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<br />r= <br /> <br />i!ig}S, !!1~ salt <br /> <br />IFarmers want better <br />irrigation, less salinity <br /> <br />By JAMES AMOS <br />TJrtPutblQChlt!tain <br />I HOLLY - Center-pivot sprin- <br />klers arc a more efficient way of <br />! watering crops, but they may in- <br />. tcnsify the effects of the region's <br />salty water. <br />Participants of a Colorado <br />State University Cooperative Ex- <br />tension Service tour got to see <br />:what one farmer is trying 10 alle- <br />iviate the problem while still <br />'stretching his water as far as pos- <br />,sible. <br />Paul Flack has substituted the <br />; spray heads on several sections of <br />his sprinkler with drag hoses on <br />an alfalfa field and CSU irrigation <br />specialist Jim Valliant said the <br />practice seems to be a benefit. <br />Valliant explained that the <br />: droplets of water sprayed on the <br />ileaves of a crop such as alfalfa can <br />I evaporate and leave salt crystals <br />I behind. Generally speaking, salt <br />: hurts planLs and the combination <br />: of direct salt on the leaves and the <br />'evaporation of valuable water can <br />mean lower yields and higher wa- <br />ter usage. <br />And the farther east one travels <br />in the Arkansas Valley. the S:J.hier <br />I~O!~~~a~ _ River an~. ~r?_u.~? <br />.... <br />.n <br />o <br />o <br /><:::> <br /> <br />water become. Vaillant said water <br />near Pueblo has 500 partS per mil- <br />lion of tOlal dissolved solids, <br />which is one me:J.sure of saltiness. <br />The .....ater near Holly has 1,900 <br />ppm. <br />The hoses, which drag behind <br />Ihe sprinkler as it makes its slow <br />circles, put more water on the <br />ground to soak inLO the dirt and <br />roots, Valliant s:J.id. Yields should <br />be higher, although the e.>;,peri- <br />ment hasn't been in operalion <br />long enough to prove thaI. <br />But Flack already is convinced. <br />He showed how the wind carries <br />Ihe sprayed .....ater away from its <br />intended target and also makes <br />the sprinkler's wheel paths muddy <br />and hard 10 navigate. <br />"There is JUSl no comparison to <br />how far your water .....ill go with <br />this application," he said. <br />Another stop on Valliant's tour <br />was the Holly drainage ditch, reo <br />markable because it seems to be <br />lowering the high .....ater table in <br />the area. <br /> <br />Higher groundwater tables have <br />become a problem in much or the <br />Arkansas Valley, forCing home- <br />owners 10 fill in their basements <br /> <br /> <br />Participants at this past week's salinity tour look af Paul Flack's cenler-plvolsprlnkler. <br /> <br />and keeping farmers from harvest- <br />ing, or even planting, their crops. <br />One farmers on the Thursday <br />tour said his combine sank in a <br />muddy spot in his field and his <br />neighbors all have had the same <br />experience. <br />High water tables increase soil <br />salinity because the water at the <br />surface of the ground evaporates. <br />but not the salt in it. That salt <br />stays in the topsoil and the soil <br />gets saltIer <IS more groundwater <br /> <br />evaporates, eventually ruining <br />some spots from crops. <br />Valliant said he thinks the high- <br />er .....ater tables are the result of the <br />Pueblo and John Martin reser- <br />voirs having changed the basic <br />flow or the Arkansas River. The <br />river no longer gels nushed oul in <br />high-flow periods and so the river <br />bot 10m - and therefore the water <br />lable-ha\erisen. <br />There are more than 100 drain- <br />age ditch distncts In the valley and <br /> <br />Valliant said he lhinks lhey will <br />have to renew theIr efforts to <br />drain away the valley's problems. <br />Certainly Ihe members of the <br />Northeast Prowers Soil Conserva, <br />tion District think the ditch is <br />helping They won two grants <br />from the Colorado Water Conser- <br />vation Board to have the ditch <br />cleaned out and now find that <br />groundwater isn't ns much of a <br />problem in the area. <br />The water levels In lirea wells <br /> <br />ChlenalnpholgbyJame.Amoe i <br /> <br />have dropped, some by as much <br />as rour reet soon after the ditch <br />was cleaned out. <br />District member Calvin Melch. <br />er said the improved drainage <br />dilch has made a difference. He <br />said a nearby friend has had trou- <br />ble ror five years with irrigation <br />water seeping into the ground and <br />causing troubles elsewhere. <br />"This is lhe first year lhat when <br />he irrigated his alralra field, he <br />didn"t get water In his basement," <br />he said. <br /> <br />~ :."):;.:.;., <br />