Regional Irrigation Efficiency Program. Paul Robins Paul Robins Resource Conservation District of Monterey Co.

Transcription

1 Regional Irrigation Efficiency Program Paul Robins Paul Robins Resource Conservation District of Monterey Co.

2 Central Coast Irrigation Efficiency Program Goal: Provide a technical service that can address the needs of a sophisticated i agriculture system Build local expertise Experienced in irrigation/nutrient management Knowlege of regional agriculture and economic challenges hll Connected to network of agency resources

3 Pilot Irrigation Efficiency Program in Santa Clara County (year 2) Joint effort of Monterey Co RCD, SC Farm Bureau, UCCE, and Santa Clara Valley Water Agency Turf, tomatoes, peppers, pp squash, cherries, wine grapes, flowers (greenhouse) Subsurface drip, surface drip, solid set sprinklers, wheel line sprinklers, micro sprinklers

4 Why improve irrigation management? Improve e production and quality Conserve fertilizer Conserve water Water quality: ground and surface water

5 Components of the Irrigation Efficiency Program Uniformity evaluation System design and operation audit Scheduling evaluation

6 Irrigation Efficiency = Water Requirement of the Crop (Crop ET) Total Amount of Water Applied a very high irrigation efficiency > 0.9 or 90% Goal is for all participants to work towards 80% or higher

7 Irrigation Requirement = Water Requirement of Crop (Crop ET) Distribution Uniformity

8 Irrigation Requirement and Distribution Uniformity water (inche es) Ap pplied Crop needs 2 of water Distribution Uniformity

9 Components of the Irrigation Efficiency Program in Santa Clara County Field i Work (Equipment, Standard doperating Procedures, Data sheets) Data analysis (Spreadsheet tools, datalogger programs) Summary Report (Template report) Grower consultation

10 Irrigation Efficiency Report Part of the 2009 Santa Clara Irrigation Efficiency Project, a cooperative effort between ten Santa Clara County Farmers, Santa Clara County Farm Bureau, University of California Cooperative Extension, and the Central Coast Agricultural Water quality Coalition. Made possible by funding from the Santa Clara Valley Water District.

11 Map locations of all Map locations of all measurements

12 Evaluation of Pressure Uniformity it

13 Summary of pressure measurements Time 1 Time 2 Time 3 Measurement main line pressure before filter (psi) main line pressure after filter (psi) average submain pressure (psi) variation in submain pressure measurements (%) average tail pressure (psi) variation in tail pressure measurements (%) pressure loss along lateral line (psi) average within field pressure (psi) variation in within field measurements (%)

14 Drip Tape Performance tape discharge rate (gp pm/100f ft) pressure vs discharge rate y = 0122x 0.122x R² = Pressure (psi)

15 Distribution Uniformity Evaluation

16 Uniformity calculations Distribution uniformity of lowest quarter Distribution uniformity of lowest tenth Scheduling coefficient System S application i rate Discharge rate of emitter/sprinkler

17 Emitter discharge uniformity evaluated in a vineyard

18 A li ti if it l t d f Application uniformity evaluated for micro-sprinklers in an orchard

19 Evaluation of Irrigation Scheduling

20 Estimate Crop Water Use ly Crop ET (In n/day) Dai /13 5/27 6/10 6/24 7/8 7/22 8/5 8/19

21 CIMIS reference ET Crop Coefficient 7% canopy 18% canopy

22 Crop coefficient changes during the season Crop Coefficient /13 5/27 6/10 6/24 7/8 7/22 8/5 8/19

23 Spatial CIMIS ETo Reporting

24 Applied Water vs Crop ET (example 1) Applied Water and Precipitation Applied Water Estimated Crop ET /20 4/17 5/15 6/12 7/10 8/7 9/4 10/2 10/30

25 Applied Water vs Crop ET (example 2) Applied Water and Precipitation Applied Water Estimated Crop ET /13 5/27 6/10 6/24 7/8 7/22 8/5 8/19

26 Applied Water vs Crop ET (example 3) Applied Water and Precipitation Applied Water Estimated Crop ET /18 6/1 6/15 6/29 7/13 7/27 8/10 8/24 9/7 9/21 10/5 10/19

27 Summarize Irrigation Schedule Summary of Irrigation Schedule Value Total amout of applied water (gallons) 5,656,850 Total amout of applied water (inches) 16.0 Estimated crop ET (inches) 12.9 Irrigation Requirement (inches) 15.6 Irrigation Efficiency (%) 80.7 average flow rate (gpm) average field application rate (inches/hour) coefficient of variation of system flow rate (%) 14.8 lowest flow rate (gpm) 79.7 highest flow rate (gpm) average irrigation amount (inches) 0.28 minimum irrigation amount (inches) 0.03 max irrigation amount (inches) 1.03 average irrigation i time (hours) minimum irrigation time (hours) 0.8 maximum irrigation time (hours) 27.6

28 Actual vs Recommended Irrigation

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30 Watermark soil moisture tension 0 20 isture Tension (c centibars) Soil Moi /20 5/20 6/19 7/19 8/18 9/17 10/17 11/16 3 ft 2ft 1 ft

31 Decagon 10HS Volumetric Soil Moisture

32 Volumetric soil moisture Soil Volumet tric Water Con ntent % ft 2 ft 3 ft 0.2 4/28 5/28 6/27 7/27 8/26 9/25 10/25

33 Tensiometers monitor the matric potential (tension) of the soil Measurement of soil moisture that is most related to water status in a plant

34 2010 0Summary Distribution Irrigation Uniformity Crop Irrigation method Efficiency lowest quarter % Cherry microsprinkler Greenhouse mums drip winegrape drip winegrape drip turf grass sprinkler squash drip tomato drip pepper sprinkler/drip i pepper sprinkler/drip celery sprinkler/drip Average 75 76

35 Distribution Evaluation and System Audit System S t pressure varied dduring irrigation i Pressure too low in submain Leaks L k at submain lateral lt lconnections Leaks on lateral lines Material Mt ilin drip di lines Plugged emitters Different t nozzle orifice diameters (sprinkler) Dripper emission rate sensitive to pressure changes

36 Scheduling Evaluation Variation in flow rate among irrigation events (4% to 26%) Some growers applied more than 2 times crop ET Some growers applied 2 times less than crop ET Applied water amounts sometimes exceeded water holding capacity of soil Soil moisture monitoring is a good cross check of crop ET

37 Challenges Engage irrigation decision maker in IEP Streamline data processing and reporting Meeting growers resource information needs what parts of this would help YOU?

38 Contact Information Paul Robins, RCD of Monterey County , ext. 124 Michael Johnson, California H2orticultural Services, Or, your local Resource Conservation District