Development of Water Budget for Tailwater Recovery Systems in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 144, Issue 6
Abstract
Unsustainable groundwater use for agricultural irrigation has led to declining aquifer levels across the United States, necessitating implementation of water conservation practices. One conservation practice being implemented throughout the lower Mississippi River alluvial valley (LMAV) that collects and stores surface water for irrigation is a tailwater recovery (TWR) system. Accordingly, the overall objective of this study was to develop a water budget for TWR systems. Eight TWR systems were continuously monitored for water depth, allowing rates of water gain and loss to be quantified. Volumes of water movement were calculated based on change in water depth and system dimensions. Using water budgets derived from TWR systems the water volume was calculated and found to be gaining, except during months of irrigation. Extrapolating the water budget to all TWR systems shows a total offset of 15% of the annual groundwater deficit. Tailwater recovery system efficiencies show designs may be altered to improve the water savings and use of these systems.
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Acknowledgments
This study was supported by Delta Farmers Advocating Resource Management, Mississippi State’s Research and Education to Advance Conservation and Habitat program, and Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. This material is partially based on work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The authors thank the producers and landowners who allowed TWR system access. The authors also thank Paul Rodrigue (USDA NRCS, Grenada, Mississippi) and Trinity Long (USDA NRCS, Indianola, Mississippi) for their help and sharing their extensive knowledge of TWR systems. The authors thank Matt Moore (USDA ARS, Oxford, Mississippi), Jason Krutz (Mississippi State University, Stoneville, Mississippi), James Henderson (Mississippi State University, Starkville, Mississippi), and Beth Baker (Mississippi State University, Starkville, Mississippi) for their support in preparing this manuscript, as well as Tyler Lacefield, Jonathon Rogers, and Jay Hogue (Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg, Mississippi) for field support. Two anonymous reviewers provided constructive suggestions.
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Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 144 • Issue 6 • June 2018
Copyright
©2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 24, 2017
Accepted: Dec 19, 2017
Published online: Mar 20, 2018
Published in print: Jun 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Aug 20, 2018
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