based on social, economic, and environmental considerations," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 250(C).
    6. Karimi Avargani, Habib & Hashemy Shahdany, S. Mehdy & Hashemi Garmdareh, S. Ebrahim & Liaghat, Abdolmajid & Guan, Guanghua & Behzadi, Farhad & Milan, Sami Ghordoyee & Berndtsson, Ronny, 2023. "Operational loss estimation in irrigation canals by integrating hydraulic simulation and crop growth modeling," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    7. Kumari, Ankita & Pathania, Tinesh, 2026. "Comprehensive review of optimization and surrogate models for agricultural water resources and reservoir water management," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    8. Huanyu Chang & Yongqiang Cao & Jiaqi Yao & He Ren & Zhen Hong & Naren Fang, 2025. "The Synergistic Evolution and Coordination of the Water–Energy–Food Nexus in Northeast China: An Integrated Multi-Method Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-32, July.
    9. Yiping Jiang & Yalan Cheng & Kunru Li & Xiaoling Fu & Shuyi Feng & Baoai Xu, 2024. "Analysis of livestock manure utilization in planting and breeding supply chain with organic preference," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(6), pages 14295-14326, June.
    10. Ruopeng Huang & Haibin Liu, 2024. "Evaluation and External Driving Factors Analysis of Water–Energy–Food Resilience Security—Based on Spatial Durbin Model and Four Provinces Along the Yellow River," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-18, November.
    11. Zhang, Y.F. & Li, Y.P. & Huang, G.H. & Zhai, X.B. & Ma, Y., 2024. "Improving efficiency and sustainability of water-agriculture-energy nexus in a transboundary river basin under climate change: A double-sided stochastic factional optimization method," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    12. Kamrani, Kazem & Roozbahani, Abbas & Hashemy Shahdany, Seied Mehdy, 2020. "Using Bayesian networks to evaluate how agricultural water distribution systems handle the water-food-energy nexus," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 239(C).
    13. Zhu, Zheli & Guan, Guanghua & Wang, Kang, 2023. "Distributed model predictive control based on the alternating direction method of multipliers for branching open canal irrigation systems," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).
    14. Hua, En & Han, Xinxueqi & Engel, Bernard A. & Guan, Jiajie & Sun, Shikun & Wu, Pute & Wang, Bing & Wang, Yubao, 2024. "Developing a sustainable assessment framework for identifying industrial water suitability: Perspective on the water-energy-food nexus," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    15. Tang, Lanping & Verburg, Peter H. & Ke, Xinli & Wang, Chengcheng & Wu, Shaohua & Li, Wuyan & Zhu, Jinxia, 2026. "Spatio-temporal changes in cropland system and its impacts on grain production in China," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 232(C).
    16. Zhou, Ke & Gao, Zhanyi & Fan, Yu & Chen, Haorui & Zheng, Xinrong & Zhang, Xufeng, 2025. "Research on the coupled model of canal system optimization control and water distribution," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).
    17. Kuan Liu & Lichuan Wang & Jiaqi Zhai & Yong Zhao & Haodong Deng & Xing Li, 2025. "Impact of Urbanization on Water Resource Competition Between Energy and Food: A Case Study of Jing-Jin-Ji," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-20, January.
    18. Ren, Hourui & Liu, Bin & Zhang, Zirui & Li, Fuxin & Pan, Ke & Zhou, Zhongli & Xu, Xiaoshuang, 2022. "A water-energy-food-carbon nexus optimization model for sustainable agricultural development in the Yellow River Basin under uncertainty," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 326(C).
    19. Ershadfath, Farnaz & Shahnazari, Ali & Sarjaz, Mahmoud Raeini & Moghadasi, Omid Ali & Soheilifard, Farshad & Andaryani, Soghra & Khosravi, Rezvan & Ebrahimi, Raheleh & Hashemi, Fatemeh & Trolle, Denni, 2024. "Water-energy-food-greenhouse gas nexus: An approach to solutions for water scarcity in agriculture of a semi-arid region," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    20. S. M. Hashemy Shahdany & A. R. Firoozfar, 2017. "Providing a Reliable Water Level Control in Main Canals under Significant Inflow Fluctuations at Drought Periods within Canal Automation," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(11), pages 3343-3354, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:319:y:2025:i:c:s0378377425005013. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/agwat .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.