Part 1: Overview: The Need for Better Irrigation (83 slides) gives an overview of the issues related to water distribution, and summarizes the methods of water control that are described in latter parts of the program. It also discusses important considerations in the planning and design of irrigation systems

Part II: Old Conceptual Approaches (53 slides) deal with small-scale traditional irrigation schemes and conventional large-scale projects. It reviews the principles of water distribution used in most traditional irrigation schemes. Then it discusses the shortcomings of these principles when they are applied to some large-scale projects in the late 19th century. Finally it describes the operational difficulties of operating conventional large-scale projects equipped with a large number of adjustable, manually controlled structures.

Part III: The Hydraulic Problem of Canal Water Control (45 slides) formulates the objectives of modern irrigation in engineering terms. First it examines the two basic aspects of water control: water flow control and water level control. It then reviews the basic methods of water control in open channels under variable flow conditions.

Part IV: System Operation: Local and Remote Local Control (48 slides) examines the operation of an entire irrigation system consisting of a complex network of main and tertiary canals and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of upstream and downstream control methods and their possible combinations.

Part V: Centralized and Supervisory Control (79 slides ) reviews the operator-oriented and user-oriented approaches to centralized control of canal systems and presents the main features of some examples; The Salt River project, The California Aqueduct, the central Arizona project in the USA, and the canal de Provence in France. It then reviews the recent method of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) which combines local and centralized control.

Part VI: Control Equipment (107 slides) examines the alternative solutions for local control at various points in an irrigation system for flow division, water level control, combined flow and water level control, flow control at offtakes, and a combination of all these. Then the features of certain types of equipment used in remote and centralized control are briefly described.

Part VII: Water Measurements (35 slides) reviews the traditional methods of water measurements in irrigation systems and their limitations. It then presents the modern methods using acoustic and magnetic flowmeters.

Part VIII : Selection of Appropriate Method of Operation (66 slides) reviews the factors that influence the selection of operational concepts and associated technologies for construction of new projects and modernization of existing systems. It concludes with some general recommendations on the selection of technologies.

Part IX: User Participation in Irrigation Management (32 slides) reviews the different models of water user associations that have been adopted during the last decades, and proposes a model of partnership between users and government with regards to governance an managerial activities.

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