The underperformance problem of large-scale irrigation systems particularly in developing countries, has adversely affected levels of production of those systems. The fact that these irrigation systems are not managed in response to their performance has been identified as the main reason behind their malfunctioning. A performance-oriented management approach is demonstrated here to help irrigation system managers take the right decisions, through continuous in-season performance assessment. The Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer satellite images of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA-AVHRR) for the year 2000, complemented by water release data, were used to assess the performance of the Rahad irrigation scheme, Sudan (126 000 ha), on a 10-day time step. The Surface Energy Balance Algorithm (SEBAL) was used to process the NOAA-AVHRR images. The decisions on irrigation water allocation are guided by maps of the relative water supply and soil moisture content generated for the last time step. Further decision support could be realized using the performance indicators of the system and the soil water balance for the given time step.A semiautomatic computer program was developed which can be easily used by field staff to support their management decisions. It is anticipated that the application of such an approach will improve the performance of large-scale irrigation systems, and support development of a performance-oriented management culture among the staff of these irrigation systems.

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Abstract-The main objective of the research is to set a transboundary water management system for the Blue Nile River Basin (within its 16 sub-basins) as well as to create calibrated satellite rainfall data for the Blue Nile River Basin (BNRB). Within the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) model, the simplified rainfall-runoff option has been adopted to determine the runoff of the BNRB, using calibrated satellite rainfall data and adjusted monthly evapotranspiration factors. The WEAP model has been calibrated for the period (1980-1995) and validated for the period (1996-2010) where the simulated and observed flows have been compared at Eldeim, Giwisi, Hawata and Khartoum stations in a monthly time step yielding reasonable values. The results have effectively showed that the simulated flows are reasonable using the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency criteria (r 2 ) and the Coefficient of Determination (d) of the model performance. The research has found that unmet demands for water resources projects in BNRB may reach more than 50%, especially when considering a high priority for all water resources projects in the basin for all suggested scenarios. For a better BNRB management between Sudan and Ethiopia, it is required to define the priority order for each project within the Basin and to determine allocations of supplies and demands for these projects. The above cannot be achieved without a strong cooperation reaching between riparian countries in place that eventually lead to joint operation of the large storage structures, such as GERD, Karadobi and Mendaya dams.