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<br /> <br />;~~~.,ttt~~i?~ <br />. -" ".",,-~.- <br />.- . . ~.. ~~.~~~.~~~~~(~~-~~~ <br />. -. ~.'. <br /> <br />:: <br /> <br />l. <br />,'- <br /> <br />cubic feet) on natural gas pow. <br />ered units. Average savings <br />per pump. were 46,724 <br />kWhlyear Ian 11% savings) <br />and .2.022 MCFlyear la 24% <br />savings). <br />Bauer and the other team <br />leaders have more than just <br />Iiguzes to prove that the pro- <br />gram is meeting a need in the <br />agricultural COIDD1Ullity: "As <br />of the end of this May. belon <br />the irrigation season was even <br />underway. I'd tested 31 wells. <br />And I'm booked up for 2 <br /> <br /> <br />weeks." The three teams u. <br />pact to test some 300 wells this <br />year. <br />A aecoDd :!IeCr'et of the team.a <br />success is that they have ez.~ <br />panded the progrom beyODd <br />the limits of simple pump testa . <br />and irrigatiOll'SYstem checks. <br />Working with local SCS em- <br />ployees, team members a1so <br />bave helped to iatrOduce surge <br />inigatiOl1 to area growers-ea- <br />pecially new computerized. <br />equipment. They are also using <br />soU probes and gypsum blocks <br />to belp farmers understand the <br />makeup of their soils and plan <br />better water management <br />techniques. <br />On the same 90 acres irri- <br />gated by the pump be had <br />tested. Fred Wedel is involved. <br />in tbree other tecbDiques d.. <br />sigDed to save water. energy- <br />and money: Surgo irrigation. <br />ridp tilIap and a gypsum- <br />- _ block method of reading soil <br />moisture. ll1 fact.. Bauer and <br /> <br />SCS Ogallala team leader Wes <br />Robbins worked with WedelOll <br />surge irrigatiOD and eonserva- <br />tiOQ. ti11age before Bauer ever <br />went out to do a pump test on <br />the acreage: <br />Robbin> and Bauer llgn!e <br />that the point of the program. <br />goes far beyond the pump test- <br />ing. "The testing is only the <br />first step," Bauer says. "You <br />have to know how much water <br />you bave. Then you need to <br />!mow if the system is delivering <br />it efficiently and effectively." <br />Last year. Bauer was in- <br />volved. in 21 surge-valve dem- <br />onstrations; surge-irrigation <br />workshops resulted in the pur. <br />chase of an additiOllal20 surge <br />valves by area growers. <br />Bauer reports a 25% energy <br />saving with surge-valve t.ec:h- <br />nology. "ADd that Vl85 just the <br />lint year of the program." be <br />sayo. "I expect saving!; to be <br />IS bigh IS 40% this _" <br />Using gypsum blocks to <br /> <br />Getting in <br /> <br />touch with <br /> <br />efficiency <br /> <br />THREE imption pump <br />and system testing teams <br />are part of the Energy Can- <br />servation for Cplorado Agri- <br />culture Program. <br />The teams work with pump <br />testing and water man~ <br />ment; theY do not make the <br />adjustments that their tests <br />show are called for. They <br />leave that to the pump owner <br /> <br />or repairman. <br />For more information on <br />the _k done by these tamS, <br />call: <br />-Burlington. fKit Csrson. <br />Chevenne, Prowers and Baca <br />Counties). Vern Bauer and <br />Kristi Boren. 346-7766. <br />-Hutun. ISedgwick and <br />Phillips Countiesl. Bill Saud. <br />er and Kent McDaniel. 774. <br />7153. <br />-Wray, (Yuma and Wash- <br />ington Counties!. Conrad <br />Bauer and Judy Langendoerf- <br />er. 332-5606.= <br /> <br />117) July 1987 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />monitor moisture conditions <br />provides a simple. inexpensive <br />way to check soil moisture that <br />is also much more accurate <br />than waiting for surface signs <br />that 8 field needs water. Small <br />blocks of gy'JJsum are placed in <br />a precisely augend bole, at <br />depths of 1. 2. 3 and " feet. <br />Each block hIS an electrical <br />wire running from it to the <br />surf.c.ee. Simply put. the Wi!tter <br />the block the better it conducts <br />electricity. Therefore. a meter <br />reading of a set of gypsum <br />blocks can give the farmer a <br />below-ground picture of the <br />moisture content of his soil. <br />Bauer end Robbins and the <br />other pump-teSting teams end <br />8CS staff in their areas use <br />this technology to help the <br />landowner with irrigation <br />9Cbeduling. which means keep- <br />ing a daily record. of water <br />applied and the evapotranspi- <br />ration (ET) rate. This. with <br />data supplied by gypsum <br />blocks or probes. helps deter- <br />mine when to irrigate. "We can <br />save as much or more energy <br />and water through water man- <br />agement and working with the <br />soils than we CaD 'With well <br />teSting," Bauer says. <br />As an ezamplo, Robbins re- <br />pons that thf! gypsum blocks <br />on Wedel's 90 ac:res indicated. <br />that as of the first week in <br />June. his soil profile was more <br />than 90% lulL meaning that <br />irrigation did not have to begin <br />until later in the month. Bauer <br />and Robbins compare Wedel's <br />soil condition with those of two <br />neighbors with comparable <br />rainfall and soil types but dif. <br />ferent tillage practices. One <br />. had 50% saturation; another <br />bad 80%. To Robbins, this <br />information points aut the val- <br />ue of the gypsum bIoclts-and <br />the need to look at the soil <br />profile before deciding when to <br />inigate. He a1so credits the <br />ridge-till technology with help- <br />ing the soil to absorb and hold <br />more water. <br />What brought him to the use <br />of irrigation pum~testing and <br />the rest of this new technolo- <br />gy? "It's an ec::onomic DeceB- <br />sity. pure and simp!e," he says. <br />"You don't have the luxurv <br />anymore to overwater. ADd <br />how are you going to know <br />what you bave if you don't <br />test?"o <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />By Kate Jones. Information <br />Spec'iaUst.. Energy Conserva- <br />tion for Colorado Agrictdtun <br />Program. <br /> <br />. <br />