A Model Coupling Water Resource Allocation and Canal Optimization for Water Distribution

During a certain water distribution process in irrigated areas, the water resource allocation model can generate the distribution scheme of different water users in different regions to obtain the different water distributions of the canals that supply water to the water users. Based on the amount of water distribution, the canal optimization water distribution model was established, and indicators such as water allocation duration and leakage loss were obtained. Leakage loss affects the net water allocation of users and then affects the water fee income and equity of the water resource allocation model. Therefore, the water resource allocation model and canal optimization water distribution model are mutually influenced. The coupled model should be considered while modelling the process of water distribution to obtain more reasonable water resource allocation results. The coupled model comprehensively considers the objectives of water fee income, equity, leakage loss and water distribution duration, and the results can help irrigation area managers obtain a more practical water distribution scheme. The applicability and practicability of the method were verified by applying the model to the limited water resource allocation scenario in the BoJiLi Yellow River irrigation area. The results showed that the coupled model provides a promising way of optimizing the water distribution scheme, i.e., less water leakage losses, more total water allocation guarantees, less total water shortages, and more irrigated water from the reservoir (upstream) to farmland (downstream), thus promoting fairness and increasing the water fee income.