Water Cost Bigger Concern for Nebraska Farmers than Water Conservation (KearneyHub)

Jan.11, 2009 in Drought, Water Conservation, Water Crisis, Water Industry, Water Rates

(Jan. 11, 2009, Kearney Hub)

Irrigation water supplies and costs rated high in importance in a September 2007 survey by two University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension specialists. It also showed that few irrigators are using new irrigation management technologies that can save water and money.

Alan Corr, an Extension educator specializing in water and cropping systems at the West Central Research and Extension Center near North Platte, said he’s just starting to make detailed comparisons of survey data. His partner was Derrel Martin, a biological systems engineer at UNL.

“I guess the number-one message was that farmers are concerned about irrigation water, groundwater and surface water, and they’re concerned about the costs of irrigation,” Corr said, when asked in a Hub phone interview what he’s learned.

The survey was important because approximately 93 percent of Nebraska’s land is used for agriculture and 94 percent of all groundwater use is for agricultural purposes, namely irrigation.

Surveys were mailed to 4,000 Nebraska ag producers selected at random from sources such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Services and state well registrations.

Corr was pleased with the 600 returned by the deadline — another 150 or so came too late to be included. “We were hoping for 500 responses,” he said.

The survey focused on irrigation management practices and use of technologies such as soil moisture monitoring equipment, new sprinkler packages and updated irrigation equipment. Corr and Martin also examined Nebraska irrigators’ general attitudes on dealing with water shortages and restrictions.

There were about 30 general survey questions, but additional questions under some topics raised the total to more than 100 responses. Corr said it probably took most participants about 10 minutes to complete, “because a lot of this is at the top in their heads.”

He first looked at general answers.

Nearly 60 percent of survey respondents said the most important issue for Nebraska is water availability, groundwater depletions and water use restrictions. Eleven percent said the cost of irrigation is most important.

However, when the survey asked which issue was personally most important to the irrigator, 40 percent said costs, 16 percent listed water availability and 14 percent said water rights or restriction issues.

Cost and water availability responses depended on whether an irrigator is under water use regulations. Corr said 48 percent of restricted irrigators said water availability and restrictions are the most pressing issue and 31 percent said cost.

Meanwhile, half of respondents not under restrictions said cost was their No. 1 issue, with availability and restrictions listed by 22 percent.

“Different areas of the state obviously have different problems,” Corr said, and he intends to dig into the survey results to compare differences based on geography and groundwater or surface water use.

Only 12 percent of survey respondents said irrigation efficiency is important, even though it can greatly affect irrigation costs and future water availability.

Corr said two-thirds of the respondents said they determine when to irrigate based on soil moisture, but only 3 percent use new soil moisture monitoring systems. About one-third rely on advice from crop consultants and one-third use soil probes.

“I can put a soil probe down and not tell you how much moisture is there. I can tell you only if it’s wet or dry,” Corr said.

Today, more precise probes can be set in a field and linked to a monitor that an irrigator can quickly read with a touch of a button. There also are tools to give valuable information about evaporation.

Corr said such knowledge tells irrigators when to start and stop irrigating. He explained that stopping is important to avoid runoff or having water percolate below the plant root zone, which is a concern for nitrates reaching the groundwater.

Farmers in areas with irrigation water allocations are more likely to use new technologies and practices such as no-till farming. “They are better water managers because they have to be,” Corr said.

All farmers, even in the wetter areas of eastern Nebraska, should be interested in energy cost savings.

Corr said studies show it can cost $20 to $30 per acre to apply 1½ inches of irrigation water. “Take that times 1,000 acres … We’re talking money (savings) and we’re talking water, too,” he said.

Corr understands there’s often a fine line between just enough and not enough water. He said a little bit more than enough is OK, but no one wants to drive down a county road after a 3-inch rain and see a pivot irrigation system running.

There will be a network of irrigation management demonstration sites across the state again in 2009. Corr said his West Central team will have equipment in fields from southwest Nebraska east to Kearney and Franklin counties.