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" 000512 Demonstration of Best Management Practices (BMPs) to Improve Crop Yields, Returns and Water Quality in the Arkansas River Valley of Colorado Phase I Progress Report August 10, 1999 Surface drainage work on the Holly Drain has been suspended until the new contract is signed and money is available but the effects of the drainage on water levels in the observation wells continues to be seen, Water table in the Scheck observation well, which dropped from 5,71 feet to 9.46 feet from June 1 to June 10. is continuing to drop with the level at 9,75 feet even though the alfalfa in the area has been irrigated and the river continues to flow at above July average levels, Flows have ranged from 1900 down to 800 cfs during July with above average rainfall in EI Paso, Pueblo and Otero Counties stilI sending water to John Manin Reservoir, Second harvest was completed on the alfalfa at the Paul Frank center pivot demonstration area comparing low drift nozzles with drag hoses, Twelve subplots were harvested in each of the two areas and the sprinkled area averaged 1,99 tons per acre with a Relative Feed Value (RFY) of 161.7 while the drag hose area averaged 1.93 tons per acre with a RFY of 164.5, Total yield for the two cuttings on the sprinkler area is 3,83 tons per acre with an average RFV of 151,3 while on the drag hose area the yield is 3,80 tons per acre with an average RFY of 158,0, Electrical conductivity (EC) of the water being applied to the alfulfa was 2,22 mmho/cm, This is below the normal for this time of the year because of dilution of the salts due to the abundance of rainfall runoff in the river and John Manin Reservoir, Wheel tracking continues to be a problem where the water being sprinkled in the wheel track The water is being pushed ahead of the wheel and this makes the wheel track area soft causing deeper tracking, The wheel track areas where drag hoses are being used are dry in front of the wheel except on very sloping areas when some of the water runs into the track area, The advantages of drag hoses on the Paul Frank center pivot were very vivid because ofthe high winds as pan ofa stop on a Water Management Tour held on July 22, A group of some 20 people could see the heavy mist that preceded the pivot as it progressed to the west while there was no water lost due to misting on the drag hoses, Probing the two different sections of the pivot showed better water penetration in the drag hose area than on the sprinkled area, The Water Management Tour began at the Holly Gateway Park at 8 am with the caravan of vehicles leaving about 8:30 am, going east on Highway 50 to the Holly Drain, Calvin Melcher of the Northeast Prowers SCD talked about the value of cleaning the ditch and Sherrie Wagoner gave results of the measurements in the different observation wells being used in the demonstration to observe the effect of the cleaning on water levels, The group then traveled to the Paul Frank center pivot demonstration and next to the Com PAM demonstration at the Cory Thompson farm just east of Bristol. Two areas are being treated with PAM and two areas are untreated for comparison, The difference in the side cutting of the beds