---

Water Management and Conservation Research

---

Research Projects:

Water Management in Arid Irrigated Agriculture

Objectives:

Develop management tools to improve the performance of surface irrigation systems at the field scale.
Develop model components that can be used to predict irrigation-induced erosion and constituent transport in surface irrigation at the field scale.
Develop management tools to improve the operation of irrigation water delivery systems.
Develop a strategy and tools for assessing the performance of surface irrigation systems at the water district or watershed scale.

Remote Sensing for Soil and Water Management in Arid Irrigated Agriculture

Objectives:

Determine crop coefficients, adjustment algorithms, and transfer capabilities for improving crop water use estimation of common and alternative crops in arid Southwestern U.S. climates.
Develop and verify remote sensing methods and techniques for predicting near real-time evapotranspiration and plant water stress at spatial scales relevant for single fields to watersheds.
Develop high resolution remote sensing decision support tools for managing spatially and temporally variable water and nutrient applications to crops.

Reuse of Treated Municipal Waste Water for Irrigation

Objectives:

Provide baseline data to evaluate the long term effects of irrigation with treated wastewater.
1. Understand processes that govern the fate and transport of emerging contaminants, pathogens and nutrients found in treated wastewater used for irrigation.
2. Develop guidelines for the safe reuse of treated wastewater for irrigation.

ARS List of Programs and Projects