Three water application treatments with low salt water were
applied to previously nonirrigated soil and to a similar soil which had
been irrigated for 67 years. The total soluble salt content of these soils
initially, and after one and two seasons of treatment, was measured to
determine salt outflow. Residual soluble salts were essentially removed
from the previously nonirrigated soil after 30 cm of water/m
depth of soil had passed from the soil as leachate, regardless of the
number of sea/ions required for that amount of leaching. The total
quantity of residual salt removed from soil 5 m deep was 70 metric
tons/ha, with about 38 metric tons/ha being leached out by the first 14
cm of leachate. After the residual salt was removed, the salt content of
the newly irrigated soil was the same as that of the soil which had been
irrigated for 67 years. Subsequent salt outflow from the soil was
directly related to the quantity of water leaching through the soil,
indicating that more minerals dissolved with more leaching. Soils
irrigated for many years and then not irrigated for up to 10 years had
no measurable reaccumulation of soluble salts during the period of
nonirrigation. Results of these investigations provide a basis for
estimating salt outflows from newly developed and old irrigated lands,
and for assessing the impact of these salts on surface and groundwater
supplies
