ABE 456 Land and Water Resources Engineering

Irrigation Principles
 Irrigation
Soil Moisture

◼ For irrigation design and management,

the water holding capacity of the soil
(reservoir) must be known.
◼ Difference between Field capacity (FC)
and Permanent Wilting Point (PWP) is
known as Available Water (AW) and
can be estimated using:

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Soil Texture and Properties

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Few definitions

◼ Plants can remove only a portion of the available water

before growth and yield are affected, which is called Readily
Available Water (RAW).
 RAW depends on soil type, ET, crop type.

◼ Portion of the water depleted is called Management-allowed

Depletion (MAD).
 MAD: 0.1 – 0.9

◼ RAW = MAD x AW

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Irrigation Water Management

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Soil Water Reservoir

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Management allowed-deficit (MAD)

Two adjacent fields are cropped with wheat and sorghum. For the max. ET rate of 6 mm/day for the
both crops, which field needs irrigation more frequently?
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Example

1) Determine the readily available water for corn having a

1.5-m rooting depth in a fine sandy loam soil and a
maximum ET of 7 mm/day. From physical sampling of the
soil, the apparent specific gravity is 1.45, FC and PWP are
0.18 and 0.10 dry weight basis, respectively.

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Example

1) Determine the readily available water for corn having a

1.5-m rooting depth in a fine sandy loam soil and a
maximum ET of 7 mm/day. From physical sampling of the
soil, the apparent specific gravity is 1.45, FC and PWP are
0.18 and 0.10 dry weight basis, respectively.

◼ AW = __ m

◼ From Table 15.4, read MAD = __

◼ RAW = MAD × AW = ___ mm

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Irrigation Methods

◼ Surface
 Water is applied by gravity across
the soil surface by flooding or
small channels (i.e., basins,
borders, paddies, furrows, rills,
corrugations)

◼ Sprinkle
 Water is applied at the point of
use by a system of nozzles
(impact and gear driven sprinkler
or spray heads) with water
delivered to the sprinkler heads
by surface and buried pipelines,
or by both 10
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Irrigation Methods

◼ Micro
 Water is applied to the point of
use through low pressure, low
volume discharge devices
(i.e., drip emitters, line source
emitters, micro spray and
sprinkler heads, bubblers)
supplied by small diameter
surface or buried pipelines
◼ Sub-irrigation
 Water is made available to the
crop root system by upward
capillary flow through the soil
profile from a controlled water
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Irrigation Methods

◼ Selection is based on:

 Crops to be grown
 Site condition:
◼ Topography
◼ Climate
◼ Soils
◼ Water supply
◼ Energy available
◼ Farming equipment
 Operation and management skills
 Environmental concerns
 Chemigation
 Cost
◼ Objective: result in optimum use of available water
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Surface Irrigation

◼ Important method of irrigation in most countries

◼ 44.9% of the irrigation in 2000 was accomplished with
surface methods in the United States (Irrigation Journal,
2001).
◼ In the western states, the major water supply for
irrigation is surface runoff, usually stored in reservoirs.

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Sprinkler Irrigation

◼ Water is sprayed through the air from pressurized

nozzles, and falls like rain on the crop.
◼ A versatile irrigation system
 fits to any soil and topographic condition

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Distribution Pattern

◼ Sprinkler distribution pattern depends on

 Nozzle pressure/type
 Wind velocity
 Speed of rotation
 Sprinkler design

◼ Generally, evaporation and wind drift are 3 to 8% of the

sprinkler discharge and range from near zero to over
20%.

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Application Rate

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Example

2) A sprinkler irrigation system is required to irrigate 16 hectares of

tomatoes having a maximum ET rate of 5 mm/day on a field with a silt
loam soil to a depth of 0.9 m and coarse sand below. The measured
available water-holding capacity of the silt loam soil is 120 mm/m.
Assuming a water application efficiency of 70%, determine
 rate of application

 the irrigation period

 the net depth of water for application

 the depth of water pumped per application

 the required system capacity in hectares per day

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Solution

1. Estimate water application rate

For silt loam soil with no slope, max application rate = ___ mm/hr
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Solution

2. Estimate depth of root

zone

Tomato: ___m

Since the silt loam soil is only

up to 0.9 m,
Depth of root zone = ___ m

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Solution

3. Calculate available water holding capacity

Water holding capacity = ___ mm

4. Estimate Management Allowed Depletion (MAD)

MAD = ____ (tomato, ET = 5 mm/d)

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Solution

5. Compute net depth of water application

Readily Available Water (RAW) = AW x MAD

= ___ mm

6. Compute depth of water pumped per application

Depth of water pumped per application = ___ mm/Application Efficiency

= ___ mm

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Solution

7. Compute Irrigation period

Irrigation period = ___ days

To cover the field in __ days the system must be able to pump and
irrigate ___ ha/day.

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Irrigation Uniformity

Uniformity Coefficient (UC): Measurement of uniformity of water

distribution

where yi = measured depth of water caught or infiltrated

d = average depth of water caught or infiltrated
n = number of samples collected

◼ Values of UC above 0.8 are acceptable.

◼ Usually applied to Sprinkler Irrigation

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Irrigation Efficiency

1) Water Conveyance Efficiency,

Wd = water delivered by a distribution system
Wi = water introduced into the distribution system
o High for pipe system
o Low for earthen canal

2) Water Application Efficiency,

Ws = water stored in the soil root zone by irrigation
Wd = water delivered to the area being irrigated

3) Water Use Efficiency,

Wu = water beneficially used
Wd = water delivered to the area being irrigated

o is also based on the dry plant weight produced by a unit volume of water.

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Example

3) With a pumping rate of 0.6 m3/s, delivery of 0.5 m3/s to

a 30-ha field is continued for 40 h. Soil water
measurements before and after the irrigation indicate that
0.16 m of water was stored in the root zone. Compute the
conveyance and application efficiency.
◼ Ec = 100(W d/Wi), Ea = 100(W s/Wd)

◼ Ec = 100(W d/Wi) = 100 (_/_) = _%

◼ Wd = _ m
◼ Ea = 100(W s/Wd) = 100 (_/_) = _%

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Questions?

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