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Technologies to minimize water quality impacts of irrigated agriculture

Bjorneberg, D.L. and Sojka, R.E. and Leytem, A.B. (2005) Technologies to minimize water quality impacts of irrigated agriculture. In: Proceedings of the World Water and Environmental Resources Congress. USA-AK-Anchorage, 2005/05/15-19.

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Abstract

Irrigation transformed arid land in the Pacific Northwest into productive agricultural
land. However, much of this land is prone to erosion during irrigation, which can
cause problems on and off of the field. Management practices have been developed to
control soil erosion on irrigated land and improve the quality of water returning to
streams and rivers. Applying polyacrylamide (PAM) with irrigation water can reduce
erosion from furrow irrigated fields more than 90%. Using PAM in combination with
other practices, such as applying straw mulch in furrows and installing small
sediment ponds on fields, can virtually eliminate sediment loss from fields. Once soil
runs off a field, it can be removed by settling in sediment ponds, although soluble
nutrients remain in the water. Applying 20 mg/L alum to irrigation return flow water
can remove about 50% of the soluble phosphorus that will not be removed as
suspended sediment settles in ponds. Using these management practices allows
irrigation to continue with minimal impact on water quality.

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
NWISRL Publication Number: 1162
Additional Information: 2005 CDROM
Subjects: Water > Water quality
Mass Import - autoclassified (may be erroneous)
Depositing User: Users 6 not found.
Date Deposited: 20 Nov 2010 21:56
Last Modified: 02 Nov 2016 18:48
Item ID: 957
URI: https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/957