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expect substantial problems of stand establishment in this field caused by the combination of high soil salinity, high water salinity and high soil sodicity." (Ref. #4) In an effort to reduce the "double blow" of using saline water . and sprinkling it on the leaves, drop hoses were installed in 1997 on two spans of Pivot #7, (Fig. 9). Flexible plastic pipe four inches in diameter was wired on just above the sprinkler head and the hose extended to the ground and dragged for about two feet. Using this cheap method for drag hoses required very little effort as :not even the splash plates were removed. This allowed the ground to be irrigated without putting water on the leaves of the growing plants. The crop was first sprinkled for germination and, hefore the plant ernerged,the drag hose was wired on and water was then applied directly to the ground. Due to the intense weed population. no CQ~~~i,~.'.'~~Qllll.l beA~~ed when comparing the results of irrigating with LDNs or drag hoses and-no"llrOpS were groWil'lln'the IIrea in T998:-''-.-" ~.~---==:..........._~._...._""-_....""'-_.~_....."~.,- In the late summer of 1997, 2500 pounds of soil from Piv6t #7 as well as water samples from the -,---._,. Arkansas River near Stonewall Springs and the well #13 ~eing used to irrigate Pivot #7 were sent to Dr. Gary Banuelos, soil/plant scientist, at the USDA-ARS Water Research Laboratory in Fresno, CA. Soils from Pivot #7 were potted and irrigated with water synthetically constructed based on analysis from river and well water. Tall fescue and Birdsfoot trefoi~ both broad leaf and narrow leaf, were tested, "Sak toxicity as burning of the leaf margins and stunting of growth began to appear in all three species shortly after applying the poor IT quality water" (Ref. # 1) from the well. However, the tall fescue produced acceptable amounts of dry matter, nearly twice the dry ml\tter produced by the Birdsfoot trefoil. These results indicate that salt tolerant crops can be grown in th~ top portion of the root zone, roughly 8 inches, but once the roots reach the higher salt levels at the two lWd three foot level, growth is severely slowed and shallow rooted weeds take over. Soil from Pivot #7 was also potted and irrigated with water from Well #13 and with rain water (Fig 10). Tomatoes, peppers and barley were grown and irrigated with both types of water. All three crops were suppressed when irrigated with the well water with barley, the most salt tolerant, producing the greatest amount of growth. No tomatoes or peppers were produced when irrigated with the Well # 13 water, however, limited amounts of tomatoes and peppers were produced as was substantially increased barley forage ~irrigating the saline soy wilb rAin wAter. These results would indicate ~ossibiliaof ,_ ecoOif~production of forage crops such as~~...if.11jj!!-gpality 'yy.(\~ld ~.!!.~~ for ~ irriglffion. -~-- ,,- . -' The results of the 1995,1996 and 1997 planting disasters definitely indicate that sprinkler irrigation with saline waters of 1200 to 4000 ppm Total Dissolved Solids:on soils with high Electrical Conductivity of 4.0 or <:j higher is a practice that should be discoural!ed, -. Because of these failures, ~iYot #7 WA< not planted in 1998. However, due to the high salinity levels in the wells at the Stonewall Springs farm, the Excelsior Ditch was reopened in 1997/98 so the higher quality river water could be used in the operation and in the fall and winter of 1998/99 pumping stations were installed to provide this water to the pivots. Salinity of the river water ranged from 300 to 500 ppm TD8. .." - . ~~ In the early spring of 1999. Westford fora(1:e barl~ was planted on Pivot #7 and irrigated with the higher .-/ Sf-0.jJJv- quality river water from the Excelsior Ditch. Barley is the most salt tolerant forage crOll that can he grown in the area and this tolerance combined with the higher quality water produced a hay yield of 4.6 tons per ~re. /~,;,"'" ~S~ b.#~ ,--, 4,-;0<:01 w~~~ V\Ul)......... ......\tv's 19