Performance of Historic Downstream Canal Control Algorithms on ASCE Test Canal 1

Researchers have developed several algorithms to automatically control water levels in irrigation canals. Proportional-integral (PI) control logic has been used for downstream water-level control, but its performance has not always been satisfactory. Heuristic downstream water-level controllers (e.g., canal automation for rapid demand deliveries, or CARDD) have also been proposed but not rigorously tested. The ASCE Task Committee on Canal Automation Algorithms developed a series of test cases to evaluate the performance of canal control algorithms. In this paper, simulation tests were performed on the ASCE Test Canal 1 using three downstream control algorithms: (1) The standard PI control logic; (2) The PI control logic with hydraulic decouplers; and (3) The heuristic CARDD control logic. These controllers were tuned manually using trial-and-error techniques. Performance of the PI control logic improved with the addition of hydraulic decouplers. CARDD did not perform as well as the PI controllers under th...