Border Irrigation Field Experiment. II: Salt Transport
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 126, Issue 2
Abstract
This paper presents results from an experiment to measure the salt transport processes within a border-irrigated bay in northern Victoria, Australia, an area with shallow saline ground water and cracking soils. The overland flow and drainage salinity measurements showed that lateral surface washoff of salt from the soil surface was the main process of salt transport into surface water. Soil salinity measurements showed that, although salt was removed from the near-surface soil, there was negligible leaching downward through the profile. This was due to the near saturation of the soil, the presence of cracks that minimize the vertical leaching, as well as the lack of deep drainage of ground water. These findings highlight the importance of lateral washoff in the transfer of salt from irrigation bays, suggesting that reduction in irrigation event volumes is likely to reduce salt export and thus affect the sustainability of irrigation in this area.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Ayars, J. E., Soppe, R. W., Cone, D., and Wichelns, D. ( 1997). “Managing salt load in irrigation district drainage water.” Proc., 27th Congr. of the Int. Assn. of Hydr. Res., Theme C: Groundwater: An Endangered Resour., 277–282.
2.
Fonken, D. W., Fangmeier, D. D., Laursen, E. M., and Carmody, T. (1980). “Mathematical model of border irrigation.”J. Irrig. and Drain. Div., ASCE, 106(3), 203–220.
3.
Gilfedder, M., Connell, L. D., and Mein, R. G. (2000). “Border irrigation field experiment. I: Water balance.”J. Irrig. and Drain. Engrg., ASCE, 126(2), 85–91.
4.
Gilfedder, M., Mein, R. G., and Connell, L. (1999). “Irrigation bay management—Implications for salt transport and salt export.” Natural Resour. Mgmt. J., 2(2), 16–21.
5.
Gutteridge, Haskins & Davey, ACIL Australia Pty. Ltd., D. Naunton and Co. (1985). “Study of future management of Barr Creek and catchment.” Detailed Rep. for the Rural Water Commission of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia.
6.
Hall, W. A. (1956). “Estimating irrigation border flow.” Agric. Engrg., 37(4), 263–265.
7.
Hoffman, G. J. (1985). “Drainage required to manage salinity.”J. Irrig. and Drain. Engrg., ASCE, 111(3), 199–206.
8.
Mudgway, L. B., Nathan, R. J., McMahon, T. A., and Malano, H. M. (1997). “Estimating salt loads in high water table areas. I: Identifying processes.”J. Irrig. and Drain. Engrg., ASCE, 123(2), 79–90.
9.
Philip, J. R., and Farrell, D. A. (1964). “General solution of the infiltration-Advance problem in irrigation hydraulics.” J. Geophys. Res., 69(4), 621–631.
10.
Rhoades, J. D. ( 1982). “Solute content.” Methods of soil analysis, Part 2, No. 9, A. L. Page, et al., eds., American Society of Agronomy—Soil Science Society of America, Madison, Wis., 167–179.
11.
Rhoades, J. D., et al. (1997). “Salt distributions in cracking soils and salt pickup by runoff waters.”J. Irrig. and Drain. Engrg., ASCE, 123(5), 323–328.
12.
Strelkoff, T. (1977). “Algebraic computation of flow in border irrigation.”J. Irrig. and Drain Div., ASCE, 103(3), 357–377.
13.
Tanji, K. K. ( 1996). “Nature and extent of agricultural salinity.” Agricultural salinity assessment and management, Manual No. 71, K. K. Tanji, ed., ASCE, New York.
14.
Taylor, S. (1996). Dryland salinity—introductory extension notes, 2nd Ed., Department of Land and Water Conservation, Sydney, Australia.
15.
van der Tak, L. D., and Grismer, M. E. (1987). “Irrigation, drainage and soil salinity in cracking soils.” Trans. ASAE, 30(3), 740–744.
16.
van Schilfgaarde, J. ( 1996). “Irrigated agriculture: Is it sustainable?” Agricultural salinity assessment and management, Manual No. 71, K. K. Tanji, ed., ASCE, New York, 584–594.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 126 • Issue 2 • March 2000
Pages: 92 - 97
History
Received: Feb 5, 1999
Published online: Mar 1, 2000
Published in print: Mar 2000
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.