Irrigation Water Conveyance System: Digital Twin, Vegetation Dynamics in Irrigation Command Area

Abstract. Gujarat, a western state of India, has an extensive irrigation conveyance infrastructure of about 26,295 km, more than 6000 km pipelines and 490 km of Recharge Canals. This paper attempts to narrate about the infrastructure of Water Resources Dept, Gujarat effort for creating digital twin of the irrigation infrastructure. The initiative for creation of a dedicated Geospatial Cell and extensive training of over 400 field officers on open-source GIS, satellite imagery, digital image processing, VEDAS and Bhuvan Geoportal etc. Nearly 24,000 km of canal and 5,500 km of pipelines geo database created, along with inline hydraulic structures, command areas, and recharge infrastructure. The geospatial layers were shared in interoperable formats and APIs integrated with key state and national platforms. A Web Map Service (WMS) developed to facilitate standard uniform interactive data usage enhancing transparency and user engagement. The system supports applications such as permission for crossings, monitoring of reservoir water storage, vegetation dynamics within irrigation command areas and seamless planning of deploying UAV surveys etc. This initiative has significantly enhanced geo-spatial data fidelity, accelerated decision-making and inter-departmental coordination. It proved a resilient digital backbone for the Irrigation Master Plan, enabled adaptive management strategies across administrative levels to bring equity and efficiency in water distribution.