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Whole Farm Management for Efficient Water Use
Paul W. Brown Extension Specialist, Biometeorology
Associate Director, Agriculture & Natural Resource Programs Arizona Cooperative Extension, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
University of Arizona
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Southwest AZ 25% of Ag Eleva5on: < 600’ Rain: <4” Surface Water
Central AZ 51% of Ag Eleva5on: 600-‐3000’ Rain: 4-‐12” Ground/Surface Water Southeast AZ
12% of Ag Eleva5on: 3000-‐4400’ Rain: 10-‐16” Surface Water (Gila V) Groundwater (Cochise Co.)
Irrigated Agriculture in Arizona Irrigated Area: ~850,000 Acres
Northwest AZ 12% of Ag Eleva5on: 400-‐3000’ Rain: 4-‐8” Surface Water (CO River) Groundwater (“Inland”)
Map: University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center
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Arizona Irrigation Systems
0
100000
200000
300000
400000
500000
600000
700000
800000
Acres
Arizona Irriga5on Systems 2003 2013
Surface
Center Pivot
Drip
Source: 2003 & 2013 Farm & Ranch Survey; USDA/NASS
Solid Set Irriga5on
+56% +450% +69%
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Irrigation System Efficiency
Field/Applica5on Efficiency
Ea = 100*Vp/Vf
Where: Vp: Crop irriga5on need Vf: Water delivered to field Crop irriga5on need may include beneficial uses such as water required for leaching, germina5on, cooling, etc.
Source: Howell, T. 2003. Irriga5on Efficiency. In: Encyclopedia of Water Science. 2003. Marcel Dekker Inc.
Field Efficiency, %
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Yuma Case Study Report
hlp://www.agwateryuma.com/
Agricultural water use has decline ~18 % since 1975
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Transition to Vegetable/Multi-Crop Production
Reduc5on in summer irriga5on Winter-‐centric produc5on systems Second crop omen wheat/melons
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Level Furrow/Basin Irrigation
High flows, rapid advance of water limits deep percola5on
Source: Howell, T. 2003. Irriga5on Efficiency. In: Encyclopedia of Water Science. 2003. Marcel Dekker Inc.
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Elimination of Subbing
Sprinklers have replaced subbing as a means of establishing vegetable crops. Water used to establish vegetable crops has decreased by 50-‐75%.
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Improved Surface Irriga5on Efficiency Yuma County
Higher applica5on efficiencies with shorter irriga5on runs.
Land Leveling
Press Wheels High Flow Turnouts
Adapted from Sanchez et al. 2008
Sprinklers (Establishment)
Wellton Mohawk IDD
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Surface Irrigation Statewide
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
% of Irrigated
Lan
d
Irriga5on Systems: Four Central AZ Irriga5on Districts Prac5ce Farms Acres
Lined Ditches/Pipes* 1558 688,502
Laser Leveling** 579 391,499
Diking** 397 155,510
Reduced Set Times** 469 97,039
Tailwater Systems** 147 59,545
Alternate Row 87 46,096 2008 Farm & Ranch Survey; USDA, NASS *Total Farms: 2064; Acres = 764655 **Total: Farms = 1167; Acres = 621,190
Source: HDR Engineering Tech Memorandum to Central AZ Project
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Sprinkler Irriga5on Trends
• Center Pivots • Improved efficiency
• Automa5on, nozzle improvement • LEPA; LESA; LPIC • Precision technologies
• Most popular in SE Arizona
• Solid Set • Growing popularity in SW Arizona
• Crop establishment • Wide bed produce • Wheat produc5on
Micro-‐sprinkler
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Southeast Arizona Tree Nut Produc5on
Nut trees have replaced colon & alfalfa as a way to improve farm profitability in Southeast Arizona. Most new plan5ngs use drip/micro-‐irriga5on to apply water.
Mature Pecan Orchard Young Pistachio Orchard
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Decisions Regarding Irrigation Timing
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
% of Farms
Deciding When to Irrigate
• Lack of Scientific Methods? • Crop condition/soil feel work • Integration challenge • Time/management expense
• Future Acceptance • Expansion of pressurized
systems • Large Farming entities
USDA 2013 Farm and Ranch Irriga5on Survey
ET Es5ma5on
Source: Farm Credit Services Southwest, 2004, hlps://www.fcssw.com/en/About-‐Us/~/media/Files/Newsleler/spring04.ashx
ET Measurement: Pecans
Limited use of scien5fic scheduling methods
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Improving Irriga5on Efficiency Barriers
Barriers to Irriga5on Improvements Farms Land (a) Water (a-‐m)
Landlord will not share costs 297 192,388 (23%) 919,114 (17%)
Improvement won’t cover install. costs
560 124,760 (15%) 572,066 (11%)
Cannot finance improvements 1209 121,436 (14%) 519,227 (10%)
Will not be farming long enough 243 97,354 (10%) 520,142 (10%)
Uncertainty about water future 598 114,054 (13%) 443,406 (8%) 2013 Farm and Ranch Survey, USDA, NASS
-‐Remote Land Ownership -‐Poor Economic Return -‐Financing -‐Urbaniza5on/Age -‐Water Future
NRCS EQIP for irriga5on improvements (since 1997): $74 Million NRCS EQIP for sprinkler/drip irriga5on: $42 Million on 182,000 acres
Values in ( ) represent % of irrigated land or % of ag water use