Air Chambers for Irrigation Systems

The 1977 drought was the most severe in California history. The California Water Project was able to deliver only about 30% of the water demands for the calendar year 1977. The Wheeler Ridge-Maricopa Water Storage District receives its water from the California Water Project, and, therefore, the District was able to provide only 30% of the farmer's water needs in 1977. The District, in an effort to alleviate the effects of the drought, allowed private wells to be connected into the District's distribution system. The existing distribution systems were not designed to accommodate such connections and the resulting hydraulic pressures within the distribution system were of concern to the District. In view of the need for additional water, a simple conservative solution of the problem of analysis employs the techniques presented by Parmakian. Confirmation of the validity of the solutions is supported by field tests.