Engineering Commons^™

Land Preparation For Border Irrigation, B Swan

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

LARGE amounts of water may be lost through excess run-off and deep percolation.

Proper preparation of irrigation land can help to minimise these losses.

This preparation is done by grading or levelling so that the original ground surface is shaped to allow for a more uniform distribution of water.

Swing Fence Flood Crossing For Creeks In The Kimberleys, A L. Payne

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

FENCING is the basis of the regeneration programme on the eroded Ord River catchment area, and the fences constructed must cross numerous creeks.

But heavy downpours of short duration characterise the wet season experienced in this area.

Because the rain falls on to bare, compacted ground, run-off is intense and gullies and creeks rise rapidly, causing serious damage to conventional fences and flood gates across watercourses.

A Practical Guide To Building Contour Banks With A Road Grader, J E. Watson

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

THOUSANDS of miles of contour banks have been built in Western Australia, and most of this earthmoving has been done by tractor and disc plough* or by road grader.

This article describes the technique recommended for bank construction with the road grader.

Farm Dams In The Wheatbelt, J E. Watson

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

MANY new farm dams are sunk each year in the wheatbelt and much money is spent on them.

With continued development of new land, and increasing stock carrying capacity of older land under legume pastures, the need for more water supplies will continue for a long time.

Firebreaks Without Erosion : Hints To Prevent Firebreak Erosion, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

AGRICULTURAL fire risks are now greater than they have been in the past and are steadily increasing with the advance of agriculture in Western Australia.

During the past 20 years the area of cleared arable land and the area under crop have more than doubled.

The area of established pasture is four times as great as it was. Pastures and crops are much more productive —and more liable to carry destructive fires than they were.

Developing A State Water Plan Utah's Water Resources--Problems And Needs--A Challenge, Utah Water Research Laboratory

Reports

Of all the natural resources with which Utah has been endowed none is more vital to the social and economic well-being of the people than it water resource. We cannot manufacture water. We have found no acceptable substitute. Not one more drop of water is available for our use today than was available to the pioneers. Yet water uses and water demands have multiplied over the years. Since we can do little to change nature's water allotment to Utah we must learn how to utilize our existing supplies more judiciously. This means devoting increasingly more attention to problems of water …

Farm Water Storage : Circular Brick Reservoirs, R P. Harington

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

A circular brick tank is a cheap and efficient water storage which can be easily built on any farm. The method described below by Kimberley Research Station manager R. P. Harington was used to build a swimming pool—storage on the station.

Flooding And Salt Problems In The Wheatbelt, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

VALUABLE land has become salty in parts of the West Australian agricultural areas because most of the surrounding land has been cleared and developed for agriculture.

This salting of a small proportion of the land is part of the price paid for the development of agriculture in this State.

Drainage is not the answer to the wheatbelt flooding and salt land problems.

A more practical approach is to limit runoff from sloping land, and to make good use of salt-affected land by growing salt tolerant perennial pastures on it, says the Soils Division of the Department of Agriculture.

Water Requirements For Waterfowl Areas Near The Great Salt Lake Parts V-Vi, J. E. Christainsen, Ming Chang Tsai, D. K. Kaushik, J. B. Law, J. W. Teeter

Reports

This report reviews activities on this project since the Progress Report, Part IV, June 1961.

The summer of 1961 has been one of the driest on record for Ogden Bay and Howard Slough Refuge. The extreme shortage of irrigation water has resulted in very little flow in the Howard Slough which originates from return flow. The available water from the Weber River for the Ogden Bay Refuge was also the lowest on record. The scarcity of water at these two refuges has resulted in increased salinity.

Most of the routine work on the project during the summer was done by …

Water Conservation On The Farm, John W. Lewis

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

SMALL scale conservation of water for agricultural use is becoming increasingly important throughout Australia.

As land development intensifies, it is natural that farmers turn to more dams and earthen tanks for stock water and irrigation.

Adequate water is essential to supply the carrying capacities made possible by improved pastures, and where greater quantities of water can be stored, fodder crops, pastures, orchards and vegetables can be irrigated.

Potatoes Sprinkler Irrigated From The Collie River, John W. Lewis

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

THE highly productive soils of the flats along the Collie River at Roelands are an important source of many of our summer grown potatoes in this State.

Large areas are planted year after year, the record being held by Mr. Clarry Cox of Roelands, who has planted potatoes on the same seven acres every season since 1922.

Flooding Of Salt Land, C V. Malcolm

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Many farmers have expressed concern and some have gone to considerable expense in trying to alleviate flooding problems on salt affected land.

Some consideration will be given here to flooding, its causes, effects on salt encroachment, methods of prevention and alleviation.

Automatic Waterers For Day Old Chickens, P Smetana, W. Ward

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

ONE of the most tedious and time consuming tasks on a poultry farm is the provision of water to chicks from day old up to the age of three or four weeks.

Most poultry farmers use half-gallon glass fonts with metal bases for the first few weeks, until the chicks are old enough to use the automatic watering system usually situated along one wall of the brooder house.

This cumbersome glass font system can be replaced by the cheap and easily installed automatic watering system described below. This system has already been adopted by several local poultry farmers.

Model Analysis Of Spillway And Stilling Basin Of Porcupine Dam, Gordon H. Flammer, C. Earl Israelsen

Reports

Introduction: The Engineering Experiment Station at Utah State University was engaged by the Utah Water and Power Board to make a model analysis of the spillway and stilling basin of the Porcupine Dam. This dam will be located on the East Fork of Litle Bear River, just east of Avon, Utah. It will be approximately 650 feet long and 160 feet high, composed of zones earth fill with rock rip-rap facing. The spillway will have a reinforced concrete inlet section and the remainder of the chute and stilling basin will be excavated out of the rock and leck unlined. The …

A Rational Approach To The Estimation Of Evaporation And Evapotranspiration From Climatological Data, Jerald Emmet Christiansen, B. B. Patil

Reports

Many attempts have been made to derive mathematical expressions relating evaporation and evapotranspiration, or consumptive use, to climatological data. IN the United States, the Blaney-Criddle formula is probably the best known for estimating consumptive use (2 and 3). Blaney (1) has also suggested that this formula is suitable for estimating evaporation as measured with a Weather Bureau pan. Other well known formulas are the Penman formulas (10), the Thornthwaite formula (15) and the Hargreaves formulas (8). Halkias, Beihmeyer and Hendrickson (6) suggest that water requirements of crops can be determined from atmometer data. Lowry and Johnson (() in an early …

Irrigation And Drainage Problems In Uruguay, Jerald Emmet Christiansen

Reports

Synopsis: Uruguay irrigates about 65,000 acres, mostly rice (74%) and sugar cane (15%). Summer rainfall averages about 3.5 in. per month, but frequent droughts seriously affect both crops and livestock. Irrigation can be increased by storage in small reservoirs on tributary streams by means of low earth dams. Some areas will require flood control and draiange before intensive agriculture can be practiced.

Overcoming Stock Watering Problems In The Kimberleys, B Swan

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

ONE of the ever-present problems of the pastoral areas is that of providing: watering-points in reasonably close proximity to the grazing areas.

All too frequently, the country on the river frontages and that in the vicinity of the water-holes becomes eaten out and although there may be ample feed on other portions of the run, it is too far distant from the available water to be effectively utilised.

Irrigation In Western Australia : Report On Government-Controlled Areas : 1958-59, H K. Gibsone

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

IRRIGATION in the south-western portion of Western Australia is mainly confined to the coastal plain west of the Darling Range where the three main irrigation districts of Harvey, Collie and Waroona have been established by the State Government.

The Government-controlled irrigation areas extend southward from Waroona (70 miles from Perth) to Dardanup (120 miles from Perth) and have an average width of about five miles.

Water Resources Development -- An Analysis Of Economic Justification Practices Of The Corps Of Engineers, Kerwood W. Barrand

Masters Theses

"Presented herein is a brief analysis of the economic justification practices of the Corps of Engineers as commonly implemented in proposals concerning water resources projects. Where applicable, recommended methods are compared to similar methods advocated for, and accepted by, private engineering firms in similar situations.

The major problem exists in the lack of a profit motive in programs undertaken with the use of public funds. However, a profit can be said to have been realized in public works programs if the total benefits of the programs to all the people exceed the costs of these programs and, further, if the …

Comprehensive Survey Of Sedimentation In Lake Mead, 1948-49, W. O. Smith, C. P. Vetter, G. B. Cummings, U.S. Bureau Of Reclamation

Publications (WR)

Reservoirs are becoming an increasingly prominent feature of the American landscape. Built for flood mitigation and to change a fluctuating river into a dependable source of water for irrigation, power, and other purposes, they are predestined, like natural lakes, to be destroyed sometime following their creation. Sedimentation sooner or later robs most lakes and reservoirs of their capacity to store water. The significance of sedimentation in the life of Lake Mead, the largest artificial reservoir in the world, was realized when the plan for the reservoir was conceived, and an aerial survey of the floor was made in 1935 before …

Report Of Engineering Research With Recommendations For Strengthening The Program, Vaughn E. Hansen

Reports

Progress of Engineering Research: The growth initiated with the reorganization of the Engineering Experiment Station in 1957-58 has been stready and consistant through 1958-59. Every sign points to continued expansion through the coming year. This growth is shown in Table 1. The number of active projects this year has increased to nineteen, the funds allocated for Engineering research were $53,861 plus $17,826 to contract research, exclusive of approximately $75,000 in the Agricultural Experiment Station. The number of staff members engaged in research is now twelve. Contract research money has been obtained to finance four projects which were financed previously with …

The Importance Of Hydraulics Of Surface Irrigation, Vaughn E. Hansen

Reports

Summary: Surface irrigation is a complex hydraulic phenomenon. The hydraulic elements involved in surface irrigation are listed and discussed. Relating these hydraulic elements is the key to efficient irrigation, good design, and permanent agriculture.

Measurement Of Irrigation Water, Eldon M. Stock

Reports

Foreword: Although irrigation has been practiced in Utah for more than one hundred years, irrigation water still is being distributed to farmers with little or not thought about its measurement. A farmer would not think of buying or selling other farm commodities, such as hay, grain, beef cattle, or dairy products, without weighing or accurately measuring them, but at the same time he is often content to accept and pay for the irrigation water received with little or no knowledge as to the actual amount received, or whether or not he is receiving the amount he is entitled to. Measurement …

Evaluation Of Sprinkler Irrigation Systems In Northern Utah, Jay M. Bagley, Wayne D. Criddle

Reports

Summary and Conclusions: Sprinkler irrigation will continue to expand in Utah as well as in other irrigated areas of the world. This method of irrigation is suitable to all farm crops grown in the state and to most soils. It is particularly adapted to steep foothill areas where the water supply can be obtained at higher elevation and pumping is not necessary to develop pressure for the sprinkler systems. Also, much of the irrigated land of the state, particularly along the Wasatch front, is owned and operated by "part-time" farmers. Having the water under complete control and the irrigation schedule …

Relative Productive Value Of Land, Karl Harris, Vaughn E. Hansen

Reports

Location, markets, hard surface roads and other transportation facilities, churches, taxes, schools, and utilities are major factors in the monetary value of land, yet these things do not contribute to the land’s productivity. In this bulletin the only factor considered in determining the agricultural value of land is its productive capacity.

The three major factors in the productive value of land are water, climate, and soil.

These three factors are the principal ones in crop production. If any one of them is unfavorable to plant growth, it can inhibit or even prevent plant growth regardless of how favorable the other …

Plan Of Development For Valley Gravity Project, Julius A. Krug, Michael W. Straus, Wesley R. Nelson

Lower Rio Grande Valley Curated Material

"The Valley Gravity Project Plan has been formulated to furnish an adequate and dependable irrigation water supply for fertile and productive area in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas, It would also provide drainage works, which would remove the threat of destruction of the economy of the area due to effects of a high water table and salt accumulations. The project works would permit generation of the maximum practicable amount of electrical energy which otherwise would be required to operate irrigation pumping plants. Other incidental benefits include fish and wildlife conservation, recreation and flood control."

Project report no. 5-0619-0

Freestone County, Texas [Water Quality Survey Of Wells And Springs With Test Hole Data, 1936], Samuel F. Turner

United States Geological Survey: Water Reports and Publications

Introduction

The purpose of this survey was to obtain information concerning existing wells and springs and the quantity and quality of water they yield, and to put down test holes where additional information was needed.

This project was part of a statewide Works Progress Administration project known as a "Statewide Inventory of Water Wells," sponsored by the [Texas] State Board of Water Engineers. The Division of Ground Water of the United States Geological Survey cooperated in the technical direction of the project and the Bureau of Industrial Chemistry of the University of Texas furnished laboratory space and equipment and supervised …

Sewer System More Than A Million Years Old, Department Of Library Special Collections

Research Collections

Article about the sewer system in early Bowling Green that used fissures in the limestone as a natural sewer; it then flows out to the river. Henry Jameson is shown and an outcropping of oolitic limestone in Reservoir Hill park.