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Section 4 <br />Agricultural Conservation Measures <br /> Growing Season <br />Hol oke, CO Seasonal <br />Consum tive Use <br />Crop (Average Dates) (Days) (inches/season) <br />Alfalfa 3/20 - 10/10 204 35.2 <br />Sugarbeets 4/25 - 10/10 168 29.9 <br />Corn/ rain 5/5 - 10/5 153 25.4 <br />So beans 5/25 - 10/5 133 16.4 <br />S rin rains 4/1 - 7/25 115 15.2 <br />Dry beans 6/1 - 9/5 96 18.7 <br />Table 4-2 Growing Season and Consumptive Use for Various Crops, Holyoke, CO <br />Agricultural Water Conservation Techniques that Reduce Crop <br />Consumptive Use and Nonproductive Consumptive Losses <br />Current water law allows irrigators flexibility in diversions, crop types, irrigation <br />timing, methods, and application rates. If properly managed, it has been shown that <br />crop consunlptive use or nonproductive coilsunlptive losses nlay be reduced by the <br />following practices: <br />^ Lower water use cropping systenls <br />^ Acreage fallowulg <br />^ Shorter season/cool season crops <br />^ Limited/deficit irrigation <br />^ Renlove pivot end guns and reduce acres <br />^ Ditch piping and lining (reducing evaporation, ET, and deep percolation) <br />^ Crop residue management and nlulching <br />^ Phreatophyte carltrol <br />Limited/Deficit Irrigation Concepts <br />Limited or deficit irrigation reduces consumptive use by not nleeting full crop ET for <br />sonle part of the growulg season. To implement linuted irrigation, a system of <br />practices is required that nlay ulcorporate all or sonle of the following: <br />^ Irrigation water application is tinled for maxinlum benefit (miniinize stress during <br />critical growth stages) <br />^ Crop residue nlaintained to catcll inoisture and <br />reduce evaporation <br />^ Fields are often split to include lower water use <br />crops (sllorter season, cool season crops) <br />^ Weed control <br />^ Stress tolerant crop varieties <br />^ Reduced uzput costs <br />DRAFT 4-3 <br />