Articles | Volume 20, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-1903-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-1903-2016
Research article
 | 
12 May 2016
Research article |  | 12 May 2016

Supplemental irrigation potential and impact on downstream flow of Karkheh River basin in Iran

Behzad Hessari, Adriana Bruggeman, Ali Mohammad Akhoond-Ali, Theib Oweis, and Fariborz Abbasi

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Short summary
Yields of rainfed winter crops such as wheat can be substantially improved with limited supplemental irrigation. The upper Karkheh River basin in Iran has 15 840 km2 of rainfed crops. A GIS method was designed to identify suitable areas for irrigation and a routine was developed to allocate water uses and route the flows downstream. A maximum of 13 % of the rainfed cropland could be irrigated under normal flow, 9 % if environmental flow requirements are considered and 6 % under drought conditions.