Shule River originates from the valley between Shule South Mountain and Tole South Mountain, the highest peak of Qilian Mountains, where Tuanjie Peak is located. It is the second largest river in the Hexi Corridor of Gansu Province, and is also a typical inland river basin in the northwest arid region of China. The Shule River irrigation area under its jurisdiction is the largest artesian irrigation area in Gansu Province, undertaking the irrigation task of 1.34 million mu of farmland in Yumen City, Jiuquan City and Guazhou County.

In recent years, the Shule River Basin has effectively solved the problem of drought of local cultivated land by comprehensively implementing the supporting and modernization projects of the irrigation area, and the ecological environment of the lower reaches of the river and the nature reserve has improved significantly. Now, Shule River Irrigation District is taking advantage of the “spring breeze” of intelligent water conservancy to insert “digital wings” for the modern management of the irrigation district.

In February 2022, the Ministry of Water Resources officially launched the first trial of the digital twin basin, and Shule River in Gansu Province was successfully selected as a national pilot. The digital twin Shule River (digital irrigation area) project has become the first digital twin project covering the whole basin from the “source” to the “field” in China, and is also one of the few digital twin projects in China.

Stand high and look far, innovate and develop. Tuanjie Peak is 5808 meters above sea level – this is not only the physical height of the main peak in the birthplace of Shule River, but also a symbol of the height of the digital twin Shule River (digital irrigation area) project. Shule River is standing at a new height of water conservancy development at this stage, creating a new pattern of Gansu intelligent water conservancy development with high level, quality and efficiency.

Just in time for the construction of the digital twin river basin, Huitu Technology under DAYU Group has won the construction opportunity of the digital twin Shule River (digital irrigation area) project with its profound technical accumulation and good business reputation. Since winning the bid, Dayu Irrigation has made full use of its own advantages to overcome the problems of complex construction targets and short construction time, optimize and integrate relevant resources, implement the strategy of tackling key problems, and strive hard for the early completion of the project. Through the construction of smart water conservancy applications such as smart flood control, smart water resource management and allocation, intelligent management and control of water conservancy projects, smart management of digital irrigation areas, and public services of water conservancy, a digital twin Shule River with the functions of “four pre” of forecasting, early warning, rehearsal, and contingency plans will be built to provide decision support for the realization of the water transmission and distribution management mode of “water supply on demand, automatic control, and intelligent dispatching”.

Tang Zongren, Vice President and Chief Engineer of Dayu Huitu Technology, said, “Shule River is a typical river in arid and semi-arid areas, and its flood control and water resources regulation problems coexist. In addition to the traditional flood risk problem, the flood control problem is very important because the movement track of the canal head flood in the alluvial fan is a wandering movement without a fixed river channel, which leads to the flood flowing out of the alluvial fan will cause damage to the aqueduct connected to the ditch due to the flood converging to a large number of ditches; and water resources allocation needs to be solved. The problem to be solved is to realize ‘water transfer on demand, water supply on demand and reduce waste water’ under the condition of limited water resources. This system will initially establish an integrated water resource management model covering the three major reservoirs, rivers, trunk and branch canals of Shule River, as well as the corresponding surface water and groundwater. In the future, factors such as water, water demand, water distribution, water transfer and gate control and dispatching will be integrated into the calculation model to realize the linkage mechanism between model calculation and gate control, and deduction and 3D simulation will be realized through the twin platform, Realize macro water resource allocation and micro canal system on-demand water resource dispatching management. At the same time, the system also modeled the flood movement of the alluvial fan based on the existing terrain, and explored the problem of flood resource utilization of the alluvial fan and the problem of sediment deposition in some reservoirs and rivers, laying a foundation for improving the business management mode of the irrigation area and improving the management level. “

Huo Hongxu, general manager of Dayu Huitu Science and Technology Planning and Development Center, said that the implementation was accurate and orderly, enabling the project to advance efficiently. Since the construction of the project, Dayu Huitu Technology has summarized experience, explored and innovated in the “actual combat”, and worked hard to turn the “blueprint” of the project into reality little by little.

“Our digital twin team is stationed at the site, and has close communication and discussion with the leaders and colleagues of the Shule River Basin Water Resources Utilization Center. Focusing on the actual needs of the Shule River basin management, we create a dedicated digital twin of the Shule River. Through multiple links such as aviation, modeling, data collection and governance, professional model R&D and application, business scenario realization, and visual platform construction, we achieve basin flood control, water resources allocation and scheduling, and project operation management The management, irrigation operation and other business processes are simulated on the reservoirs, irrigation areas, water systems and canal systems in the Shule River basin. Colleagues fought on the front line, striving for the construction period and progress, and adhering to 996. Their fighting spirit was touching. “

Sheng Caihong, an engineer of the Planning Office of the Water Resources Utilization Center of Shule River Basin in Gansu Province, said that water management depends on “wisdom”. When the digital twin technology meets the basin, it is equivalent to equipping the river with “wisdom brain” and injecting fresh “live water” into the irrigation area.

“We have shrunk the Shule River into the computer, created a ‘digital twin Shule River’ on the computer, which is the same as the actual Shule River. We have carried out digital mapping, intelligent simulation, and forward-looking rehearsal of the actual Shule River and its protection and governance activities, and synchronized simulation operation, virtual and real interaction, and iterative optimization with the actual Shule River basin to achieve real-time monitoring, problem discovery, and optimal scheduling of the actual basin.”

Li Yujun, a cadre of Changma Irrigation District Management Office of Shule River, said, “Now it only takes 10 minutes to inspect the 79.95 km trunk canal within the entire management scope, monitor the whole process, and timely find and deal with problems.”

It can be seen from the actual application effect of the project and the recognition of users and industry authorities that the typical demonstration effect of the project has initially appeared, creating a “Gansu sample” of digital twin basin construction.

As one of the first GEM listed companies from Jiuquan, Gansu Province to the whole country, DAYU Irrigation Group has been deeply engaged in agricultural and water business for more than 20 years. Over the years, it has always adhered to the development concept of “one centimeter wide and ten kilometers deep”, and has been constantly digging deep in the field of water saving, persevering and becoming the leading enterprise in the industry. DAYU always adheres to the leading role of technological innovation and mode innovation, and constantly explores new ideas for development in the field of “agriculture, rural areas and water conservancy”. A number of typical demonstration projects have been built.

The digital twin Shule River is another “sample” project created by Dayu to save water. The construction has a high starting point, high positioning and high standard. As the construction benefits of the project gradually emerge, the demonstration and leading role of the project will gradually play.

We should play an innovative “first hand” and rebuild a “new engine” for development. Dayu Irrigation Group will continue to follow the requirements of Minister Li Guoying’s work of “taking digitalization, networking and intelligence as the main line, taking digitalized scenes, intelligent simulation and accurate decision-making as the path, and taking the construction of computing data, algorithms and computing power as the support to accelerate the construction of the digital twin basin”, implement the concept of integrated development of water conservancy and information technology, and actively explore a new path of integrated development of digital twin and water conservancy, Accelerate the construction of digital twin basin and make greater contributions to the development of water conservancy!