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<br />N <br />(D <br />(JI <br />.;;;.. <br /> <br />Report to the United States Department of the Interior, <br />Bureau of Reclamation <br />cooperative Agreement for surge Irrigation Research and <br />Demonstration Program, Lower Gunnison Basin, Colorado River <br />Salinity Control project units. <br /> <br />summary <br /> <br />In the first year of implementation, a total of 35 surge irrigation <br />controllers and valves were distributed to the cooperating farmers to <br />establish surge demonstration sites. The program was made possible <br />by a grant, (Federal Identifier #1-FC-40-ll630) to the Colorado State <br />University Cooperative Extension from the United states Department of <br />Interior, Bureau of Reclamation. <br /> <br />The purpose of the installation is to test and demonstrate surge <br />technology to local farmers. It has been proven elsewhere that the <br />surge irrigation technology enables irrigators to achieve higher <br />irrigation efficiencies, uniform applications and deep percolation <br />reduction. Reducing deep percolation decreases salt loading of the <br />Colorado River. The surge irrigation units were used by the <br />cooperators to irrigate field crops of corn, alfalfa, beans, <br />vegetables, pasture and tree fruit crops in orchards. <br /> <br />Delta Units: <br />During the summer of ~992, the cooperative Extension personnel <br />studied 39 irrigation events, of which 19 events provided usable <br />data. Results indicate that the surge irrigations helped in reducing <br />deep percolation by approximately 145 acre inches and the irrigation <br />application came down by more than 50%. <br /> <br />Reduction of 145 acre inches of deep percolation translates into a <br />salt reduction of 666 tons. Assuming the salt load reduction <br />associated with 19 evaluations is representative, the benefits <br />obtained from the total of 39 surge irrigation events amount to a <br />salt load reduction of 1367 tons. <br /> <br />Montrose units: <br />similarly at Montrose 39 events of irrigation were studied of which <br />13 events provided usable data. Results indicate that the surge <br />irrigation helped in reducing deep percolation by approximately 104 <br />acre inches and the irrigation application was reduced by 40%. <br /> <br />Reduction of 104 acre inches of deep percolation translates into a <br />salt load reduction of approximately 387 tons. Assuming the results <br />are representative of the surge irrigation events in Montrose, the <br />benefits obtained from 39 events of surge irrigation have resulted in <br />a salt load reduction of 1161 tons. <br /> <br />The combined salt load reduction in the Lower Gunnison Basin Salinity <br />Control project amounted to 2528 tons of salt for the summer of 1992. <br />Amortizing $100,000 program cost for the first year over the 25 year <br />life of the equipment with an 8% interest rate, results in an annual <br />cost of $9264, or a cost effectiveness of approx. $4{ton.The <br />additional benefits were improved water management resulting in <br />higher yields, better quality products and reductions in fertilizer <br />loss. <br /> <br />1 <br />