Texas Alliance for Water Conservation

Glenn Schur, Producer Board Chair

Demonstrated

Water Conservation

Funded by:

Gassert, Francis, et. al. (January 2013). Aqueduct Metadata

Document. World Resources Institute. Retrieved from

http://www.wri.org/publication/aqueduct-global-maps-20

Reprinted by permission from Nature Publishing Group: [Nature Climate Change,

J.S. Famiglietti, The global groundwater crisis, VOL 4, November 2014), copyright (2014).

www.nature.com/natureclimatechange

Ogallala Aquifer

Aquifer covers 174,000 square miles across 8 states in the High Plains of the United States.

Over 95% water pumped for irrigated agriculture.

Texas South Plains on southern end of aquifer and is an intensive agricultural production area and focus of this program.

USGS, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5218

Hale & Floyd

Counties

USGS, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5218

Hale & Floyd

Counties

70

75

80

85

90

95

100

Perc

ent

of

2003 w

ate

r volu

me

Year of measurement in January

TAWC Project Area (97,900 acres)

Change in water storage in TAWC Project area

Data provided by High Plains

Underground Water Conservation

District No. 1. Lubbock, TX

220

230

240

250

260

270

280

290

300

310

Depth

to w

ate

r (f

eet)

Date

Cropping Year

Static water level following

Data provided by High Plains

Underground Water Conservation

District No. 1. Lubbock, TX

2012 2013 2014

276

277

278

279

280

281

282

283

284

Depth

to w

ate

r (f

eet)

DateData provided by High Plains

Underground Water Conservation

District No. 1. Lubbock, TX

Steady decline

Develop and Demonstrate new technologies and management tools and strategies that result in less water being used with enhanced profitability.

2004 - Senate Bill 1053 appropriated $6.2M funded for 8 years (2005-2012) and extended through April 2014 administered through TWDB.

2014 - State of Texas renewed funding for additional $3.6M for 5 years (2014-2019) and project expansion administered through TWDB.

Project Objectives

Identify effective crop and irrigation systems.

Impact producer decision-making.

Project is Producer Driven and Board Directed.

CottonMonocultures

Cotton-Cattle Grass-cattle

CornCotton

Grain SorghumCotton

Specialty Crops

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

2005

(4289 ac.)

2006

(4230 ac.)

2007

(4087 ac.)

2008

(3967 ac.)

2009

(3991 ac.)

2010

(4272 ac.)

2011

(4133 ac.)

2012

(4732 ac.)

2013

(4941 ac.)

Acre

s

Cotton Corn - all Sorghum - all Perennial forage

Grazed acres Small grains Other

Year

(total acres)

Rainfall

Temperature

Water applied

Netirrigate

Soil moisture

AquaSpy

Crop Sense

Aqua Check

Production inputs

Plant & animal yields

Economic analysis

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Cotton Corn, grain Sorghum, grain Grass seed/hay Grazing-

perr. grass

Irri

gati

on, in

ches

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2010 2011 2012 2013

Sprinkler

Sub-surface drip

Furrow

Dryland

VRIPMDITM

Capacitance Probes

Metering

Smartfield

Field Walks

Span comparisons of different water application configurations

Spray PMDI LEPA

Irrigation management using canopy

temperature as a trigger for irrigation

4”-20” zones

wetting up with

drip turned on

Rainfall stored

moisture all the

way to 48”

Held 1st Annual TAWC Water College

Planning 2nd Annual

late Jan. 2016

Field Walks – County Expansion

Castro

Hall

Hockley

Hale

World Wide Web www.tawcsolutions.org

Free expanding tools for crop and

irrigation management

Web-based tool used:

As a planning aid for various crop/water scenarios.

To capture changes in commodity price, water availability, and production costs.

To generate several options which maximize net returns/acre.

www.tawcsolutions.org

Wind at

2 meters

Over 80 West

Texas Mesonet

Stations and

expanding

Web-based tool used to determine:

When to apply water.

How much water to apply.

How to achieve specific management goals.

www.tawcsolutions.org

% Crop water demand

Lb

sp

er

ac

re

May 1

May 15June 1June 15

Spray LEPA

Spray Mode LEPA Mode

Spray mode is slow to

wet up soil

LEPA is quicker to wet

up soil

2013LEPA LESA

PER ACRE GROSS INCOME Quantity Total Quantity Total

Cotton lint 1165 $ 873.75 1028 $ 771.00

Cotton seed 0.84 $ 235.19 0.74 $ 207.53

PER ACRE TOTAL GROSS INCOME $ 1,108.94 $ 978.53

PER ACRE TOTAL OF ALL COST $ 924.94 $ 906.33

PER ACRE NET PROJECTED RETURNS $ 184.00 $ 72.20

Percent Increase 155%

APPLIED - INCHES 16.5

Lint lbs per acre-in of water applied 70.6 62.3

Percent Increase 13.3%

LEPA LESA

Maximizing Water Use Efficiency and Profitability

The Goal Of Production Agriculture

Texas Alliance for Water Conservation

Funded by: