Quantification of deep percolation from two flood-irrigated alfalfa fields, Roswell Basin, New Mexico

TL;DRAbstract

For many years water management in the Roswell ground-water basin (Roswell Basin) and other declared basins in New Mexico has been the responsibility of the State of New Mexico. One of the water management issues requiring better quantification is the amount of deep percolation from applied irrigation water. Two adjacent fields, planted in alfalfa, were studied to determine deep percolation by the water-budget, volumetricmoisture, and chloride mass-balance methods. Components of the water-budget method were measured, in study plots called borders, for both fields during the 1996 irrigation season. The amount of irrigation water applied in the west border was 95.8 centimeters and in the east border was 169.8 centimeters. The total amount of precipitation that fell during the irrigation season was 21.9 centimeters. The increase in soilmoisture storage from the beginning to the end of the irrigation season was 3.2 centimeters in the west border and 8.8 centimeters in the east border. Evap

Chat with Paper

AI Agents for this Paper