Survey of Irrigation Methods in California in 2010
This article has a reply.
VIEW THE REPLYPublication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 139, Issue 3
Abstract
Reliable information on irrigation methods is important for determining agricultural water demand trends. The authors have therefore conducted a study over the course of 2011 to collect information on the irrigation methods that were used by growers to irrigate their crops in 2010. The results were compared with earlier surveys to assess trends in cropping and irrigation methods. A one-page questionnaire was developed to collect information on irrigated land by crop and irrigation method. The questionnaire was mailed to 10,000 growers in California who were randomly selected from a list of 58,000 growers by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, excluding rice, dry land, and livestock producers. From 1972–2010, the planted area has increased from 15 to 30% for orchards and from 6 to 15% for vineyards. The area planted with vegetables has remained relatively static, whereas that planted to field crops has declined from 67 to 41% of the irrigated area. The land irrigated with low-volume (drip and micro-sprinkler) irrigation has increased by approximately 38%, whereas the amount of land irrigated by surface methods has decreased by approximately 37%.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Victor Tolomeo and his staff at the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, California field office in Sacramento, for their expert help in designing and conducting the survey. They also acknowledge Steven Tindula for his assistance in processing the surveys.
References
Hagan, R. M., and Wagner, R. J. (1983). “Irrigation methods in California: An update.” Rep. Prepared for the California Dept. of Water Resources, Sacramento, CA.
Merriam, J. L., and Keller, J. (1978). “Farm irrigation system evaluation: A guide for management.” Rep. Prepared for the Agricultural and Irrigation Engineering Dept., Utah State Univ., Logan, UT.
Orang, M. N., Matyac, J. S., and Snyder, R. L. (2008). “Survey of irrigation methods in California in 2001.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 134(1), 96–100.
Snyder, R. L., Plas, M. A., and Grieshop, J. I. (1996). “Irrigation methods used in California: Grower survey.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 122(4), 259–262.
Stewart, J. I. (1975). “Irrigation in California: A report to the State Water Resources Control Board.” Standard Agreement No. 2-2-65, Univ. of California and the California Water Resources Control Board, Sacramento, CA.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 8, 2011
Accepted: Aug 28, 2012
Published online: Feb 15, 2013
Published in print: Mar 1, 2013
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.