Shallow groundwater use by Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) in a semi-arid region

Two-year lysimeter experiments were conducted to determine groundwater contributions by safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) crop. The plants were grown in twenty columns each with a diameter of 0.40 m packed with Silty Clay soil. The experiments were carried out in a complete randomized blocks design with four replicates. In each experiment, five treatments were applied by maintaining groundwater salinity to a control treatment with EC 1 dS/m, while the groundwater salinity of the other treatments was 2, 5, 8 and 10 dS/m, and 0.8 m water table level, respectively. The use of groundwater as a part of crop evapotranspiration was characterized by using daily measurements of the water level in Mariotte tubes. The extra magnitude of irrigation water requirement for each treatment was applied by water with EC of 1 dS/m. The results of experiments showed that for different control treatments with 1 dS/m, 2, 5, 8 and 10 dS/m, the groundwater contributions were achieved as 59, 51, 38, 32 and 19% of the total plant water requirements, respectively.     

河套灌区井渠结合地下水数值模拟及均衡分析

建立了河套灌区三维地下水数值模型,用2006-2013年灌区实测地下水埋深资料对模型进行率定和验证,并在规划的井渠结合区内,设置3种不同井灌区灌溉定额和3种秋浇频率,组合共9种井渠结合节水情景,分别分析了9种节水情景下的地下水动态变化.结果表明:井渠结合后全灌区地下水埋深范围为1.863~2.029 m,较现状条件增加0.084~0.250 m;不同灌域结合区井渠结合后地下水埋深差别很大,解放闸结合区地下水埋深最大,为2.308~2.803 m,永济结合区地下水埋深最小,为2.079~2.455 m;井渠结合后,入渗补给量减少2.01×10⁸ ~3.63×10⁸ m³/a,潜水蒸发量减少1.69×10⁸ ~3.03×10⁸ m³/a.     

地下水埋深对玉米生长发育及水分利用的影响

为研究地下水埋深对作物的生长发育及水分利用的影响,选择具有代表性的夏玉米为研究对象,借助地中渗透仪,通过人工控制设置不同地下水埋深（分别设置0.2,0.4,0.6,0.8,1.0和1.2 m）,探讨地下水埋深对不同生育期夏玉米的形态指标、产量、耗水量及地下水补给量的影响,分析不同地下水埋深条件下水分利用率差异.结果表明：地下水埋深对玉米株高的影响不具有统计学意义,而地下水埋深过浅或过深均会明显抑制植株叶面积指数和茎粗的增长（P〈0.05）,地下水埋深0.4 m时叶面积指数和茎粗最大.随作物生育进程,根系数量和根系干质量随地下水埋深增大,先减小后增大.玉米灌浆前,单株根系伤流量随地下水埋深增大而增大,而灌浆前后则无显著影响.地下水位埋深过深或过浅均影响穗长、秃尖长、穗粒数、百粒质量及经济产量.分析表明,0.53 m为当地玉米产量最优地下水位埋深.玉米生长期内0~80 cm土层土壤含水量随着地下水埋深增大而降低,同一地下水埋深处理玉米生育期内土壤含水量变化幅度较小.夏玉米全生育期耗水量、阶段耗水量及耗水强度随地下水位埋深增大而直线减少,回归方程在P〈0.01水平下具有统计学意义;同样夏玉米全生育期地下水补给量、阶段地下水补给量及地下水补给强度随地下水位埋深增大而直线减少,回归方程在P〈0.01水平下也具有统计学意义.玉米水分利用率随地下水埋深增大而增大,地下水埋深1.2 m处理水分利用率最高.研究成果对江淮丘陵区地下水资源利用及评价、玉米高产高效灌溉制度的制订具有实际意义.     

Modeling water table contribution to crop evapotranspiration

Summary A model was developed to account for the time-dependent contribution of the water table to crop evapotranspiration. The same numerical approximation used to solve the water flow in the unsaturated zone was also modified for saturated conditions. For unsaturated flow, the hydraulic conductivity changes with water content and the specific water capacity has finite values. For saturated flow, hydraulic conductivity is constant, and the specific water capacity is zero. The proposed approach considers saturated flow as a special case of unsaturated flow with a constant saturated water content and very small but not zero specific water capacities. Thus flow can be simulated in either unsaturated or saturated zones. The contribution of upward flow to crop evapotranspiration was evaluated during lysimeter experiments in the greenhouse. Spring wheat was planted on asilty clay loam and a fine sandy loam with either no water table or constant water table depths at 50, 100 or 150 cm. Irrigation was applied whenever soil water was depleted below about 50% plant available water. Model predictions of water content and cumulative upward flux as a function of time, for the different water table depths and soils, agreed closely with measured values. The contribution of the water table to evapotranspiration (ET) was found to be 90, 41 and 7% for 50, 100, and 150 cm water table depths respectively for the silty clay loam. Corresponding computed values were 89, 45 and 6%. For the fine sandy loam measured contribution of the water table to ET was 92, 31, and 9% for 50, 100 and 150 cm water tables respectively. Corresponding computed values were 99, 29, and 11 %. It was not practical to simulate the saturated-unsaturated (moving water table) predictions of the model under greenhouse conditions because of the height of the lysimeters needed. Therefore the model was also used to simulate field irrigation management options under several bottom boundary conditions where the water table contributions were significant to crop water use. Results from a one-year simulation were consistent with data for sugarcance grown under similar conditions in the Cauca Valley of Colombia.Contribution No. 3641 from the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA     

Crop water stress index is a sensitive water stress indicator in pistachio trees

Regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) strategies, often applied in tree crops, require precise monitoring methods of water stress. Crop water stress index (CWSI), based on canopy temperature measurements, has shown to be a good indicator of water deficits in field crops but has seldom been used in trees. CWSI was measured on a continuous basis in a Central California mature pistachio orchard, under full and deficit irrigation. Two treatments—control, returning the full evapotranspiration (ET_c) and RDI—irrigated with 40% ET_c during stage 2 of fruit grow (shell hardening). During stage 2, the canopy temperature—measured continuously with infrared thermometers (IRT)—of the RDI treatment was consistently higher than the control during the hours of active transpiration; the difference decreasing after irrigation. The non-water-stressed baseline (NWSB), obtained from clear-sky days canopy–air temperature differential and vapour pressure deficit (VPD) in the control treatment, showed a marked diurnal variation in the intercept, mainly explained by the variation in solar radiation. In contrast, the NWSB slope remained practically constant along the day. Diurnal evolution of calculated CWSI was stable and near zero in the control, but showed a clear rising diurnal trend in the RDI treatment, increasing as water stress increased around midday. The seasonal evolution of the CWSI detected large treatment differences throughout the RDI stress period. While the CWSI in the well-irrigated treatment rarely exceeded 0.2 throughout the season, RDI reached values of 0.8–0.9 near the end of the stress period. The CWSI responded to irrigation events along the whole season, and clearly detected mild water stress, suggesting extreme sensitivity to variations in tree water status. It correlated well with midday leaf water potential (LWP), but was more sensitive than LWP at mild stress levels. We conclude that the CWSI, obtained from continuous nadir-view measurements with IRTs, is a good and very sensitive indicator of water stress in pistachio. We recommend the use of canopy temperature measurements taken from 1200 to 1500 h, together with the following equation for the NWSB: (T _c − T _a) = −1.33·VPD + 2.44. Measurements of canopy temperature with VPD < 2 kPa are likely to generate significant errors in the CWSI calculation and should be avoided.     

Quantifying reductions in consumptive water use under regulated deficit irrigation in pistachio (Pistacia vera L.)

The reduction in agricultural water use in areas of scarce supplies can release significant amounts of water for other uses. As improvements in irrigation systems and management have been widely adopted by fruit tree growers already, there is a need to explore the potential for reducing irrigation requirements via deficit irrigation (DI). It is also important to quantify to what extent the reduction in applied water through DI is translated into net water savings via tree evapotranspiration (ET) reduction. An experiment was conducted in a commercial pistachio orchard in Madera, CA, where a regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) program was applied to a 32.3-ha block, while another block of the same size was fully irrigated (FI). Four trees were instrumented with six neutron probe access tubes each, in the two treatments and the soil water balance method was used to determine tree ET. Seasonal irrigation water in FI, applied through a full-coverage microsprinkler system, amounted to 842 mm, while only 669 mm were applied in RDI. Seasonal ET in FI was 1024 mm, of which 308 mm were computed as evaporation from soil (E_s). In RDI, seasonal ET was reduced to 784 mm with 288 mm as Es. The reduction in applied water during the deficit period amounted to 147 mm. The ET of RDI during the deficit period was also reduced relative to that of FI by 133 mm, which represented 33% of the ET of FI during the deficit irrigation period. There was an additional ET reduction in RDI of about 100 mm that occurred in the post-deficit period.     

Understanding and managing groundwater and salinity in a tropical conjunctive water use irrigation district

Agricultural production around the world is increasingly being constrained by hydrological factors—such as over-extraction of groundwater in some locations, rising water tables in others, and worsening groundwater quality in general. One such area is the Lower Burdekin irrigation area in northern tropical Australia, where rising watertable levels and increasing salinity concentrations within alluvial deposits are causing concern. The aim of this study was to improve understanding of the processes driving trends in groundwater quantity and quality in Mona Park, a conjunctive water use irrigation district in the Lower Burdekin. The analysis is intended to enable land and water managers to explore alternative policy and management practices to help support the reversal in current trends, and to improve water table conditions in terms of both water quantity and quality. Key lessons that are applicable to the development of new irrigation schemes in wet-dry tropical regions elsewhere in the world are emphasised.This study demonstrated that simple qualitative methods that link historical developments and observed climatic and hydrological trends can support development of a robust understanding of groundwater behaviour. The results showed that to minimise groundwater accessions in wet-dry tropical regions, a large soil water deficit should be maintained in the unsaturated zone prior to the onset of the wet season to buffer against potentially large wet season recharge events, and that this strategy should be implemented from when irrigation is first commenced. It is very clear that groundwater systems under or down gradient from irrigated areas need to be managed adaptively, such that: (1) timely decisions are made in response to changes in watertable level and groundwater quality; and (2) suitable mechanisms are in place to ensure farmers have the financial incentives and flexibility to respond in the short-term. The work also demonstrated that the establishment of good baseline data prior to irrigation development, and long-term analysis (>30 years) involving various combinations of wet and dry periods, are required in order to build a comprehensive understanding of potential groundwater behaviour and adaptive management needs.     

Modeling approach for the assessment of recharge contribution to groundwater from surface irrigation conveyance system

Rice–Wheat rotation system utilizes surface, ground and rain water resources conjunctively. Recent studies have shown increasing contribution of groundwater for crop irrigation. As the system utilizes water pumped from the underlying aquifer and partly seeps back, a cycle of recharge and discharge continues. Sustainability of groundwater system for the on-going drought in the country depends mainly on the recharge of the aquifer. The reported study was, therefore, carried out to measure and assess the recharge contribution of a distributary of canal in Punjab, Pakistan. Assessment of recharge through distributary was carried out using a groundwater flow “MODFLOW” model, which utilized the observed watertable, climatic, crop and soil for a period of about 1 year in addition to hydraulic conductivity, evapotranspiration and aquifer characteristics data. The requisite primary data for “MODFLOW” were collected from field and secondary data from public sector organizations dealing with water. Model calibration involved changing input parameters within reasonable limits until acceptable matches were obtained between the observed and simulated water levels for all observed hydrographs. The external inputs such as, recharge through irrigation, precipitation, stresses due to evaporation, lateral flow and stream were simulated to calculate the monthly water budget of aquifer. As concluded, recharge contribution was 16.5% of the inflow rate of the distributary. Using predicted results of the model a relationship between recharge (R) and discharge (Q) was also developed. Although, the presented results of recharge contribution were limited to one distributary of canal irrigation system, yet the developed methodology can be extended to the other canal systems of the Indus Basin.     

Shallow flow of water through non-submerged vegetation

The shallow movement of water flowing through dense crops of wheat was studied for different crop densities and sowing patterns and ages. The common application of Manning's equation to such flows is shown to be inadequate, particularly since the flows can be described as mixed rather than turbulent.The more general discharge-depth equation has advantages for coping with the conditions, and relevant values of the parameters are provided both for (slope)^0·5 as well as for a suggested (slope)^0·35     

Analysis on groundwater table drawdown by land use and the quest for sustainable water use in the Hebei Plain in China

Increased water use in the Hebei Plain during the last decades has caused serious groundwater level decline and many geological problems which have become the biggest threat to social–economic sustainability. Thus, to determine the factors resulting in the groundwater decline and to develop a practical plan for long-term groundwater use appear to be necessary in this region. In this paper, a water balance model is used in conjunction with regression techniques to estimate the groundwater recharge coefficient and the specific yield (defined as the ratio of the volume of water that a saturated rock or soil will release by gravity drainage to the volume of rock or soil) and the groundwater withdrawn by different water use sectors and the corresponding drop in the water-table are analyzed. The decline in water-table by different crops and water economic benefit of crops are discussed in detail in order to suggest sustainable use of groundwater resources in the Hebei Plain. Finally, sample policy scenarios are developed to show how groundwater in the Hebei Plain could be used in a sustainable manner. In our study, it is found that agriculture is the major consumer of groundwater, with about 85% of the total groundwater withdrawals, and groundwater depletion is mainly caused by agricultural water use. Production of winter wheat exerts a great negative influence on the groundwater system. Winter wheat is the most water consuming crop and result in significant decline of groundwater table. Water economic benefit of winter wheat is lower than that of other crops and withdrawing winter wheat sown area is rational option to make sustainable use of groundwater. With far-sighted and regional planning, the limited water resource can be used sustainably to generate maximum social benefits. This paper will provide information necessary for land-use planning in a severe water shortage region where farmland is mainly irrigated by groundwater.     

In situ use of groundwater by alfalfa

Disposal of saline drainage water is a significant problem for irrigated agriculture. One proposal is to recycle drainage water to irrigate salt tolerant crops until the volume has been reduced sufficiently to enable final disposal by evaporation. Part of this concept requires in situ crop water reuse from shallow groundwater; and data is needed to quantify the potential use of groundwater by alternative crops. A column lysimeter study was initiated to determine the potential crop water use from shallow groundwater by alfalfa as a function of groundwater quality and depth to groundwater. The results demonstrated that up to 50% of the crop water use could be met from shallow groundwater (<1.2 m) with an electrical conductivity less than 4 dS/m, and that the potential crop water use from deeper groundwater (2 m) increased over the years. The columns with high salinity (>4 dS/m) in the shallow groundwater experienced increased salinity in the soil profile with time, which resulted in reduced crop water use from shallow groundwater. Yields decreased with time as the groundwater salinity increased and periodic leaching will be required for in situ use to be a sustainable practice. Statistical analysis of crop yield demonstrated that there was significant use of groundwater with an EC of 6 dS/m for a few years.     

A water balance model to estimate groundwater recharge in Rechna doab,Pakistan

The main objective of this study was to develop a procedure to evaluate various recharge components of a groundwater reservoir to estimate the long term average seasonal groundwater recharge in Rechna doab in the Punjab province of Pakistan. A regional lumped water balance model for the Rechna doab was developed and applied to estimate the long term a seasonal recharge to groundwater reservoir. For comparison, recharge was also estimated by a specific yield method from observed groundwater levels. A water balance study was conducted on seasonal basis (6 months) for a period of 31 years (1960–1990). Recharge estimated by the two methods was found to be in good agreement. The average value of net groundwater recharge during Kharif (April–September) season was found to be some 60 mm. No recharge occurred during Rabi (October–March), rather there was a depletion of the groundwater reservoir during the winter months. Long term average annual depletion of a groundwater reservoir was found to be greater than corresponding value of annual recharge. It was concluded that on a regional basis the groundwater reservoir was being depleted resulting in an average groundwater table of Rechna doab about 2.3 m fall over the 1960–1990 period.     

The contribution of shallow groundwater by safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) under high water table conditions, with and without supplementary irrigation

Lysimetric experiments were conducted to determine the contribution made by groundwater to the overall water requirements of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.). The plants were grown in 24 columns, each having a diameter of 0.40 m and packed with silty clay soil. The four replicate randomized complete block factorial experiments were carried out using different treatment combinations. Six treatments were applied during each experiment by maintaining groundwater, with an EC of 1 dS m^?1, at three different water table levels (0.6, 0.8 and 1.10 m) with and without supplementary irrigation. The uptake of groundwater as a part of crop evapotranspiration was measured by taking daily readings of the water levels found in Mariotte tubes. The supplementary irrigation requirement for each treatment was applied by adding water (EC of 1 dS m^?1). The average percentage contribution from groundwater for the treatments (with and without supplementary irrigation under water table levels of 0.6, 0.8 and 1.10 m) were found to be 65, 59, 38% and 72, 70, 47% of the average annual safflower water requirement (6,466 m³ ha^?1). The increase in groundwater depths under supplementary irrigation treatments from 0.6 to 0.80 and 1.10 m caused seed and oil yield reductions of (7, 23.10%) and (48.23, 65.40%), respectively.     

Water use of spring wheat to raise water productivity

In semi-arid environments with a shortage of water resources and a risk of overexplotation of water supplies, spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a crop that can reduce water use and increase water productivity, because it takes advantage of spring rainfall and is harvested before the evaporative demands of summer. We carried out an experiment in 2003 at “Las Tiesas” farm, located between Barrax and Albacete (Central Spain), to improve accuracy in the estimation of wheat evapotranspiration (ETc) by using a weighing lysimeter. The measured seasonal ETc averages (5.63 mm day⁻¹) measured in the lysimeter was 417 mm compared to the calculated ETc values (5.31 mm day⁻¹) calculated with the standard FAO methodology of 393 mm. The evapotranspiration crop coefficient (Kc) derived from lysimetric measurements was Kc-mid: 1.20 and Kc-end: 0.15. The daily lysimeter Kc values were fit to the evolution linearly related to the green cover fraction (fc), which follows the crop development pattern. Seasonal soil evaporation was estimated as 135 mm and the basal crop coefficient approach was calculated in this study, Kcb which separates crop transpiration from soil evaporation (evaporation coefficient, Ke) was calculated and related to the green cover fraction (fc) and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) obtained by field radiometry in case of wheat. The results obtained by this research will permit the reduction of water use and improvement of water productivity for wheat, which is of vital importance in areas of limited water resources.     

地下水埋深和施氮量对冬小麦灌浆及水氮利用影响

探讨地下水埋深和施氮量对华北地区冬小麦灌浆特性和水氮利用效率影响,以百农4199为试验材料,设置地下水埋深(GW2:2 m,GW3:3 m,GW4:4 m)和施氮量(N300:纯氮量300 kg/hm²,N240:纯氮量240 kg/hm²)2个因素,评估地下水埋深和施氮量对冬小麦灌浆特性、产量形成及水氮利用效率等影响.结果表明:小麦千粒质量与快速增长期时间拐点、平均灌浆速率、灌浆持续时间显著正相关;路径分析表明,地下水埋深主要是通过影响小麦单株籽粒质量、穗数、穗粒数来影响产量的,地下水埋深对产量影响的直接标准化路径系数为0.334(P<0.05),施氮量主要是通过影响单株籽粒质量和穗数来间接影响产量;地下水埋深相同时,N240施氮水平氮肥偏生产力NPP和水分利用效率WUE均显著高于N300施氮水平.故建议地下水埋深大于2 m地区小麦高产和农业绿色可持续发展的施氮量为240 kg/hm².     

Sugarcane water use from shallow water tables: implications for improving irrigation water use efficiency

The resource potential of shallow water tables for cropping systems has been investigated using the Australian sugar industry as a case study. Literature concerning shallow water table contributions to sugarcane crops has been summarised, and an assessment of required irrigation for water tables to depths of 2 m investigated using the SWIMv2.1 soil water balance model for three different soils. The study was undertaken because water availability is a major limitation for sugarcane and other crop production systems in Australia and knowledge on how best to incorporate upflow from water tables in irrigation scheduling is limited. Our results showed that for the three soils studied (representing a range of permeabilities as defined by near-saturated hydraulic conductivities), no irrigation would be required for static water tables within 1 m of the soil surface. Irrigation requirements when static water tables exceeded 1 m depth were dependent on the soil type and rooting characteristics (root depth and density). Our results also show that the near-saturated hydraulic conductivities are a better indicator of the ability of water tables below 1 m to supply sufficient upflow as opposed to soil textural classifications. We conclude that there is potential for reductions in irrigation and hence improvements in irrigation water use efficiency in areas where shallow water tables are a low salinity risk: either fresh, or the local hydrology results in net recharge.     

Simulating root water uptake from a shallow saline groundwater resource

Disposal of saline drainage water is a significant problem for irrigated agriculture. One proposal to deal with this problem is sequential biological concentration (SBC), which is the process of recycling drainage water on increasingly more salt tolerant crops until the volume of drainage water has been reduced sufficiently to enable its final disposal by evaporation in a small area. For maximum effectiveness this concept will require crop water reuse from shallow groundwater. To evaluate the concept of sequential biological concentration, a column lysimeter study was used to determine the potential crop water use from shallow groundwater by alfalfa as a function of ground water quality and depth to ground water. However, lysimeter studies are not practical for characterizing all the possible scenarios for crop water use related to ground water quality and depth. Models are suited to do this type of characterization if they can be validated. To this end, we used the HYDRUS-1D water flow and solute transport simulation model to simulate our experimental results. Considering the precision of the experimental boundary and initial conditions, numerical simulations matched the experimental results very well. The modeling results indicate that it is possible to reduce the dependence on experimental research by extrapolating experimental results obtained in this study to other specific sites where shallow saline groundwater is of concern.     

地下水库的实践经验探讨

因地制宜修建地下水库作为一项“绿色生态工程”是解决水资源稀缺问题的战略选择。本文在阐述地下水库含义的基础上，结合国内外地下水库的研究现状与实践经验，探讨了其在解决水资源稀缺性方面的优势及不足之处，对地下水库发展态势进行了展望。     

我国中水利用的现状及对策

随着城市建设和工业的发展,我国水危机问题日益严重,中水利用成为解决我国水危机的重要途径。文章首先对中水利用的概述,分析了我国中水利用现状,论述了我国中水利用的必要性,最后提出了几点加快推广我国中水利用的几点措施。     

区域地下水资源量计算及水位动态变化分析

本文根据水源地水文地质条件,结合抽水试验数据资料,确定该区域含水层平均厚度、单井涌水量、渗透系数、影响半径及水力坡度等水文地质参数,采用水均衡法计算地下水资源量,分析补给量与排泄量平衡情况,采用开采系数法确定地下水可开采量,并分析区域地下水位动态变化趋势.