Irrigation Tips
The tips below are designed to help growers reduce both tailwater drainage and the amount of deep percolation that contributes to high water tables and localized drainage problems. Most TID growers produce no tailwater. While these Irrigation tips are mainly intended for growers on the west side of the District who have access to area drains or use tile drainage systems, all growers can benefit during a drought.
Following these tips may lead to changes in the layout of the checks in your fields and cultural practices for growing field crops. Improved irrigation also saves on fertilizer costs because less of the expensive nutrients are leached out of the soil with deep percolation of the unused irrigation water that passes the crop roots. A grower making these changes must reach a balance between field layouts based on production and labor needs and the goal to reduce tailwater drainage and deep percolation losses.
Water Saving Strategies to Reduce Drainage from Flood Irrigation
The key to reducing tailwater drainage and deep percolation is to irrigate very fast and control how long the water is on the field. Good irrigation practices can result in overall irrigation efficiencies of 75 percent. These irrigation strategies were developed with the U.C. Cooperative Extension during the 1987 to 1992 drought and they still apply to today’s practices.