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<br />remiss' in'notscudying improved methods of draft flow, surfa~e flow
<br />irrigation'methods. During the past,l5 years, perhaps,a,tre~~ndous
<br />amount of interes,t has ,been generated' by the center pivot' sprinkler,
<br />trickle ijr-igatiort", et cetera', methods. As we all know, wherein ,lies
<br />the interest, therein lies the money for research. As'a,result, I
<br />think that surface irrigation, improved surface irrigation, methods
<br />have fallen somewhat behind the times in the state of the art and,
<br />at the present time, due to the:' energy situation', a tremendous' amount
<br />of interest is now being generated on improved gravity systems.
<br />
<br />Our present research involves some level basin plots, located at the
<br />CSU Research Station, which you will be visiting later,. ,<lI1~ some
<br />similar plots over by the Stapleton farm east of town.
<br />
<br />For those of you who are no~ familar with the level basin,systems,
<br />they are employed. quite a bit~Ln the south~est part of the United
<br />States. The field is leveled more or, les,s by conventional methods to
<br />begin with and then finished leveled with laser contr9lled apparatus to
<br />a bench level that varies plus or minus half a tenth of a foot. These
<br />systems afford' us a very ,uniform, very .even app;I.ica'tion of water. The
<br />actual application :efficiency approaches that of the, cen~er,pivot
<br />sprinkler when the level basins' are 'operated in the,prqpe~ fashion ,and
<br />an ample supply of water is there.
<br />
<br />Our research has shown that we have been able, to obta~n yields in
<br />excess', of what :the Grand Valley farmers generally obtain, with the
<br />exception of corn.' We have been having trouble growing corn under this
<br />sys tem. We think we have the problem licked, this year, ,'and "file think.
<br />we will be able to show pretty good yields.
<br />
<br />I
<br />
<br />As far as this relates to the Stage I area, Dr. Vern Cruse, in our
<br />Fort Collins office, has developed ,a computer program,. and con- ,
<br />servative:estimates show that about 30 percent of the program ~n the
<br />Stage'l ate a is suitable for:this type 9f irrigation. With this type
<br />of irrigation up there, using ,the controlled applications, very
<br />careful uniform applications, the amount of salt being leached into
<br />the ground water system will be substantially reduced. We. are very
<br />excited about this system. It lends itself 'very well to automation
<br />and semi-automation. We hope you will come out to our plots this I
<br />afternoon at the station and see it. We will demonstrate our process,
<br />which is reasonably inexpensive. .It is now commercially available.
<br />We hope -to snow that 'to you.~, L_ ~-_ C2-, :,0.
<br />
<br />MR. SPARKS: Doctor, one question I have: .:you mentioned you had a
<br />problem with corn with this level irrigation. What occasioned that?
<br />
<br />DR. CHAMPION:, Y~u can't ~mploy .furrows. The water is advanced by the
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