Irrigation Water Management in Arkansas Brooks Davis- Arkansas Natural Resource Commission

Irrigation water management encourages the application of water in an amount that meets the need of the growing plant in a manner that avoids extended soil saturation and runoff. By increasing application precision and reducing unneeded applications, water can be conserved and energy can be saved. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs143_023630.pdf

Why is IWM Important? Critical Ground Water Areas 19 Counties in Arkansas Water Conservation is a must in these Areas Arkansas is 2nd in ground water use for irrigation in the United States IWM implements more sustainable water use by saving producers time, money, and energy.

Water Use for Irrigation Arkansas uses per day Alluvial Aquifer-7 billion gallons 98% use of Aquifer Sustainable use per day Alluvial Aquifer- 3.4 billion gallons Arkansas pumps over half the aquifer’s sustainability

What are we doing in Arkansas? Educating producers on best management practices Arkansas Soil Health Alliance Group of Arkansas farmers- realized if we didn’t change the way we use our natural resources now there would be nothing left for future generations. Soil Moisture Sensor Project Cross County- 5 farms for 3 year period Collect and analyzing data Flow meters, soil moisture sensors, weather stations, and rainfall meters Tax Credits and 3% Loans Putting in Reservoirs, Land Leveling, Converting from ground to surface water, and Water Meters Inside Critical Area- 50% Outside Critical Area- 10% Questions?

Requirements for IWM Producer Requirements Practices Keep records of irrigation Using data to scheduling irrigation and help making irrigation decisions Basic IWM- Implement 2 practices Intermediate IWM- Implement 3 practices Practices Soil moisture sensors Weather stations Rainfall meters Flow meters Pipe planner Documentation must be submitted at the end of harvest each year

Flow meters and Computerized hole selection Pipe Planner- helps determine more efficient ways to irrigate Flow Meters-used to obtain irrigation flows and volumes applied throughout the growing season

Surge Valve Utilized to build soil water profile to benefit plant water use and decrease erosion Works on a timer Rotate water and cuts time of irrigation almost in half. Allow water to properly saturate soil without pooling and over watering.

Manual vs. Telemetry Moisture Sensors- used to collect soil data at different intervals, help determine when to water.

Rainfall Meter- helps calculate how much rain your field gets during a storm. Solar energy is used to run Telemetry from the farm Allowing farmers to be anywhere and check the data

How is it helping? More producers each year are converting from ground to surface water. More IWM technicians are being hired to compensate for the workload of producers wanting to use irrigation water management practices. We are proving to producers that these practices are saving them time and money. Leading to ground water conservation Encouraging sustainable agriculture through water conservation allowing the Alluvial Aquifer to maintain a more sustainable level