Seasonal trends in furrow irrigation erosion in southern Idaho

Brown, M.J. and Carter, D.L. and Lehrsch, G.A. and Sojka, R.E. (1995) Seasonal trends in furrow irrigation erosion in southern Idaho. Soil Technology. 8:119-126.

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Abstract

A study was conducted to measure the seasonal irrigation furrow erosion pattern in the absence of
cultivation and a growing crop. This erosion pattern was compared to those of previous measured
plot experiments for different years in the presence of cultivation and a growing crop. Erosion for
sugarbeets, corn and beans was low early in the season and increased to a maximum during the same
3-week period, from 24 June to 10 July over several years. Erosion decreased as the irrigation season
progressed after the erosion peak. The erosion pattern from the uncultivated, non-cropped plots
resembled the pattern from previous studies on cropped soil with the maximum erosion occurring
about the same time of season. The pattern trends differed only after peak erosion. For the cropped
plots, there was a sudden erosion decline after peak erosion, followed by a continual gradual decrease.
In contrast, for the uncultivated, non-cropped plots, there was a sudden erosion decline after peak
erosion, followed by a gradual increase in erosion. Although the seasonal erosion pattern cannot be
completely explained, it is important to report it because of the implication for erosion modeling.
Sediment loss rates measured from these soils in southern Idaho in late June or early July would
significantly overestimate seasonal erosion, whereas sediment loss rates measured in May or early
June or after mid-July would underestimate seasonal erosion. These results show that researchers
cannot rely upon a one-time measurement for model validation if attempting to predict irrigation
furrow erosion over an entire irrigating season.

Item Type:	Article
NWISRL Publication Number:	0889
Subjects:	Irrigation > Furrow irrigation > Erosion Soil > Erosion Mass Import - autoclassified (may be erroneous)
Depositing User:	Users 6 not found.
Date Deposited:	20 Nov 2010 21:54
Last Modified:	22 Nov 2016 23:42
Item ID:	651
URI:	https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/651