Evaluation of Sprinkler Irrigation Systems in Northern Utah

Summary and Conclusions: Sprinkler irrigation will continue to expand in Utah as well as in other irrigated areas of the world. This method of irrigation is suitable to all farm crops grown in the state and to most soils. It is particularly adapted to steep foothill areas where the water supply can be obtained at higher elevation and pumping is not necessary to develop pressure for the sprinkler systems. Also, much of the irrigated land of the state, particularly along the Wasatch front, is owned and operated by part-time farmers. Having the water under complete control and the irrigation schedule worked out to fit their needs can be of great value. However, canal companies must change existing water delivery schedules to make sprinkler irrigation workable. This method of irrigation is most satisfactory with small more nearly continuous flows of water during the peak use period instead of large intermittent deliveries. Maximum benefit from a sprinkler irrigation system cannot be realized unless it is properly designed and operated. Development of a successfully designed system and its operation require a knowledge and understanding of the complex plant, soil, and water relations. These factors must be considered and the system then designed to meet the farmer\u27s desires and work schedule. It should be the responsibility of the sprinkler system designer not only to install the equipment properly, but to train the farmer in its correct use. The following conclusions can be drawn from the sprinkler irrigation studies conducted in northern Utah during 1953 and 1954. 1. Suitable sprinkler systems for northern Utah lands will probabily cost from $75 to$85 per care, based on 1954 prices. 2. More than 40 percent of the sprinkler systems studied are inadequately designed to meet peak water use requirements. Of the others, about 15 percent have not been meeting these demands because of improper operation. 3. Farmers generally are not applying sufficient water each irrigation for optimum crop growth or minimum water application cost. 4. The sprinkler system must be capable of delivering a water suppply of about 10 gallons per minute per acre flow during the hottest part of the summer for the crops and conditions found in northern Utah. One major reason for this large flow requirement is that field shapes are irregular. 5. Total labor requirements will be a minimum of one man-hour per acre per irrigation. 6. Water-cooled gasoline power units are using an average of 0.15 gallon of fuel per brake horsepower required each hour. Properly applied power units in good condition will operate more efficiently. Diesel power units are consuming an average of 0.08 gallon of fuel per brake horsepower each hour. This study clearly demonstrated taht each farm presents a wide variety of problems which must be solved in various ways. The simple fact that every farm and farmer is different precludes the possibility of being able to go into a deparment store and purchase a package sprinkler unit that will meet the farmer\u27s needs

Proceedings of a Summer Institute in Water Resources: Volume 1 - Philosophical, Institutional, and Legal Aspects of Water Resources

Foreward: Recognizing the need for training of individuals to meet the rapidly rising problems connected with water resources development, Utah State University, with National Science Foundation support, organized a Summer Institute in Water Resources for college teachers. it was hoped that participants carefully selected from all regions of the country would receive additional insight and stimulation to improve and enlarge water resources training programs at their own institutions. Thus, the accelerated dissemination of such knowledge on a national scale could be facilitated. Realizing further that the key to a successful institute of this nature lay in the excellence of its staff, efforts were made to obtain instructors with intimate knowledge and broad experience int he subject matter area they were asked to rpesent. In nearly every case those selected willingly accepted the invitation to participate, although this meant considerable monetary sacrifice and major adjustment of busy schedules. The subject matter treated paralleled regular offerings listed in the University catalog and is considered to be central or core to a water resources planning and management training program. one course treated the philosophical, historical, institutional, political, and legal aspects of water development. The responsibility for this course was shared jointly with Cleve H. Milligan, Charles E. Corker, and Wayne D. Criddle. The second course considered the principles of water resources economics and was presented by B. Delworth Gardner. The third course dealt with concepts of water quality management and was under the direction of P. H. McGauhey. The final course was on principles and procedures of regional resources planning and was presented jointly by Aaron Wiener, W. R. Derrick Sewell, and Harvey O. Banks. Having assembled a distinguished and diversified staff to present some of the best current professional thinking in the topics suggested in the preceding paragraph, it was felt most appropriate to attempt to put their lectures into writing. A proceedings of the Institute would have considerable utility beyong the Institute itself. Hence, the instructors were encouraged to prepare written material for the proceedings and were given secretarial and other assistance to aid them. This material has been organized according to the four major courses and is issued in four comanion volumes. Clearly, this has been a prodigious effort which required Institute staff and others to go the extra mile. Special thanks and recognition are due Mrs. Dorothy Riley who not only typed the entire proceedings but also attended to many details necessary for the successfult operations of the Institute. Jay M. Bagley served as director of the Institute and assumed a general coordinating and editing role in the development of these proceedings

Estimates of Consumptive-Use and Irrigation Water Requirements of Crops in Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station periodically issues revisions to its publications. The most current edition is made available. For access to an earlier edition, if available for this title, please contact the Oklahoma State University Library Archives by email at [email protected] or by phone at 405-744-6311

Groundwater Development in Arid Basins

Summary: Groundwater development frequently provides a means whereby tremendous new economic opportunities are opened up. If supplies are overdrawn (mined) the ensuing regional economy may be able to affort replacements from more costly sources. In the United States the Salt River Valley of Arizona and the valleys of California provide examples. Two cases are treated in this paper, Israel and West Pakistan. In Israel, besides furnishing more than half of the basic source of water suppply, groundwater development provides opportunity for both quantity and quality management, which makes possible use of surface supplies and reclaimed sewage as firm rather than marginal sources. This development will permit the total water resources of this small country, where agricultural production ranks among the world\u27s most efficient, to be utilized effectively down to almost the last drop by the mid 1970\u27s. Israel must then look to desalted water from the sea for further expansion of its overall water supply. In West Pakistan a combination of level terrain and leaky canals since about 1890 led to threatened waterlogging and salinity of more than 25 million acreas of irrigated land, even though supplies were less than half adequate for good productivity. By the 1950\u27s low yields and increasing population threatened starvation. However, initiation of groundwater development, first by the government and later by pricate entreprise, has, since 1960, let to construction of 3,500 governmental tube wells of about 3 cfs capacity and 30,000 private tube wells of slightly less than 1 cfs capacity. Results have been dramatic. Agricultural production and use of fertilizer are rapidly increasing, and opening of well development of pricate enterprise is providing the irrigator with benefits of free competition for his water custom which he did not previously enjoy. Ultimately, besides providing full supplies for an estimated 26 to 30 million acrea, drainage and salinity problems will be mitigated if about 50 million acre-feet are pumped each year from groundwater including about 28 million acre-feet to be mined from a reserve of about 1,900 million acre-feet. With some difficult surface storage development due to terrain, mining may eventually be reduced. Through an eventual technological solution for the continuing overdraft is not now in sight, perhaps an economy may be built which can affort such a solution when the time comes

Utah\u27s Future Water Problems

Utah is rapidly changing from what was once predominately an agricultural state to an urban and industrial state. This shift is not decreasing our water needs; it is often intensifying these needs and creating many new problems. Perhaps we should ask ourselves-are we prepared to recognize and accept these changes? Are we really facing up to the problems that are developing or are we turning our heads and hoping they will go away? These changes involve technical, legal, and sociological problems never before encountered, some of which I should like to discuss. Before attempting to look at Utah\u27s water problems of the future, we may well look backwards and review the developments that have taken place in the past. Certainly, we do not expect progress made in the past to continue at the same rate and as a straight line into the future. Most developments are not at a constant rate. Rather, they seem to occur in a series of jerks or steps. However, this past experience may point towards trends of the future. We are now in a period of the most rapid change in the uses of water that has ever occurred

Bulletin No. 387 - Evaluation of Sprinkler Irrigation Systems in Northern Utah

Following the availability of lightweight aluminum tubing in quantity, irrigation by sprinkling has expanded rapidly in the United States as well as other areas of the world. Quick couplers, better pumps, and more dependable power units and power supplies have also contributed to the increased use of sprinkler irrigation. Future land developments will probably be more favorable to sprinkler irrigation since many of the areas best suited for surface irrigation have already been developed. Sprinkler irrigation can be an efficient way of applying water, and as water supply becomes more and more a limiting factor, more efficient methods for its use must be employed. Because of its relative newness, its rapid growth, and its aesthetic appeal, sprinkler irrigation has received much publicity. Advertising has cited the tremendous savings in water, labor, and investment together with increased quality, yield, and profits as a result of using sprinkler irrigation. It is doubtful that the plant knows or cares how it gets its water as long as it can have it where and when required

Conservation Irrigation

The term "conservation irrigation" is relatively new. Only in recent years has it become part of the terminology of irrigated agriculture in the West. "Conservation irrigation" is simply using irrigated soils and irrigation water in a way that will insure high production without the waste of either water or soil. It means using cropping, irrigation, and cultural practices that will maintain the land in permanent agriculture. Better methods hold a practical solution to both water problems and land problems. Whether you are a large irrigator or small, you will find the answers to many of your irrigation problems in the following pages. They are based on the latest scientific information and the experience of irrigators who are now practicing conservation irrigation