Polyacrylamide application to control furrow irrigation-induced erosion

Lentz, R.D. and Sojka, R.E. (1996) Polyacrylamide application to control furrow irrigation-induced erosion. pp. 419-430. In: IECA Proceedings. Erosion Control Technology … Bringing it Home. USA-WA-Seattle, 1996/02/27-03/01.

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Abstract

Furrow-irrigation induced soil erosion threatens sustainable irrigated agriculture
worldwide. Small concentrations of a moderate-charge-density anionic polyacrylamide
(PAM), dissolved in irrigation water has been used to nearly eliminate soil loss from irrigated
furrows and has increased net infiltration (total inflow minus total outflow). This paper
summarizes polymer-related field studies conducted on highly erodible Idaho silt loam soils.
A range of furrow lengths (163-264 m), slopes (0.5-7%), and inflows (15-38 L min-1) were
used in the studies. Field trials compared various PAM application strategies. PAM was
applied to irrigation water in gated irrigation pipe as dry granules, or to furrow heads 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 treatments either applied PAM at 10 g m-3 in irrigation inflows during the entire
furrow advance period (initial-load, I10,100%), or applied 5 g m-3 during the entire furrow
advance, then reapplied PAM for 5-15 min episodically at similar concentrations (initial plus
episodic, IE5,100%). Over a range of application rates of at least 0.7 kg ha-1 PAM and mean of
1.3 kg ha-1 , treatments reduced furrow sediment loss by 94% and increased net infiltration
by 15%. The full-advance I10,100% and IE5,100% treatments were nearly twice as effective as the
continuous 0.25 g m-3 PAM application on these soils when slopes were 1-2%. The I10,100%
strategy protected furrows on slopes ranging up to 3.5%. 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:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
NWISRL Publication Number:	0890
Subjects:	Irrigation > Furrow irrigation > Erosion > Polyacrylamide Polyacrylamide (PAM) > Water-soluble PAM (WSPAM) > Application Strategies Polyacrylamide (PAM) > Water-soluble PAM (WSPAM) > Erosion control Soil > Erosion Mass Import - autoclassified (may be erroneous)
Depositing User:	Users 6 not found.
Date Deposited:	20 Nov 2010 21:55
Last Modified:	22 Nov 2016 23:41
Item ID:	863
URI:	https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/863