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Applying polymers to irrigation water: evaluating strategies for furrow erosion control

APLICANDO POLIMEROS EN EL AGUA DE irrigación:EVALUANDO ESTRATEGIAS PARA EL CONTROL DE LA EROSION EN SURCOS

Lentz, R.D. and Sojka, R.E. (2000) Applying polymers to irrigation water: evaluating strategies for furrow erosion control. Transactions of the ASAE. 43(6):1561-1568.

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Abstract

Adding dilute quantities of moderate-charge-density anionic polyacrylamide (PAM) to furrow irrigation water
can greatly reduce runoff soil losses and, in some cases, increase net infiltration. We evaluated different strategies for
adding PAM to irrigation water to determine which was most effective. The PAM was applied to irrigation water in gated
irrigation pipe as dry granules, or to furrow inflows as a stock solution. Treatment efficacy varied primarily with
irrigation inflow-rate, PAM concentration in irrigation water, duration of furrow exposure, and total PAM applied. The
most effective erosion-control treatments either (1) applied an initial dose of PAM at 10 mg L-1 in irrigation inflows only
during the furrow advance period; (2) applied an initial 5 mg L-1 dose, then reapplied PAM for 5 to 15 min episodically
at similar concentrations; or (3) continually applied 1 to 2 mg L-1 to irrigation inflows. The full-advance treatment
reduced sediment loss by 93%, compared to 60% for the continuous 0.25 mg L-1 PAM application when slopes were 1 to
2%. Dry and solution applications controlled erosion about equally. The PAM applications were economical and effective
methods for controlling furrow-irrigation induced erosion, under a broad range of field conditions.

Item Type: Article
NWISRL Publication Number: 1028
Subjects: Irrigation > Furrow irrigation > Erosion
Soil > Erosion
Mass Import - autoclassified (may be erroneous)
Depositing User: Users 6 not found.
Date Deposited: 20 Nov 2010 21:50
Last Modified: 14 Nov 2016 18:57
Item ID: 116
URI: https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/116
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