On-farm Water Storage Systems and Irrigation Scheduling in Mississippi 2014 UCOWR/NIWR/CUAHSI Annual Conference USDA/WRRC Track June 19, 2014 Mary Love M. Tagert, Joel O. Paz, Jonathan W. Pote, Gretchen Sassenrath1, and Richard L. Kirmeyer Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering and Mississippi State University Extension Service, Mississippi State University and 1Kansas State University INTRODUCTION  In 2011 there were 3,151 water use permits approved in the Delta, including 1,039 that were issued for the first time as new permits, 176 modifications, and 1,936 renewals (YMD Annual Work Summary, 2011).  There were approximately 50K and 54K new irrigated acres in 2011 and 2012, respectively.  80% of water use permits in MS are in the Delta = ~18K  Estimated irrigated acres in 2010: Soybeans ~940K Rice ~300K Aquaculture ~38K Corn ~300K Cotton ~174K Source: USDA-NASS Cropland Data Layer, 2010; YMD, 2010. INTRODUCTION  The Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI) was launched in 2010 to address hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico; OFWS begin appearing.  C. Wax and J. Pote –A Climate-driven model to serve as a predictive tool for management of groundwater use from the Mississippi Delta Shallow Alluvial Aquifer, 2010. Showed that use of surface water could decrease declines in MRVAA.  Motivation: 1. Declining groundwater levels in the MS Delta Alluvial Aquifer 2. Nutrient loads to the MS River and the Gulf of Mexico  Two main impediments to sustainability of agroecosystems in the MS Delta and on-farm water storage systems can potentially address both of these issues concurrently INTRODUCTION EPA Priority Watershed (HUC 08030207) MAIN OBJECTIVES  Determine the effluent nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations from water storage systems.  Quantify the effects of water storage systems on downstream flow levels through a watershed.  Increase the adoption of on-farm water storage technology and dissemination of potential benefits.  Enhance the science education of middle and high school students by promoting the benefits of water conservation and environmental stewardship.  Inventory of installed and pending OFWS systems in Porter Bayou Watershed ON-FARM WATER STORAGE SYSTEM Storage Pond Tailwater Recovery Ditch ON-FARM WATER STORAGE SYSTEM Metcalf Farm  Ratio of 16 acres irrigated area : 1 acre reservoir  Reservoir depth is 8 feet  TWR ditch at 0.3 ac-ft. per acre, with minimum 10 acft. of storage on any system; sized to fill reservoir if pumped 6 times  4 ft. berm and minimum 6” overflow pipe  Fields are precision-leveled and ‘padded and piped’ METHODS • Installed water level sensor and sonde in each TWR ditch. • Installed WatchDog weather station on each farm. • Each site grab sampled at inlet(s), in TWR ditch, in storage reservoir, and at outlet. • Grab samples every 3 weeks during the growing season, roughly March-October; every 6 weeks NovemberFebruary and autosample storm events in TWR ditch. • Analyzed water samples for pH, conductivity, and DO; turbidity, total and reactive phosphorus (TP), nitrate (NO3), ammonia (NH3), and total nitrogen (TN); TSS, Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen, and dissolved orthophosphate. METHODS: Metcalf Farm Overview METHODS: Pitts Farm Overview RESULTS: Environmental Data Amount (mm) 300 Metcalf 250 200 150 Rainfall 100 ET 50 0 Amount (mm) Month 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 Pitts Rainfall ET Month RESULTS: METCALF FARM NITRATE-N RESULTS: METCALF FARM TOTAL PHOSPHORUS RESULTS: METCALF FARM TSS RESULTS: PITTS FARM NITRATE-N RESULTS: PITTS FARM TOTAL PHOSPHOROUS RESULTS: PITTS FARM TSS NUTRIENT REDUCTION SUMMARY • Mixed results, systems show potential for reducing nutrients and TSS • Systems appear to not perform as well during heavy rainfall events with high flow • More analyses needed to compare rainfall runoff with irrigation runoff and water level in channel during a runoff event • Better management would likely improve results for nutrient potential and maximize benefits ON-FARM WATER STORAGE SYSTEMS WATER SAVINGS- Metcalf Cumulative Water Use from Metcalf Pond Cumulative volume from flowmeter (ac-ft.) 140 120 100 80 2012 2013 60 40 20 0 26-Jan 17-Mar 6-May 25-Jun Date 14-Aug 3-Oct 22-Nov ON-FARM WATER STORAGE SYSTEMS WATER SAVINGS- Pitts Cumulative Water Use from Pitts Pond Cumulative volume from flowmeter (ac-ft.) 200 180 160 140 120 100 2012 80 2013 60 40 20 0 26-Jan 17-Mar 6-May 25-Jun Date 14-Aug 3-Oct ON-FARM WATER STORAGE SYSTEMS WATER SAVINGS • 130 and 184 acre-ft of water from OFWS was used to irrigate soybean grown on Metcalf and corn grown on Pitts Farm in 2012. • The aforementioned water savings from Metcalf and Pitts Farms translates to 42 and 60 million gallons of water, respectively, which was not withdrawn from the MS River Alluvial Aquifer. • 2013 to date, 52 and 174 acre-ft of water from OFWS was used to irrigate soybean/corn and soybeans grown on Metcalf and Pitts farms, respectively. FUTURE WORK • Field days to discuss benefits, educational activities • Model watershed effects of on-farm storage systems and use models to target placement • More collaboration with commodity promotion boards, USDA-ARS Sediment Lab in Oxford, MS • Cost:Benefit economic analysis • Nutrient loads in recycled water • Expanded monitoring of systems PARTNERS  Mr. Boyer Britt & Mr. Walter Pitts  Delta F.A.R.M  MS Department of Environmental Quality  MS Wildlife Federation  USDA-NRCS – Trinity Long and Paul Rodrigue  Yazoo MS Delta Joint Water Management District ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS  This project is funded by USDA NIFA under the National Integrated Water Quality Program.  Subsequent funding has been provided by the Mississippi Soybean Promotion Board.  MSU – Extension Service and Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Mississippi Irrigation Scheduling Tool (MIST) • Web-based, easy to use irrigation management tool • Estimates crop water use with modified Penman Monteith to calculate daily evapotranspiration • The “checkbook” water balance method sums the water balance of the soil, plus water from rainfall or irrigation, minus water used by the crop or evaporated from the soil. • Need for irrigation is indicated when the soil water available to the plant falls below a set threshold. • Relies on available databases to minimize data input from grower. Mississippi Irrigation Scheduling Tool (MIST) • Calibrating on corn and soybean fields under furrow and center pivot irrigation • Five test sites throughout the Mississippi Delta in 2014, using soil moisture sensors to calibrate and validate the model Mississippi Irrigation Scheduling Tool (MIST) GUI ENGINE DATABASE (interface) (processing) (storage) User input - client info - field data - well data - decision parameters Field layout Field status Wells overview Weather input (custom) System output Admin in- and output Required data input & output ET calculations Data retrieval - weather data - soils data - imagery Reprojecting shapefiles Automated calculations Automated notifications ‘Cookie’-cutting shapefiles ET calculation formula & Required data Weather data Soils data Shapefiles imagery Deficit thresholds Field data Well data Irrigation system data Decision data Usage data MySQL Mississippi Irrigation Scheduling Tool (MIST) The login page contains information about the project, contact information, a login section and a button to help with forgotten passwords. Mississippi Irrigation Scheduling Tool (MIST) The home page is similar for consultant, company, and user. There is a menu section on the upper left and a report of the current company on the lower left. There is an overview of the company fields for the associated user or consultant in the main window. Mississippi Irrigation Scheduling Tool (MIST) Clicking on a field listed from the left side will open a calendar showing field conditions. The month and year can be selected. Blue, orange or red are used to represent the condition of the field on a day. Hovering over a day with the mouse will open a small report showing numeric values for the day. PARTNERS and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS  Farmers: Turner Massey, Roosevelt Lee, Billy Walker, Darrington Seward, and John Michael Pillow  Mississippi Soybean Promotion Board  Mississippi Corn Promotion Board  Yazoo MS Delta Joint Water Management District  MSU – Extension Service