Agriculture/Irrigation Information

Weather Station Photo courtesy Dr. Mike Bartolo, PhD

Crop Residue and Irrigation Water Management
Crop residue cover and tillage practices play important roles in the way that crops use water, and also affect the ability of irrigation systems to replace that water. The effects of these practices and other influencing factors are discussed in this NebGuide. Tillage practices and crop residue management play an important role in the way that irrigation systems perform and are managed. Tillage practices affect the way that water moves into and off of the soil (infiltration and runoff). Tillage practices also affect the way that water moves from the soil into the atmosphere (evapotranspiration).

Selecting and Using Irrigation Propeller Meters
This NebGuide discusses the use of propeller type irrigation meters to monitor irrigation water use. Measuring irrigation water is important in efficient water management. Measuring water can be used for the following purposes: Checking irrigation efficiency, determining pumping plant efficiency, and detecting well and pump problems.

Irrigation Canal Photo courtesy Dr. Mike Bartolo, PhD

Propeller Meters for Irrigation

• Accurate measurement of water helps producers increase irrigation efficiencies, and reduce both energy and costs.
• Flow measurement facilitates water management. This can be done with the use of a flow measuring device.
• Propeller meters can provide accurate measurement of flow rate and volume if properly selected, installed and maintained.

Irrigation Scheduling: The Water Balance Approach

• Irrigation scheduling by the water-balance approach is analogous to running a checkbook balance.
• Advertised evapotranspiration rates can be used to run water balance and schedule irrigation.
• Ready-to-use computer programs facilitate the use of the water-balance approach in irrigation scheduling.
• Soil water-content measurements are needed as a safety check on the predicted water content and irrigation timing.

Seasonal Water Needs and Opportunities for Limited Irrigation for Colorado Crops

• Knowing seasonal crop water requirements is crucial for planning your crop mixture.
• Net crop requirements are estimated using models, based on weather variables.
• To water for the greatest return, producers need to understand how crops respond to water, how crop rotation enhances water availability, and how changes in agronomic practices effects water needs.

Colorado High Plains Irrigation Practices Guide

Provides a summary of the documented water savings options for irrigators in Colorado. It provides details regarding what options are available from water conservation, how these options are used to conserve water and expected water savings that can be achieved.

Plasticulture – Home Grown and High Tech

Plasticulture consists of Drip Irrigation and Plastic Mulch, explanation how plasticultures are helping farmers create an even better vegetable crop.

McCrometer’s Propeller meters

McCrometer has set the standard for propeller flowmeter technology in the agricultural and turf markets since 1955. Its uniquely-designed Mc Propeller line offers an economical and versatile flow measurement solution for a wide range of water applications, and is especially suited to dirty water flows.

Furrow Crop Irrigation

Netafim Drip Irrigation Products

Netafim offers a full range of products to satisfy all your drip/micro irrigation needs – including dripperlines, sprinklers, filters, valves, crop management technologies and other vital system support - such as technical education and agronomic expertise.

Diversity D Inc. – Specializing in Drip Irrigation

Diversity D offers consultation, design & installation for new systems. In addition, they offer service for existing systems.

Basin Facts

- According to the Colorado Water Conservation Boards’ Statewide Water Supply Initiative Studies, the Dolores/San Juan/San Miguel River Basin is projected to experience an increase in municipal and industrial (M&I) and self-supplied industrial (SSI) water demand of 18,800 acre-feet (AF) by 2030. Of the 18,800 AF of increased water demand in the Basin, the majority is proposed to be met through existing supplies and water rights and through the implementation of identified projects and processes. However, there are still some anticipated shortfalls expected in certain portions of the basin.

- American Rivers named the Animas River in southwestern Colorado one of the "most endangered rivers" in the United States.

Click here for additional information about the Dolores/San Juan/San Miguel River Basin

The following is a partial list of ‘Water Facts' from the Colorado State University website:

• Almost 90 percent of Colorado's naturally occurring lakes are found at altitudes above 9,000 feet;
• Eighty-seven percent of the water leaving Colorado flows out of the Colorado River basin toward the Pacific Ocean; the remaining 13 percent flows out of the Missouri, Arkansas, and Rio Grande river basins toward the Atlantic Ocean;
• Over 1,300 miles of streams in Colorado are impacted by metals as a result of acid mine drainage;
• Riparian habitat makes up less than three percent of the land in Colorado, but is used by over 90 percent of the wildlife in the state; and
• There are more than 9,000 miles of streams and 2,000 lakes and reservoirs open to fishing in Colorado.

For a complete listing of ‘Cool Water Facts,' visit the Colorado State University website at www.waterknowledge.colostate.edu.

Miscellaneous Facts to Know and Tell:

Related to Oil and Gas:

As of November 2008, Colorado had 36,734 active natural gas wells. La Plata County is the leader in natural gas production within the state of Colorado (with the least amount of wells) and ranks sixth in the nation. Twenty-seven percent of the total natural gas produced in Colorado comes from La Plata County—down from 2007, when they were 40 percent. Additional statistics include:

·         At the end of 2008 there were 3,031 producing wells in La Plata County.

·         Of the total active wells in La Plata County, almost 95% are producing natural gas.

·         80% of states coalbed methane production comes from La Plata County.

·         Coalbed methane gas wells account for over half of all gas wells producing in La Plata County.

Source: http://www.energycouncil.org/gasfacts/prodperspect.htm and personal conversation with Christy Zeller.

Brochures & Educational Materials

View the Water Information Program brochure

Invasive Species

For more information on this important topic, visit some of the following websites:

Don't Move a Mussel! 

Protect Your Waters

The 100th Meridian

Kid's Corner

Howdy Kids!! Are you looking for information about water? You've come to the right place. Listed below are many links to great sites which provide information, games, project ideas, images and more.

The U.S. Geological Service website has information and project ideas, homework help, research tools, play time wizards, image wizards and downloadable goodies. Have fun!!

  This site is sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and contains a lot of great information and games.

Test Your WaterSense!

The Bureau of Land Management is responsible for 261 million surface acres of America's Public Lands. That's right, as American's we are lucky enough to have access to this beautiful land.

The Earth Science Enterprise is a site created by NASA. There is an entire section dedicated  to water.

The Colorado State University has a site developed specifically for water information. Here is the web address:

Tamarisk

New Partnership Addresses Woody Invasives in the San Juan Watershed

On October 11, 2006, President Bush signed into law H.R. 2720, the "Salt Cedar and Russian Olive Control Demonstration Act," which directs the Department of the Interior to carry out an assessment and demonstration program to control the spread of salt cedar and Russian olive trees in the western United States. Tamarisks, or salt cedars, are a growing threat to water supplies, channel capacity and plant diversity. The prolific salt cedars are the most widespread species in Colorado and they aggressively choke out all other forms of vegetation. When water is available, a mature tree can use 200 gallons per day and produce 2.5 million seeds. Removing tamarisks is estimated to recover millions of acre-feet annually.

Local leaders wasted no time and formed the San Juan Watershed Woody-Invasives Initiative soon after to address tamarisk and Russian olive invasions and riparian restoration.  A unique partnership, consisting of over 60 entities from four states and four tribes, the group’s mission is “to plan for and implement comprehensive and culturally-sensitive restoration of riparian communities, to eradicate woody invasive species in the San Juan Basin, and to provide coordination, resources, and technical assistance.”

With over 2,800 linear miles and 250,000 acres affected in the region, the Initiative had an aggressive strategic plan that includes guidelines for management, mechanisms for coordination, specific implementation parameters, and the use of GIS technology to inventory, map, and plan basin-wide.  See the strategic and implementation plans at www.southwestcoloradowetlands.org (click on Tamarisk and Russian olive).  Dr. Catherine Ortega is coordinating the Initiative and can be reached at San Juan Institute of Natural and Cultural Resources Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO 81301, ortega_c@fortlewis.edu, 970-247-7393.

For additional information, visit the Tamarisk Coalition.

Water Facts

WATER AND EARTH

• Three-quarters of the Earth's surface is covered with water, yet 98 percent is salt water and not fit for consumption.
• Less than one percent of all the water on Earth is freshwater available for human consumption.

WATER AND HUMANS

*  The human body is more than 60 percent water. Blood is 92 percent water, the brain and muscles are 75 percent water, and bones are about 22 percent water.

*  A human can survive for a month or more without eating food, but only a week or so without drinking water.

WATER CONSUMPTION

*  3.9 trillion gallons of water are consumed in the United States per month. (AWWA Journal, June 2006)

*  The average American uses 176 gallons of water per day compared to 5 gallons of water the average African family uses each day. (www.water.org)

WATER AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

*  An estimated 2.4 billion people lack adequate sanitation and 1.1 billion people are without access to safe water. (WHO-UNICEF, 2004)

*  90 percent of wastewater in developing countries is discharged into rivers and streams without any treatment. (UNDP,UNEP,World Bank, and the World Resources Institute, "World Resources 2000-2001," pg. 25-26)

* There are 1.6 million deaths per year attributed to dirty water and poor sanitation (World Watch; World Health Organization)

* In the past ten years, diarrhea related to unsanitary water has killed more children than all the people lost to armed conflict since WWII. (WSSCC, 2004)

* At any one time, it is estimated that half the world's hospital beds are occupied with patients suffering from waterborne diseases. (WSCC, 2004)

* The average distance that women in developing countries walk to collect water per day is four miles and the average weight that women carry on their heads is approximately 44 pounds. (WSSCC, 2004)

* Over 40 billion work hours are lost each year in Africa to the need to fetch drinking water. (WHO, 2004)

WATER PRICES

"The price of water is increasing--sometimes dramatically--throughout the world," writes Edwin Clark, II in Earth Policy Institute's latest report. Over the past five years, municipal water rates have increased by an average of 27 percent in the United States, 45 percent in Australia, 50 percent in South Africa, and 58 percent in Canada. In Tunisia, the price of irrigation water increased forufold over a decade. Yet consumers rarely pay the actural cost of water. In fact, many governments practically (and sometimes literally) give water away.

The average American household consumes about 127,400 gallons of water during a year. Homeowners in Washington, DC, pay about $350 for that amount of water. Buying that same amount of water from a vendor in Guatemala City would cost more than $1,700.

The price people pay for water is largely determined by three factors: the cost of transportat from source to user, total demand, and price subsidies. Treatment to remove contaminants also can add to the cost. 

A key step in moving toward more rational water management is to place a price on water that reflects its value and scarcity. Although pricing water at a reasonable cost can generate political problems in the short run, it can lead to substantial efficieinceis in the longer run and eliminate draings on government budgets. Higher prices will lead households, farmers and industries to use water more efficiently. Just as the oil price shocks of the 1970's stimulated energy conservation, so too could pricing water to better reflect its real cost stimulate similar conservation efforts.

Source: Water prices rising worldwide. (2007, Spring). Resource Action Program. 

WATER AND GOLF COURSES

Number of photos in the January/February issue of Coastal Living that showed coastal wildlife (seabirds, crustaceans, turtles, or other fauna): 1

Number of photos in the same issue showing golf courses: 61

Amount of water it would take, per day, to support 4.7 billion people at the UN daily minimum: 2.5 billion gallons

Amount of water used, per day, to irrigate the world’s golf courses: 2.5 billion gallons

Number of golf courses in Japan before World War II: 23

Number in operation or soon to open in 2004: 3,030

Average amount of pesticides used per acre, per year, on golf courses: 18 pounds

Average amount of pesticides used, per acre, per year, in agriculture: 2.7 pounds

Amount of water used by 60,000 villagers in Thailand, on average, per day: 6,500 cubic meters

Amount of water used by one golf course in Thailand, on average, per day: 6,500 cubic meters

Area that could be covered to a depth of 2 feet with water drawn from the Colorado River by the city of Las Vegas, which uses much of that allotment to water its more than 60 golf courses: 150,000 acres

MISCELLANEOUS 

Current area of the wetlands of the Colorado River Delta, which now receives just 0.1 percent of the river water that once flowed through it: 150,000 acres

Water Glossary

Water-Related Links

The following links provide additional sources of water-related news and information:

American Water Works Association Waterwiser - The Water Efficiency Clearinghouse
Colorado Division of Water Resources
Colorado River Water Conservation District
Colorado State University-Colorado Water Knowledge
Colorado Water Conservation Board/Office of Water Conservation
Colorado Water Resource and Power Development Authority
Colorado Watershed Protection Fund

Colorado WaterWise Organization
Ditch & Reservoir Company Alliance (DARCA)
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Headwaters News
League of Women Voters of Colorado
Natural Resources Conservation Service

Running Dry Organization
Stormwater USA
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR)
U.S. Water News Online