NOTICE: help.openstreetmap.org is no longer in use from 1st March 2024. Please use the OpenStreetMap Community Forum

How can I tag a waterway which is used both for irrigation and for drainage?

In taginfo I see few cases (only three) of waterway=canal;drain, but it's the correct way to act?

Here in Emilia we have a large, complex and versatile system of canals for irrigation (mostly in summer) and for drainage (mostly in winter) so this situation is very common.

asked 31 Jul '14, 07:51

NonnEmilia's gravatar image

NonnEmilia
1363411
accept rate: 0%


It's better not to use a semi-colon (;) separator in the value tag of waterways, see http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Semi-colon_value_separator#When_NOT_to_use_a_semi-colon_value_separator

permanent link

answered 31 Jul '14, 13:24

ligfietser's gravatar image

ligfietser
2.9k52757
accept rate: 11%

2

And this is also correct, but in this case it's wrong to create two ways and likewise choose a primary purpose. Those canals do exactly two things.

But I understand the "semicolon problem". Should be more correct something like this?

waterway=canal
canal:irrigation=yes
canal:drain=yes

or, taking inspiration by service:bicycle something like this:

waterway=canal
service:canal:irrigation=yes
service:canal:drain=yes
(31 Jul '14, 13:38) NonnEmilia

That would be better, waterway=drain is used for minor artificial waterways, canal is used for bigger waterways. Imho you can't use both at the same time, but of course the canal's purpose can be a drainage of some area.

(01 Aug '14, 09:17) ligfietser

We should keep in mind that if the structure serves dual important purposes, as is clearly the case here (to me anyway), then it should be tagged as such. I don't think it is being suggested by anyone here, but we should bear in mind not to tag for the renderer. The high integrity of the data serves us well for many many varied purposes.

(01 Aug '14, 11:13) nevw

I think a waterway which is used both for irrigation and for drainage is well described by waterway=canal;drain
Key:waterway notes that a canal is an artificial open waterway used for transportation, waterpower, or irrigation. (my emphasis)

Regional differences seem to cloud the issue as many consider that a canal implies being navigable by boats, though where live this would not necessarily be implied for a canal.

permanent link

answered 31 Jul '14, 08:49

nevw's gravatar image

nevw
9.8k2690178
accept rate: 9%

1

Therefore, for completeness, I could use waterway=canal;drain along with service=irrigation.

(31 Jul '14, 09:46) NonnEmilia

even more excellent :)

(31 Jul '14, 10:09) nevw
Your answer
toggle preview

Follow this question

By Email:

Once you sign in you will be able to subscribe for any updates here

By RSS:

Answers

Answers and Comments

Markdown Basics

  • *italic* or _italic_
  • **bold** or __bold__
  • link:[text](http://url.com/ "title")
  • image?![alt text](/path/img.jpg "title")
  • numbered list: 1. Foo 2. Bar
  • to add a line break simply add two spaces to where you would like the new line to be.
  • basic HTML tags are also supported

Question tags:

×52
×10
×7

question asked: 31 Jul '14, 07:51

question was seen: 7,824 times

last updated: 01 Aug '14, 11:13

NOTICE: help.openstreetmap.org is no longer in use from 1st March 2024. Please use the OpenStreetMap Community Forum