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4B – Daily News – Saturday, April 16, 2011 Weekly soil moisture loss reports available now for water management The Northern Region of the California Department of Water Resources and the University of California Cooperative Extension in Red Bluff have teamed up to provide “Weekly Soil Moisture Loss Reports” to agricultural water users. This is the first Weekly Soil Moisture Loss Report for the 20ll irrigation sea- son. It includes water use information for a variety of crops. Background infor- mation about the reports and ways to use them in on- farm water management are outlined in this article. Information in each Weekly Soil Moisture Loss Report Estimates labeled “West of the Sacramento River” are based on weather mea- surements taken near Ger- ber. Estimates labeled “East of the Sacramento River” are based on weather mea- surements taken near Durham. Estimates are for healthy crops, where soil moisture is not limiting crop growth. Estimates are for bearing orchards (typically fifth leaf or older). Esti- mates suggest a maximum amount of irrigation water needed and should be con- firmed with field monitor- ing. Irrigation systems that apply water with a high uni- formity require less water to supply the crop needs. Use in the Spring Sea- son to Help Decide When ber station on the Westside of the river since March 27 was 0.12 inches. In the case of almonds, which are the earliest orchard crop to leafout and begin develop- ing a full canopy, a 2.33 inch soil moisture deficit has developed through April 14 and will continue to accrue. By referring to these weekly soil moisture loss reports, the effects of changing weather condi- tions can be considered and the soil moisture depletion can be estimated to help decide when to begin irri- gating and how much water to apply. Rainfall measure- ments taken from your own farm or ranch will improve the accuracy of this projec- tion. Use throughout the Season to Aid Irrigation Operation Crops go through phases to Begin the Irrigation Season Referring to the first table, select the crop in question and compare the “Accumulated Seasonal Water Use” since leaf-out* to the “Accumulated Rain- fall” since March 27, 2011 (day after last significant rainfall). As the seasonal of growth and the weather can be highly variable dur- ing the season. These weekly reports can be used to help adjust for changing crop and weather condi- tions. water use exceeds accumu- lated rainfall, compare this difference to the water hold- ing capacity of the soil in the crop root zone. An Example: Accumu- lated seasonal water use for almonds from March 27 through April 14, 2011 was 2.45 inches while accumu- lated rainfall from the Ger- In order to apply this information, the water application rate from the irrigation system must be known. For orchards, this can be estimated with a count of micro sprinklers or drip emitters per acre along with a reliable estimate of the water emission rate per micro sprinkler or dripper. Another option is to contact the Tehama County Mobile Irrigation Lab listed below and arrange an irrigation system evaluation and the water application rate will be determined for you. Almond Orchard Exam- ple: One micro sprinkler is used per almond tree; each micro sprinkler emits nine gallons of water per hour; and the orchard design has 151 trees per acre. The hourly water application rate for this example is 1359 gallons per acre. This equates to a water applica- tion rate of 0.05 inches per acre per hour of operation. The math is as follows: 1) 151 micro sprinklers per acre multiplied by 9 gallons per hour emission rate equals 1359 gallons per acre per hour; and 2) 1359 gal- lons per acre per hour divid- ed by 27,154 equals 0.05 inches per acre per hour of operation (there are 27,154 gallons of water per acre- inch, a common volumetric unit of measure used in irri- gated agriculture). Suppose an upcoming weekly report shows that almonds (west of river) from May 6 to May 12, 2011 use 1.80 inches of water per acre and they are irrigated with the micro sprinkler system described above. At an hourly water application rate of 0.05 inches per acre per hour of operation, 36 hours of oper- ation would be needed dur- ing the week to match the estimated soil moisture loss. Additional water is needed to compensate for non-uniform application of water. Field evaluations conducted by the Tehama County Mobile Irrigation Lab suggest 10 to 20 per- cent more water may be necessary. Table 2 in the Weekly ET Report helps determine how much water is needed based upon your systems irrigation efficiency keeping in mind that less efficient irrigation systems apply water less uniformly. * This year the “Accu- mulated Seasonal Water Use” begins on March 27, 2011 instead of leaf-out. Normally we begin the sea- sonal water use on March 1 (leaf-out for Almonds) but due to the rains in March, we moved the date to March 27. Prior to March 27 there was sufficient rain- fall to meet the crop needs and maintain a full soil- water profile. Have Questions or Looking for More Assis- tance? Contact: Allan Fulton, UC Farm Advisor, 527- 3101 or aefulton@ucdavis.edu; Mark Rivera, California Department of Water Resources, Northern Region, 529- 7301 or mrivera@water.ca.gov; Kevin Greer, Tehama County Resource Conser- vation District, Mobile Irri- gation Lab, 527-3013 x 102 or kevin@tehamacountyr- cd.org Oh Snap! 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