Regional Evaluation of a Web-Based Irrigation Advisory Service

During the past the past two years Oregon State University has developed a Web-based irrigation advisory service for optimum irrigation planning, scheduling, and design. That program, referred to here as OISO (Oregon Irrigation Scheduling ~ On-line), links with existing weather station networks to provide individual farms with the following advisory services:

1) conventional irrigation scheduling, tailored to the circumstances of specific fields;

2) extended irrigation scheduling procedures to manage multiple fields simultaneously, taking into account farm water supplies, irrigation system capacities, and farm management strategies;

3) automatic data display and record keeping that support requirements of EQIP; and

4) advanced techniques for analysis of alternative irrigation strategies to maximize net economic returns when water supplies or system capacities are limited.

OISO also provides a tool for design of irrigation systems to improve system sizing and enable more effective water management, resulting in water conservation and reduced non-point pollution. In July of 2006 NRCS personnel, several State extension specialists, the director of the BOR Agrimet system and others met at NRCS offices in Portland, Oregon, to review the program. There was unanimous agreement that this Oregon-based advisory service should be extended to the other States of the Pacific Northwest for evaluation and testing under a wide range of conditions, and that it should ultimately be made available nationally.