Salt Problems from Increased Irrigation Efficiency
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 111, Issue 3
Abstract
Increasing on‐farm irrigation efficiency reduces deep percolation and generally increases concentrations of soluble salts in the root zone. Since more salt precipitation occurs within the porous soil matrix, the mass of soluble salts is reduced. In addition, exchangeable sodium builds up on the cation exchange complex and plant available water decreases. Conventional irrigation scheduling techniques become less adequate and the need for salinity monitoring increases. Generally, however, the potential benefits of increasing irrigation efficiency outweigh the potential problems caused by the aforementioned.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Ayers, R. S., and Tanji, K. K., “Agronomic Aspects of Crop Production with Waste Water,” Proceedings ASCE Specialty Conference Water Forum '81, American Society of Civil Engineers, New York, N.Y., 1981, pp. 578–586.
2.
Bernstein, L., “Re‐Use of Agricultural Waste Waters for Irrigation in Relation to the Salt Tolerance of Crops,” Agricultural Waste Waters, L. D. Doneen, ed., Report No. 10, Water Resources Center, 1966, pp. 185–189.
3.
Bower, C. A., Ogata, G., and Tucker, J. M., “Rootzone Salt Profiles and Alfalfa Growth as Influenced by Irrigation Water Salinity and Leaching Fraction,” Agronomy Journal, Vol. 61, 1969, pp. 783–785.
4.
Branson, R. L., Pratt, P. F., Rhoades, J. D., and Oster, J. D., “Water Quality in Irrigated Watersheds,” Journal of Environmental Quality, Vol. 4, 1975, pp. 33–40.
5.
Fox, R. E., “A Proposed Method for Estimating Reduction of Available Moisture in Saline Soils,” Soil Science, Vol. 83, 1957, pp. 419–454.
6.
Hoffman, G. J., Dirksen, C., Ingvalson, R. D., Maas, E. V., Oster, J. D., Rawlins, S. L., Rhoades, J. D., and van Schilfgaarde, J., “Minimizing Salt in Drainwater by Irrigation Management—Design and Initial Results of Arizona Field Studies,” Water Management, Vol. 1, 1978, pp. 233–252.
7.
Maas, E. V., and Hoffman, G. J., “Crop Salt Tolerance—Current Assessment,” Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Division, ASCE, Vol. 103, 1977, pp. 115–134.
8.
McNeal, B. L., and Coleman, N. T., “Effect of Solution Composition on Soil Hydraulic Conductivity,” Soil Science Society America Proceedings, Vol. 30, 1966, pp. 308–312.
9.
Oster, J. D., and Tanji, K. K., “Chemical Reactions within Root Zone of Arid Zone Soils,” Journal of Irrigation and Drainage, ASCE, Vol. 111, No. 1, Sept., 1985, pp. 207–217.
10.
Oster, J. D., and Rhoades, J. D., “Calculated Drainage Water Compositions and Salt Burdens Resulting from Irrigation with River Waters in the Western United States,” Journal of Environmental Quality, Vol. 4, 1975, pp. 73–79.
11.
Rhoades, J. D., “Potential for Using Saline Agricultural Drainage Waters for Irrigation,” Proceedings of Water Management for Irrigation and Drainage, ASCE, Reno, Nev., July, 1977, pp. 85–116.
12.
Rhoades, J. D., “Monitoring Soil Salinity: A Review of Methods,” Establishment of Water Quality Monitoring Programs, American Water Resources Association, June, 1978, pp. 150–165.
13.
Rhoades, J. D., “Reclamation and Management of Salt‐Affected Soils after Drainage,” Proceedings of the First Annual Western Provisional Conference, Rationalization of Water and Soil Research and Management, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, 1982, pp. 123–197.
14.
Rhoades, J. D., “Reusing Saline Drainage Waters for Irrigation: A Strategy to Reduce Salt Loading of Rivers,” Salinity in Water Courses and Reservoirs, Chap. 43, Richard H. French, Ed., 1983, pp. 455–464.
15.
Rhoades, J. D., “Using Saline Waters For Irrigation,” Proceedings of the International Workshop on Salt‐Affected Soils of Latin America, Maracay, Venezuela, 1983, pp. 233–264.
16.
Rhoades, J. D., Ingvalson, R. D., Tucker, J. M., and Clark, M., Salts in Irrigation Drainage Waters. I. Effects of Irrigation Water Composition, Leaching Fraction, and Time of Year on the Salt Compositions of Irrigation and Drainage Waters, Soil Science Society of America, Vol. 37, 1973, pp. 770–774.
17.
Rhoades, J. D., Oster, J. D., Ingvalson, R. D., Tucker, J. M., and Clark, M., “Minimizing The Salt Burdens of Irrigation Drainage Waters,” Journal of Environmental Quality, Vol. 3, 1974, pp. 311–316.
18.
Rhoades, J. D., and Merrill, S. D., “Assessing The Suitability of Water for Irrigation: Theoretical And Empirical Approaches,” FAO Soils Bulletin, Vol. 31, 1976, pp. 69–109.
19.
Rhoades, J. D., and Suarez, D. L., “Reducing Water Quality Degradation through Minimized Leaching Management,” Agricultural Water Management, 1977, Vol. 1(2), pp. 127–142.
20.
Rhoades, J. D., Corwin, D. L., and Hoffman, G. J., “Scheduling and Controlling Irrigations from Measurements of Soil Electrical Conductivity,” Procedures of the ASAE Irrigation Scheduling Conference, Chicago, Ill., 1981, pp. 106–115.
21.
Suarez, D. L., and Rhoades, J. D., “Effect of Leaching Fraction on River Salinity,” Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Division, ASCE, Vol. 103, 1977, pp. 245–257.
22.
U.N. World Food Conference, “Assessment of the World Food Situation: Present and Future,” 1978, Rome, Italy, Nov. 5–16, 1974.
23.
van Schilfgaarde, J., Bernstein, L., Rhoades, J. D., and Rawlins, S. L., “Irrigation Management for Salt Control,” Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Division ASCE, 1974, Vol. 100, pp. 321–338.
24.
van Schilfgaarde, J., and Rhoades, J. D., “Benefits from Reuse of Drainage Water for Irrigation,” ASAE Paper, 1979, 79‐ndash;2552. presented at the 1979 Winter Meeting ASAE, New Orleans, La., Dec. 11–14, 1979.
25.
van Schilfgaarde, J., and Rhoades, J. D., “Water Scarcity Impacts on Western Agriculture,” Impacts of Limited Water for Agriculture in the Arid West, Ernest A. Engelbert, Ed., 1984, University of California Press, Berkeley, Calif., pp. 157–179.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 1985 ASCE.
History
Published online: Sep 1, 1985
Published in print: Sep 1985
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.