Engineering Commons^™

Quantification Of Variable Rate Irrigation Benefits And Spatial Variability In Root Zone Water Holding Capacity, Tsz Him Lo

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Variable rate irrigation (VRI) investment decisions require field-specific knowledge of benefits. The objective of this research was to help producers and consultants consider and quantify potential benefits of VRI. First, a conceptual model was developed for evaluating the public and/or private gain from adopting VRI where irrigation water supply is non-restrictive. Potential benefits were classified into three categories and were attributed to ten reasons. In the Central Plains at current prices, a small improvement in corn (maize) yield would make a large contribution to VRI profitability. Second, the potential irrigation withdrawal reduction from adapting VRI to spatial heterogeneity of root …

Improving Flow Measurement Accuracy At Farm Delivery Gates In California, Charles M. Burt, Daniel J. Howes

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

ITRC, through a CSU ARI grant, constructed a meter gate testing facility and tested five gates of various sizes and designs. The gate testing was conducted by varying the multiple parameters including upstream and downstream head, supply channel velocity, gate opening, and head above the gate. Data was also collected at various locations on the downstream side of the gate. In total, ITRC staff collected over 10,000 points of data during this evaluation. Using the new rating tables for the three gates examined, the relative uncertainty is less than ±5 to ±7% at the 95% confidence level with the new …

Ecohydrological Modeling In Agroecosystems: Examples And Challenges, Amilcare Porporato, X. Feng, S. Manzoni, Y. Mau, Anthony J. Parolari, G. Vico

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Human societies are increasingly altering the water and biogeochemical cycles to both improve ecosystem productivity and reduce risks associated with the unpredictable variability of climatic drivers. These alterations, however, often cause large negative environmental consequences, raising the question as to how societies can ensure a sustainable use of natural resources for the future. Here we discuss how ecohydrological modeling may address these broad questions with special attention to agroecosystems. The challenges related to modeling the two‐way interaction between society and environment are illustrated by means of a dynamical model in which soil and water quality supports the growth of human …

Slides: Food Production: Technical Challenges In Agricultural Water Conservation, Perry Cabot

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Dr. Perry Cabot, Research Scientist and Extension Specialist, Colorado Water Institute, Colorado State University

35 slides

Practical Guide For Metergates, Charles M. Burt, Daniel J. Howes

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

This document contains brief instructions on the use of special round canal gates called “metergates” for flow measurement.

Osmotic Dilution For Sustainable Greenwall Irrigation By Liquid Fertilizer: Performance And Implications, Ming Xie, Mingxin Zheng, Paul Cooper, William E. Price, Long D. Nghiem, Menachem Elimelech

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

A novel osmotic dilution process using commercial liquid fertilizer for greenwall irrigation was evaluated. In this process, clean water was extracted from raw sewage by forward osmosis (FO) using a well-balanced, all-purpose commercial liquid fertilizer as draw solution. The diluted liquid fertilizer can then be used for direct sustainable greenwall irrigation. Our results show that the presence of organic matter in the liquid fertilizer draw solution did not compromise FO membrane performance. No discernible changes in water flux and key membrane transport parameters (pure water permeability coefficient, A, and salt (NaCl) permeability coefficient, B) were observed when the organic matter …