  This paper presents a new application of logic programming to a real-life
problem in hydraulic engineering. The work is developed as a collaboration of
computer scientists and hydraulic engineers, and applies Constraint Logic
Programming to solve a hard combinatorial problem. This application deals with
one aspect of the design of a water distribution network, i.e., the valve
isolation system design.
  We take the formulation of the problem by Giustolisi and Savic (2008) and
show how, thanks to constraint propagation, we can get better solutions than
the best solution known in the literature for the Apulian distribution network.
  We believe that the area of the so-called hydroinformatics can benefit from
the techniques developed in Constraint Logic Programming and possibly from
other areas of logic programming, such as Answer Set Programming.
