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The Lopac gate controls water surface elevation upstream, serving as an <br />automated check structure. <br />meet crop water use requirements. A <br />well- managed program of rotational <br />water delivery is able to fulfill sea- <br />sonal crop water requirements in a <br />timely manner, but requires less water <br />than continuous water delivery. <br />Decision support systems for RWD <br />Colorado State University researchers <br />have formulated a decision - support <br />computer model to assist implemen- <br />tation of rotational water delivery in <br />the MRGCD. A DSS combines intel- <br />lectual resources of individuals with <br />capabilities of computers to improve <br />the quality of decision - making. It is <br />a logical arrangement of information <br />including engineering models, field <br />data, GIS and graphical user interfac- <br />es, and is used by managers to make <br />informed decisions. In irrigation sys- <br />tems, a DSS can organize information <br />about water demand in the service <br />area and then schedule available <br />water supplies to efficiently fulfill the <br />demand. The conceptual problem <br />addressed by a DSS for an irrigation <br />system, then, is: how best to route <br />water supply in a main canal to its <br />laterals so that the required water di- <br />version is minimized. The desirable <br />solution to this problem should be <br />"demand- driven ", in the sense that it <br />should be based on a realistic estima- <br />tion of water demand. <br />The DSS was designed to improve <br />understanding of how the water sup- <br />ply can be best scheduled to meet the <br />crop water demand; and, specifically, <br />to aid in the implementation of rota- <br />tional water delivery practices within <br />the MRGCD. The DSS consists of <br />three elements; a water demand mod- <br />ule, a supply network, and a sched- <br />uling program. A Graphical User <br />Interface (GUI) provides a means for <br />