Quantification of impacts of on-farm capture, storage and re-use of surface water on water quantity & water quality

The Arkansas Natural Resource Commission will utilize, enhance, and expand the use of existing widely adopted technology from application on the individual field-scale to the watershed-scale. The Arkansas Natural Resource Commission will specifically address the impacts of on-farm conservation irrigation practices and their impacts on sediment transport to surface water; irrigation management for Water conservation; and maintenance of groundwater supplies through increased surface water utilization, off-stream storage and tail water capture and reuse strategies. This project will complete a benchmark inventory of the individual farmers irrigation water and Energy uses and determine the potential for increased on farm irrigation storage, tail water capture and re-use and the resulting Energy savings on approximately 500 farms within the watersheds. The unique focus of this activity is to develop a watershed evaluation tool that is applicable in the humid, rain-fed portion of the U.S. to evaluate irrigation water needs, runoff, off stream storage of off season rainfall, and tail water capture to meet irrigation needs and assess Energy savings potential on a watershed basis.