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Show Yater Economy Information Program Begun Proper Water Use Reduces Low Water Threat , Editors Note: The following article, written by William P. Ogden, was Prepared in hopes of assisting farmers In the conservation con-servation of water during irrigation. ir-rigation. It is sponsored through the cooperation of this paper and the Iron County Soil Conservation Con-servation District.) This is about the time of the year that many farmers in Iron County are concerned about the amount cf water stored as snow on the watershed and the outlook out-look for next season's water supply sup-ply for Irrigation and domestic use. Right now there Is substantially sub-stantially less than normal wat er in the snow pack but there isn't very much that can be done to increase the amount of moisture mois-ture in our watersheds; however, how-ever, there is something that can Le done to better plan for utilization of irrigation water that reaches the farmer's head-gate. head-gate. For instance, if during the frost-free period a farmer irrigates ir-rigates such that 60 percent of the water reaches the plant root zone (this allows 40 percent for waste, runoff, percolation, etc.), that maximum production of alfalfa al-falfa requires approximately 33 Inches of water, pasture 28 Inches; corn 25 Inches; beans 19 Inches; small grain 19 inches, potatoes 23 Inches; sugar beets 2G Inches and peas 13 Inches. These amounts of water do not Include rainfall. There are many things that will aid the Irrigator to obtain this 60 percent efficiency of Irrigation. Irriga-tion. A discussion of a few of them follows: 1. Soil Moisture: Th rpnsnn we irrigate any crop Is to provide pro-vide moisture for the plant and to dissolve the plant food in the soil so that the plant can use It. If more water Is applied to the soil than it can hold, plant food Is drained below the reach of the roots and Is wasted, also this extra water may cause waterlogging wa-terlogging of lower fields. It will be well to remember that clay, clay loam, silt loam and loam soils hold approximately approxi-mately two Inches of water per foot of soil depth; that sandy soils hold approximately one and one-fourth Inches per foot, and loamy sand soils hold approximately approxi-mately one Inch per foot. Continuing this discussion Mr. Ogden next week discusses "When and How Much to Irrigate," Ir-rigate," a discussion that will be of Interest to alL plus a third consideration entitled "Uniformity "Uniform-ity of Irrigation" and why it should be obtained. |