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<br />::--\ PART 1
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<br /> IRRIGATION MONITORING AND EV ALUA TI ON
<br />
<br />AACKGROUND
<br />
<br />The SCS r"igation Monito,ing and Evaluation P,og,am sta,ted in late
<br />1983 with the pu,chase of fully automated elect,onic flow ,eco,de,s,
<br />data ,eco,de,s and weathe, stations.
<br />
<br />Twelve ;,"gation monito,ing sites we,e installed du,ing the 1984
<br />g,owlng season. Howeve" only 4 of the 12 sites we,e ope,ational fo,
<br />a po,tion of the i"igation season. The 1984 season was a t,ial
<br />pe,iod to lea,n about automatic i"igation flow measu,ement and to
<br />develop and test the needed compute, softwa,e fo, p,ocessing and
<br />evaluation of the M2,E data. Additionally, the,e was not enough
<br />weathe, info,mation f,om the 1984 field season to calculate an
<br />accu,ate c,op consumptive use fo, the monito,ed fields. It was
<br />the,efo,e not possible to balance the i"igation flows measu,ed du,ing
<br />the 1984 i"igation season.
<br />
<br />Th,ough 1985 to 1987, 16 i"igation monito,ing sites we,e ope,ated
<br />each yea,. Howeve" since 1988 mo,e sites have been installed and
<br />monito,ed to obtain bette, data and to mo,e effectively use equipment
<br />and pe,sonnel on hand. Cu"ently, equipment cost fo, a ,-egula,
<br />i"igation monito,ing site with one outlet and one inlet ,uns between
<br />$ 5,000 to $ 6,000. The,e is no equipment cost fo, setting up sites
<br />on fields with d,ip 0, sp,inkle, i"igation systems.
<br />
<br />Two ,adio telemet,y weathe, stations we,e installeo in 1983. One
<br />stat i on i sl ocated south of High line Lake and th i s ,ep,esents the west
<br />half of the valley. The othe, station IS at East O,cha,d Mesa and
<br />,ep,esents the east half of the valley. The weathe, stations measu,e
<br />the c I i mat i c pa,amete,s needed to ca I cu I ate potent i a I
<br />evapot,anspi,ation (ET) by a modified Penman equation developed by
<br />Ag,icultu,e Resea,ch Se,vice (ARS), Fo,t Coil ins, Colo,ado. The c,op
<br />coefficient cu,ve fo, ET calculation was developed by the ARS and the
<br />Coope,ative Extension Office located in G,and Junction.
<br />
<br />OBJECTIVES
<br />
<br />The objectives of the r"igation Monito,ing and Evaluation
<br />P,og,am a,e to:
<br />
<br />- Measu,e a I Ii" i gat ions fo, the ent i ,e season on
<br />selected i"igated fields.
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<br />3
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