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<br />co <br />'oc::" <br />M <br />o <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />r ., <br />". ' <br /> <br />be aecomp I i shed best when SCS fie I doff i ce personne I can <br />regularly work with the individual irrigator on a one to <br />basis during the irrigation season. <br /> <br />one <br /> <br />8. Producers need to be assisted in the proper Management and <br />operation of the new improved irrigation system immediately <br />after it is installed. <br /> <br />9. The over use of water is preva I ent throughout the Grand Va II ey <br />because of abundant supply of cheap irrigation water. <br />Producers are therefore not concerned about irrigation water <br />management and there are only a few farmers that practice a <br />high degree of IWM. <br /> <br />10. The USDA goal of salt load reduction through IWM can be <br />achieved through intensive education programs on IWM <br />techniques. After the irrigation system is installed, the SCS <br />wi I I need to work with the farmers on a one to one basis so <br />that they wi I I be able to apply only what is needed for the <br />crop. The SCS wi II espec i a II y need to target those farmers <br />that manage a large number of acres with I imited man-power and <br />also part time and week-end farmers. <br /> <br />11. The atmometer data co II ected in the I ast few years i nd i cate <br />that with proper care and maintenance, the atmometer ET data <br />comes fairly close to calculated reference ET data. The <br />atmometer can be used as a tool for irrigation schedul ing. It <br />is relatively simple to use: IWM could be improved and deep <br />percolation reduced through irrigation scheduling within the <br />I i m its 0 f a c cur a c y nee d e d to a chi eve I WM and s a I i n it y con t r 0 I . <br /> <br />12. The 1988 monitoring data showed excessive deep percolation <br />losses and runoff on onion fields. Salinity control will <br />therefore be difficult with surface irrigation. Current <br />manag~ment techniques may need to be changed to reduce <br />excessive deep percolation and runoff. *Adaptatation of surge <br />irrigation might alleviate some of these problems. <br /> <br />13. During pre-irrigation and or the first irrigation of annual <br />crops, farmers in the valley apply a large amount of water to <br />"black over" the soil so that seeds are not sitting in a dry <br />bed. Farmers would probably reduce their irrigation set time <br />if a way could be found to spread the water laterally so that <br />seeds have adequate moisture for germination and <br />establ ishment. Current cultural and management practices may <br />need to be changed to reduce deep percolation losses during <br />pre-irrigation and or the first irrigation. <br /> <br />14. In the future, the SCS wi I I need to determine whether IWM <br />design information such as furrow stream size, time of set <br />etc. provided to farmers are applicable in the field. <br /> <br />24 <br />