Diseño de un sistema de distribución de agua para riego en zonas de alta pendiente para comunidades andinas: aplicación a la comunidad agrícola Namza

Abstract

The progressive depletion of water sources and the permanent demand for food, for a constantly growing population, create the need to seek more productive areas, with more efficient and environmentally sustainable irrigation water distribution systems. The Namza agricultural community, being located in the Andes mountain range, presents a rugged topography, where implementing traditional irrigation systems becomes difficult; resulting in low agricultural production. In this sense, this document contemplates the technical study and design of a water distribution system for irrigation in areas of high slope applied in the Namza agricultural community, Chimborazo province. This consists, in the first instance, of information obtained from field inspections and workshops with users that were developed in order to know the current state of the existing irrigation water distribution system, the irrigation needs and production of the farmers. Subsequently, a topographic study was carried out, with the aim of preparing the cadastre of the users with the right and therefore the respective planning of the irrigation shifts. In addition, an analysis of slopes of the study area was carried out, through geographic information system (GIS) programs, to determine the values of irrigable area and non-irrigable area that each plot owns; followed by an edaphological and climatological study to obtain characteristic parameters that allowed the calculation of the water requirements of the project. Finally, adequate hydraulic criteria were established to conceive an efficient design, capable of solving the water needs of the community's farmers. To design the irrigation water distribution system, EPANET free software was used as the main tool, which constitutes specialized software and allows reliability of the results. As part of the comprehensive design proposal, the study includes construction plans, technical design report, system operation and maintenance manual, and construction budget.