Pumping tests, La Grange region, Western Australia

Groundwater Consulting Services was contracted to collate and analyse pumping test information from four sites in the La Grange region, near Broome. Two of the pumping tests were conducted by Groundwater Consulting Services and two pumping tests were conducted by Kimberley Water Pty Ltd under instruction from the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia. The major objective of the work was to provide aquifer hydraulic data to be used as input into a numerical model being developed by the Department of Agriculture and Food. A secondary objective was to provide irrigation water supply development advice for potential irrigation projects. The aquifer hydraulic data provided by this study supplements that sourced from other investigations in the region

Implementation of Magnetic Meters for Irrigation Volumetric Measurement

The irrigation industry is experiencing a growth in the use of magnetic meters for measuring the flow rate and volume in irrigation pipelines. Historically, propeller meters have been the device selected by users. New legislation in California (SB7x7) will require measurement devices at key locations for irrigation water delivery. Some users are very interested in the magnetic meter for making the measurement at the turnout or farm gate. The key feature of the new meter is the ability for the device to work in less than ideal flow conditions. Electromagnetic meters have been tested by the Irrigation Training and Research Center in lab and field pipelines located less than the 10 diameters upstream of disturbances with good results. There are several manufacturers that are selling units to the irrigation market as well as several types of magnetic meter designs. This paper discusses how a magnetic flow meter works, advantages/disadvantages of this type of meter, test results, and new guidelines for field applications

Strawberries: Effects of Modifying Irrigation Methods for Transplant Establishment

In 2009, the Cal Poly Irrigation Training and Research Center began a multi-year analysis of the current irrigation practices of strawberry growers on the Central Coast of California. Specifically, the project examines the impacts of salinity on young strawberry transplants and the current practice of sprinkler use during the establishment of transplants for salinity control in areas where drip irrigation is available. The overall goal of the project is to study current practices and determine any conditions where growers can minimize or eliminate sprinkler use on strawberries, thereby conserving water, saving pumping costs, and reducing runoff. Results from the first year of the study have suggested that, contrary to previous belief, using reduced sprinkler or only drip irrigation results in higher yields than conventional methods

Partnership : Beyond Consultation

In recent years, in Australia, there has been an increasing acknowledgment that work practices need to be developed around the concept of partnership with less intrusive and coercive management regimes. All participants are recognised as agents of the productive process, albeit on different scales and at different rates. Partnership does not preclude an understanding that some will be more advanced in their skills and understandings than others, that some will be in need of greater assistance than others. What is distinctive is that involvement in development will be collaborative, rather than coercive; cooperative, rather than competitive; enabling rather than disabling, oriented to means as well as ends. The emergence of better understandings of partnership in the conduct of various enterprises in Australia has not come about by chance. In the last decade there has evolved a specific socio-political context which has made the restructuring of work relations imperative. Lepani (1992) has argued that Australia has to find a new place in a greatly changed global economic order and be poised to innovate in the knowledge that our most flexible resource is human rather than material (Boomer, 1988). It is in this context that the National Project on the Quality of Teaching and Learning (NPQTL) was formed. Three major working parties were formed: Work Organisation and related Pedagogical Issues; National Professional Issues (registration, accreditation, qualification); and, Teachers\u27 Professional Preparation and Career Development (pre-service and in-service education)

Synthesis and evaluation of halogenated nitrophenoxazinones as nitroreductase substrates for the detection of pathogenic bacteria

The synthesis and microbiological evaluation of 7-, 8- and 9-nitro-1,2,4-trihalogenophenoxazin-3-one substrates with potential in the detection of nitroreductase-expressing pathogenic microorganisms are described. The 7- and 9-nitrotrihalogenophenoxazinone substrates were reduced by most Gram negative microorganisms and were inhibitory to the growth of certain Gram positive bacteria; however, the majority of Gram positive strains that were not inhibited by these agents, along with the two yeast strains evaluated, did not reduce the substrates. These observations suggest there are differences in the active site structures and substrate requirements of the nitroreductase enzymes from different strains; such differences may be exploited in the future for differentiation between pathogenic microorganisms. The absence of reduction of the 8-nitrotrihalogenophenoxazinone substrates is rationalized according to their electronic properties and correlates well with previous findings