Irrigated portions of Franklin County contain many coarse textured soils with little organic matter. These soils have low water holding capacities, and allow rapid movement of excess water. Water movement downward through the soil profile occurs when pushed by additional water. Excess irrigation water may contribute to leaching of contaminants, and a higher water table.
The Franklin Conservation District can provide you with information to achieve a higher level of (IWM) Irrigation Water Management, to help minimize water quality problems, and help provide a lower cost benefit for irrigated agriculture.
Irrigators need to consider a few important points to achieve their IWM goal:
Irrigation system performance and maintenance.
Irrigation system evaluations.
Walk-through inspections.
How much water to apply, and when.
To perform an irrigation system evaluation, cups are placed in a line underneath the center pivot to catch the applied water. The water in the cups is then measured and run through a computer program to calculate distribution uniformity.
Irrigation water management is moving along very rapidly with technology. In the image to the right we see a telemetry system that can transmit various types of data, at varying intervals from the field to your computer at home, or your laptop in your truck.
Some of the cheaper, easier ways of monitoring soil moisture can be done by the use of Watermarks which measure electrical resistance. Tensiometers which measure the "pull" of moisture down through the soil profile.
