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<br />000504 <br /> <br />Demonstration of Best Management Practices (BMPs) <br />to Improve Crop Yields, Returns and Water Quality in tbe <br />Arkansas River Valley of Colorado <br />Phase I <br /> <br />Progress Report <br />July 6, 1999 <br /> <br />Surface drainage work on the Holly Drain has been completed up to Highway 50 as of June 30, <br />1999 and the effects of the drainage on water levels in the observation wells have already been <br />seen, Water table in the Scheck observation well dropped from 5,71 feet to 9.46 feet from June 1 <br />to June 10 and has continued at that level even with the area receiving for 0.5 to 1.5 inches of <br />rain, Also during the period of the dredging of the Holly Drain, the Arkansas River at Coolidge, <br />KS which is located about 6 miles east of the drain, was measured at 2,800 cfs or greater after the <br />heavy rains and flood that prompted the high releases from John Martin Reservoir, From June 13 <br />to June 23, the flow finally started to subside dropping from 2,800 to 1,800 cfs still far above the <br />normal recorded flow for this time period, <br /> <br />Because of the inability to get a contractor to do a limited amount of subsurface drainage <br />installation, $8980 on a 80/20 cost share basis, the decision was made to spend this money on the <br />Holly Drain surface drainage, The subsurface drainage will be increased this amount in Phase II <br />making a total of$19,825 which one of the contractors indicated would be sufficient funding for <br />him to come into the area, <br /> <br />First harvest was completed on the alfalfa at the Paul Frank center pivot demonstration area <br />comparing low drift nozzles with drag hoses, Twelve subplots were harvested in each of the two <br />areas and the sprinkled area averaged 1,84 tons per acre with a Relative Feed Value (RFV) of <br />137,1 while the drag hose area averaged 1.67 tons per acre with a RFV of 151.4, Due to the <br />excessive rains prior to harvest and mechanical difficulties, the pivot was not irrigated until after <br />this first cutting, Additional drag hoses have been installed since the first cutting to observe the <br />effect of using drag hoses on wheel tracking. Wheel tracking has been a problem on this pivot <br />due to the water being sprinkled in the wheel track and more that desirable runoff. The advance <br />cone of the sprinkler tends to seal the cracks in the soil and reduce water intake, <br /> <br />A broad crested weir was installed at the Cory Thompson farm to measure the runoff from the <br />com PAM demonstration, The use of PAM, a soil stabilizing polymer, will be compared to <br />conventional, untreated com and yield, irrigation and runoff amounts and water quality will be <br />measured from the two areas. The com received some hail damage in late June but has had <br />sufficient rain to delay irrigation until approximately the second week in July, Water samples will <br />be taken at that time to determine the sediment loss as well as salinity, nitrates and phosphates, <br /> <br />The forage sorghum on the Bub McGee farm was planted in late June where surge irrigation with <br />PAM will be compared to untreated conventional irrigation, A new Brown Mid-Rib forage <br />sorghum is also being compared to a conventional type forage sorghum in this demonstration, A <br />Parshall flume has been installed at the site to record runoff during irrigation, <br />