Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering Commons^™

Water Level Sensor And Datalogger Testing And Demonstration, A. Burt, Mike Lehmkuhl, Charles M. Burt, Stuart W. Styles

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Electronic water level sensing equipment is becoming increasingly important for the implementation of water conservation programs in irrigation districts. A need has risen for information on costs, advantages/disadvantages, required support equipment, and required maintenance for the various options. ITRC conducted a yearlong study on water level sensors and dataloggers and produced this report.

Improved Proportional-Integral (Pi) Logic For Canal Automation, Charles M. Burt, R S. Mills, Ram Dhan Khalsa, V. C. Ruiz

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Successful implementation of Proportional-Integral (PI) control logic for gate automation on irrigation canals has been problematic because of difficulties in tuning the PI controllers for a wide range of flows. This research shows that successful and relatively simple tuning for upstream controllers can be accomplished if one uses the velocity form of the PI logic. The velocity form must be modified with a newly-developed Universal Factor (UF) concept, which accounts for the nonlinearity of the upstream water level response to gate movement. The UF function is unique for each check structure, and can be determined with a steady state simulation …

Influence Of Canal Geometry And Dynamics On Controllability, Theodor S. Strelkoff, Jean Luc Deltour, Charles M. Burt, Albert J. Clemmens, Jean Pierre Baume

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

This paper presents the results of the Task Committee on Canal Automation Algorithms with regard to the influence of canal properties on the controllability of irrigation canals. While the control provided by individual algorithms was not evaluated, studies were performed to illustrate inherent hydraulic limitations—the inability of canal pools to recover rapidly from disturbances or flow perturbations. Studies were performed in nondimensional form to develop a better understanding of how pool properties influence pool response. Three such studies were performed. First, nondimensional backwater curves were developed for a range of canal conditions. The second study involved the propagation of waves …

Accuracy Of Irrigation Efficiency Estimates, A. J. Clemmens, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Evaluation of actual irrigation system performance should rely on an accurate hydrologic water balance over the area considered. In a companion paper, water uses are categorized as consumptive or nonconsumptive, and beneficial or nonbeneficial. Real performance is based on water uses over a specified period of time, rather than observation of a single irrigation event (with associate potential, but not yet actual, consumptive and/or beneficial uses). Once the components in the water balance have been determined, it is shown that the accuracy of irrigation performance parameters can be determined from the accuracy of the components in the water balance, using …

Irrigation Performance Measures: Efficiency And Uniformity, Charles M. Burt, Albert J. Clemmens, Theodor S. Strelkoff, Kenneth H. Solomon, Ronald D. Bliesner, Leland A. Hardy, Terry A. Howell, Dean E. Eisenhauer

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

It is essential to standardize the definitions and approaches to quantifying various irrigation performance measures. The ASCE Task Committee on Defining Irrigation Efficiency and Uniformity provides a comprehensive examination of various performance indices such as irrigation efficiency, application efficiency, irrigation sagacity, distribution uniformity, and others. Consistency is provided among different irrigation methods and different scales. Clarification of common points of confusion is provided, and methods are proposed whereby the accuracy of numerical values of the performance indicators can be assessed. This issue has two companion papers that provide more detailed information on statistical distribution uniformity and the accuracy of irrigation …

Drip Irrigation Technology: A Resource Management Tool For Farmers, John C. Roberts, Stuart W. Styles

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

No abstract provided.

Fertigation Chemicals, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

When deciding what chemicals to inject, there are numerous considerations to be made. This paper addresses some of the more common factors which should be considered, but which are often overlooked. Because nitrogen fertilizer is injected more widely than any other nutrient, special attention is given to it

Modern Water Control And Management Practices In Irrigation: Methodoloy And Criteria For Evaluating The Impact On Performance, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

No abstract provided.

Row Crop Drip Irrigation On Peppers Study, Charles M. Burt, Stuart Styles

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

High Rise Farms, located just north of Morgan Hill installed a new buried row crop drip irrigation system in 1993. The amount of the CEC loan was $42,700.

The installation of the drip irrigation system on the Peppers did provide significant improvements in the amount of water use, energy required and yield increases especially in the first year of operation (1993) and the third year of operation (1995). The second year of the project (1994) did not have yield increases. The primary lessons learned from this project included:

• The yield differential between drip and the furrow irrigation methods was attributed …

Row Crop Drip Irrigation On Bell Peppers Study, Charles M. Burt, Stuart Styles

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Underwood Ranches, located near Oxnard, installed a buried drip system on 50 acres of peppers in 1993. The amount of the CEC loan was $50,000.

The buried drip system provided sufficient advantages in water management, energy savings, and yield increases to convince the farm to expand its drip acreage to 140 acres in June 1995, and 320 acres in Sept. 1996. The farmer was an ideal cooperator.

The primary lessons learned on this project were:

• A grower needs approximately two years of experience and technical assistance in order to feel comfortable with a buried drip system. Even after that time, …

Sizing Of Header And Flushing Manifolds For Row Crop Drip, Charles M. Burt, Stuart W. Styles

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

No abstract provided.

Status And Needs Assessment: Survey Of Irrigation Districts - Usbr Mid-Pacific Region, Charles M. Burt, Kris O'Connor, Stuart W. Styles, Mike Lehmkuhl, Chad Tienken, Robert Walker

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

ITRC gathered data from 61 agricultural districts in the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation's (USBR) Mid-Pacific Region by interviewing irrigation district personnel and studying their Water Conservation Plans. These districts comprise about 90% of the irrigated acreage in the Mid-Pacific Region. Data were analyzed to determine general demographic information, the degree of water delivery flexibility provided to farmers, and the extent of existing and planned district modernization.

Incorporation Of Reservoirs Into Irrigation Supply Systems To Simplify Flexible Operations, John L. Merriam, Stuart W. Styles

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

No abstract provided.

Buried Drip Irrigation On Pistachios Study - Munger-Poonian Land And Farming Co., Charles M. Burt, Stuart W. Styles

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

A multi-year study and technical support were conducted on commercial fields of pistachios, apples, table grapes, wine grapes, and blueberries in central California. The learning curve required by growers, and energy and irrigation efficiencies was documented. (Note: Appendices 1-6 are not included in this document.)

Fertigation Techniques For Different Irrigation Methods, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

- The irrigation method influences whether or not chemicals must be injected at a constant rate.
- The irrigation method influences the optimum duration of chemical injection.
- Chemical injection rates may inadvertently vary during an irrigation set for many reasons: improper mixing, system flow rate fluctuations, and system pressure fluctuations
- Drip systems must account for the disposal of filter flush water.

Irrigation Water Conservation - Benefits And Tradeoffs, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Water conservation must be examined within the context of a water balance for a zone of specified boundaries. On-farm conservation may not result in basin conservation, and may actually damage water supplies within the basin, especially if groundwater supplies dwindle. Conservation must also take place with recognition of water rights, and therefore concepts such as Irrigation Efficiency and Irrigation Sagacity must be well understood. Because of the diversity of hydrology, there is no single menu of water management improvements which are applicable in all cases. In the future, more emphasis will be placed upon improving crop yields with a given …

Essential Water Delivery Policies For Modern On-Farm Irrigation Management, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Successful on‐farm irrigation scheduling requires that water delivery projects adopt a service concept, and that water deliveries be made with a high degree of reliability. An arranged delivery schedule and seasonal volumetric allocations are additional requirements. Until these conditions are met, attempts to implement modem on‐farm irrigation scheduling techniques to maximize water use efficiency and yields will be only partially successful.

Guidelines For Establishing Irrigation Scheduling Policies, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Successful on-farm irrigation scheduling requires that water delivery projects adopt a service concept, and that water deliveries be made with a high degree of reliability. An arranged delivery schedule and seasonal volumetric allocations are additional requirements. Until these conditions are met, attempts to implement modern on-farm irrigation scheduling techniques to maximize water use efficiency, and to maximize yields will be only partially successful.

Identification And Quantification Of Efficiency And Uniformity Components, Charles M. Burt, Albert J. Clemmens, Kenneth H. Solomon

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Proper usage of irrigation performance indicators such as uniformity and efficiency require standardized definitions and equations, specification of vertical and horizontal boundaries, inclusion of all pertinent components, and accurate measurement and estimation of those components. The quantification of some critical components is a challenge, and errors always exist.

Fertigation - The Next Frontier, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Just as irrigation dealers presently should specify pressure relief valves and air vents on all pipelined irrigation systems, future irrigation designs will incorporate a new generation of FERTIGATION (fertilization through the irrigation system) hardware. And farmers will use sophisticated techniques to monitor plant nutrient status and to determine the proper level of nutrients to spoon feed through fertigation.

Delano-Earlimart Irrigation District: Variable Frequency Drive Study, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

This report was conducted to study the pump station operation at Delano-Earlimart Irrigation District (DEID) after the installation of a variable frequency drive (VFD) control. The district is currently involved with the California Energy Commission's low-interest loan program for the installation of VFD units on their pump stations near Delano, California. Delano-Earlimart Irrigation District is a special water district organized under Division 11 of the California Water Code and encompasses 56,500 acres in Southern Tulare County and Northern Kern County. DEID has 18 individual pumping stations. DEID installed VFDs on key pumps at three different plants (D-3, D-12, and D-14).

Response Of Ideally Controlled Canals To Downstream Withdrawals, Charles M. Burt, T. S. Strelkoff, J. L. Deltour

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

No abstract provided.

Estimating The Payback For An Electrical Vfd (Variable Frequency Drive) Application In A Pumping Plant Which Presently Spills Excess Pumpage, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

This report includes equations and tips for pump selection criteria and estimating the annual KW-hr savings for a VFD installation, including the maximum potential savings and the approximate amount of KW-hr that would have been consumed if one pump had been converted to VFD.

Monolithic Concrete Irrigation Pipe, Charles M. Burt, John M. Wegener

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Monolithic concrete pipe (also known as "Cast-in-Place Concrete Pipe" (CIPCP) or Cast-In-Place Pipe (CIPP)) is widely used in some regions for purposes such as storm, sewer, or irrigation pipelines. The earliest use of CIPCP was in 1922 in the Turlock Irrigation District of California. It is reported by The Sierra Group (Sierra, 1991) that there are over 15 million linear feet (4.6 million linear meters) of CIPCP under various applications. Nevertheless, many irrigation engineers, especially outside the U.S., are unaware of CIPCP. Monolithic concrete irrigation pipe is seldom mentioned in irrigation design literature. This paper has been written to familiarize …

Grassland Basin Irrigation And Drainage Study, Stuart W. Styles, Dennis Westcot, Dr. Charles M. Burt, Ross Steensen

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

This paper summarizes a project that analyzed the district irrigation efficiency for six subareas of the Grassland Basin roughly representing 80,000 acres on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley near Firebaugh, California. The objectives of this project were to: • Determine the district irrigation efficiency for the six subareas. • Update district drainage policies and water reuse. • Update the geographical information system (GIS). • Perform a pre-plant irrigation efficiency analysis. • Establish a relationship between the drainage volumes and the district irrigation efficiency. • Determine the maximum district irrigation efficiency attainable. • Determine the impact of optimizing …

Evaluating Strength & Energy Requirements For Workers Picking Vegetables, R. A. Cavaletto, J. Miles, J. Meyers, J. Mehlschau

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

The paper discusses the need to obtain field data to evaluate the strength and energy requirements for workers picking a variety of vegetables. This information is central to the evaluation of hazards related to repetitive motion, excessive stress, and fatigue. Results can be used to select activities which should be targeted for future engineering design projects. Preliminary data from a commercial broccoli harvesting operation is included.

Gis Utilization For Analysis Of District Drainage Water Recycling, Charles M. Burt, Robert E. Walker

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

An ARC-INFO GIS system was used to identify physical drainage facilities in a 32,000 ha area of the San Joaquin Valley of California. Once the drainage facilities and linkages were established, it was possible to characterize the strategies used by various irrigation districts to control drainage outflows to the San Joaquin River. The motivation behind the study was the reduction of salt and selenium flows, via agricultural drainage, into the River.

Irrigation-Canal - Simulation Model Usage, Charles M. Burt, Gregory Gartrell

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Unsteady canal-simulation model usage requires serious investments of time and personnel. The reasons for deciding to invest in a model, as well as reasons not to invest, are discussed. For most cases, it is better to invest in the improvement of an existing model than the writing of a new model. Many excellent models are available, although very few can be considered user-friendly for the average design engineer. Unsteady flow-simulation models are not recommended for real-time control, but are key tools for the study of various control scenarios. Canal models can simulate an actual canal, but the user must input …

Cal Poly Model Canal, John B. Parrish, Iii, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

The Cal Poly Model Canal, located at the Water Delivery Facility. Irrigation Training and Research Center, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Calif., was built to accommodate the study and promotion of automated downstream control. Being a large, fully functional scale model of a canal, it was used to collect data for use by the Irrigation Canal System Hydraulic Modeling Task Committee of the ASCE Irrigation and Drainage Division. The data was used by Task Committee members to help evaluate numerical models for simulation of unsteady free-surface flow. The Model Canal and the collected data are discussed. This paper …

Irrigation Methods For Drainage Reduction Subsurface Drip Vs. Furrow Irrigation, J.. D. Oster, R. B. Smith, C. Phene, A. Fulton, S. W. Styles, T. Fernandes

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

No abstract provided.