Overview of Soil Erosion from Irrigation
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 119, Issue 6
Abstract
Of the 15,000,000 ha (37,000,000 acres) of irrigated land in the U.S., 21% is affected by soil erosion to some extent. Irrigation‐induced soil erosion has been studied, primarily in the Northwestern United States, since 1940. A number of studies have measured annual sediment yields from furrow‐irrigated fields exceeding 20 t/ha (9 tons/acre) with some fields exceeding 100 t/ha (45 tons/acre). Under the center‐pivot sprinkler method, sediment yields as high as 33 t/ha (15 tons/acre) have been measured. Annual sediment yields as high as 4.5 t/ha (2 tons/ acre) were measured from irrigation tracts. Erosion is seldom excessive on slopes less than 1% and is often excessive on slopes greater than 2%. Erosion reduces the agricultural productivity of the fields and causes off‐farm damages. In southern Idaho, crop yield potential has been reduced by 25% due to 80 years of irrigation‐induced erosion. Some irrigation districts spend more than $50,000 annually to remove sediment from drains. Sediment in irrigation return flows causes major water‐quality degredation problems in several rivers in the Western United States.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Agricultural Statistics (1985). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.
2.
Berg, R. D., and Carter, D. L. (1980). “Furrow erosion and sediment losses on irrigated cropland.” J. Soil and Water Conservation, 35(6), 267–270.
3.
Brockway, C. E., and Robison, C. W. (1992). Middle Snake River water quality study, phase I, final report. Idaho Water Resources Research Institute, Univ. of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho.
4.
Brown, M. J., Carter, D. L., and Bondurant, J. A. (1974). “Sediment in irrigation and drainage waters and sediment inputs and outputs for two large tracts in southern Idaho.” J. Envir. Quality, 3(4), 347–351.
5.
Carlile, B. L. (1972). “Sediment control in Yakima Valley.” Proc. Nat. Conf. on Managing Irrigated Agriculture to Improve Water Quality. Colorado State Univ., Ft. Collins, Colo., 77–82.
6.
Carter, D. L. (1993). “Furrow irrigation erosion lowers soil productivity.” J. Irrig. and Drain. Engrg., 119(6), 964–974.
7.
Carter, D. L., Berg, R. D., and Sanders, B. J. (1985). “The effects of furrow irrigation erosion on crop productivity.” Soil Sci. Soc. of Am. J., 49(1), 207–211.
8.
Carter, D. L., and Berg, R. D. (1983). “A buried pipe system for controlling erosion and sediment loss on irrigated land.” Soil Sci. Soc. of Am. J., 47(4), 749–752.
9.
Carter, D. L., Brockway, C. E., and Tanji, K. K. (1993). “Controlling erosion and sediment loss in irrigated agriculture.” J. Irrig. and Drain. Engrg., 119(6), 975–988.
10.
Characteristics and pollution of irrigation return flow. (1969). Utah State University Foundation, Logan, Utah.
11.
Evans, N. A., and Jensen, M. E. (1952). “Erosion under furrow irrigation.” North Dakota Agric. Experiment Stat. Bimonthly Bull., 15(1), 7–13.
12.
Fornstrom, K. J., and Borrelli, J. (1985). Sediment losses from furrow irrigated croplands in Wyoming, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyo.
13.
Gardner, W., and Lauritzen, C. W. (1946). “Erosion as a function of the size of the irrigation stream and the slope of the eroding surface.” Soil Sci., 62, 233–242.
14.
Gilbert, G. K. (1914). “The transportation of debris by running water,” Professional Paper No. 86, U.S. Geological Survey, Washington, D.C.
15.
Hamad, S. N., and Stringham, G. E. (1978). “Maximum nonerosive furrow irrigation stream size.” J. Irrig. and Drain. Div., ASCE, 104(3), 275–281.
16.
Israelson, O. W. (1932). Irrigation principles and practices. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, N.Y.
17.
Israelson, O. W., Clyde, G. D., and Lauritzen, C. W. (1946). “Soil erosion in small irrigation furrows,” Utah State Agric. Experiment Stat. Bull. 320.
18.
Kemper, W. D., Trout, T. J., Brown, M. J., and Rosenau, R. C. (1985). “Furrow erosion and water and soil management.” Trans. ASAE, 28(5), 1564–1572.
19.
Kincaid, D. C., McCann, I., Busch, J. R., and Hasheminia, M. (1990). “Low pressure center pivot irrigation and reservoir tillage.” Visions of the future: Proc., 3rd Nat. Irrig. Symp. ASAE, American Society of Agricultural Engineers, 54–60.
20.
King, L. G., McNeal, B. L., Ziari, F. A., and Matulich, S. C. (1982). “On farm improvements to reduce sediment and nutrients in irrigation return flows,” Pub. PB84‐155217. Washington State University and Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. National Technical Information Service, Washington, D.C.
21.
Lawrence, G. A. (1953). “Furrow irrigation,” Leaflet No. 344, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, Washington, D.C.
22.
Logan, T. J. (1977). “Establishing soil loss and sediment yield limits for agricultural land.” Proc., Nat. Symp. on Soil Erosion and Sedimentation by Water, American Society of Agricultural Engineers, St. Joseph, Mich., 59–68.
23.
Mech, S. J. (1949). “Effect of slope and length of run on erosion.” Agric. Engrg., 38(8), 379–389.
24.
Mech, S. J., and Smith, D. D. (1967). “Water erosion under irrigation.” Irrig. of Agric. Lands, Agronomy Monograph 11, American Society of Agronomy, Madison, Wis.
25.
Middle Snake main report. (1982). Snake River Basin Cooperative Study, Soil Conservation Service, Economic Research Service, Forest Service and Idaho Department of Water Resources. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, Boise, Idaho.
26.
Tanji, K. K. (1983). “Nonpoint sediment production in the Colusa Basin Drainage Area, California.” Final Report to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Pub. B83‐193920, Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Laboratory, National Technical Information Service, Washington, D.C.
27.
Tanji, K. K. (1981). “California irrigation return flow case studies.” J. Irrig. and Drain. Div., ASCE, 107(2), 209–220.
28.
Taylor, C. A. (1940). “Transportation of soil in irrigation furrow.” Agric. Engrg., 21, 307–309.
29.
Taylor, C. A. (1935). “Orchard tillage under straight furrow irrigation.” Agric. Engrg., 16, 99–102.
30.
Trout, T. J., and Neibling, W. H. (1993). “Erosion and sedimentation processes on irrigated fields.” J. Irrig. and Drain. Engrg., 119(6), 947–963.
31.
Upper Snake River Basin erosion report. (1979). Snake River Basin Idaho and Wyoming Cooperative Study, Soil Conservation Service; Economics, Statistics and Cooperative Service; and Forest Service in Cooperation with States of Idaho and Wyoming. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, Boise, Idaho.
32.
West Stanislaus sediment reduction plan (1992). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, Davis, CA.
33.
Yakima cooperative river basin study. (1978). U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, Spokane, Wash.
34.
1977 national resources inventory. (1978). U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 1993 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 26, 1992
Published online: Nov 1, 1993
Published in print: Nov 1993
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.