DESCRIPTION AND EVALUATION OF PROGRAM CANAL

CANAL is a computer model that was developed at Utah State University to perform unsteady-flow simulations for branching canal networks. This paper describes the features of the model and discusses its strengths. weaknesses. ana potential applications. Some of the features of a more recent version of the model are contrasted with the version used in this study. Compared to other similar models, CANAL was found to be very robust and user-friendly. and more appropriate for canal-management applications than for hydraulic-design and emergency-operation analyses. Several test data sets compiled by the ASCE Task Committee on irrigation Canal System Hydraulic Modeling were used to evaluate the model. and simulation results are compared to a set of field data from the Cental Arizona Project.