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<br /> <br />(,t;.') <br />ro <br />o <br />t..> <br /> <br />the cropped land of the United states and yields about 25 <br /> <br /> <br />percent of the total national crop value. <br /> <br />The Problem <br />-------- <br /> <br />Irrigation is not without dilemmas. serious problems <br />of salinization and water-logging of land commonly result <br />from inferior or inefficient irrigation practices. The <br />problem of excessive salinization is not necessarily <br />confined to soil. Increases in salinity of waters receiving <br />irrigation return flows have been occurring at an alarming <br />rate in the united states during the past two decades. <br />Water pollution resulting from irrigated agriculture <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />originates from both non-point, or diffuse, and point <br />sources. The impact of agricultural irrigation wastes, <br />including salinity, sedimentation, pesticides and nutrient <br />runoff and organic debris, on water quality degradation has <br />only been recognized fully in recent years. This was due to . <br />the gradual development of the problem. significant <br /> <br />increases in irrigated acreage since the termination of <br /> <br /> <br />World War II, along with increases in the use of pesticides <br /> <br />and fertilizers have focused attention on water quality <br /> <br />deterioration associated with irrigation practices. <br /> <br />This report is devoted primarily to an objective <br /> <br />presentation of the nature and extent of water quality <br />deterioration created by the introduction of salinity into <br /> <br />2 <br />