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SDI in the Great Plains​

Plenary 6

IRRIGATION SUSTAINABILITY

J D OSTER

Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
E-mail: oster@mail.ucr.edu

The time has come to intercept, isolate, and reuse drainage waters on dedicated lands within the regions where they are generated. Adoption of this strategy would be enhanced if both a water right and a salt right were required to obtain, or retain, an allocation of water for irrigation. This paper reviews various irrigation strategies, and available computer models as aids for design and management. The focus is on methods to minimize drainage volumes in the first place; or to reuse intercepted drainage waters for crop production through sequential reuse in the second. Adequate knowledge exists to put in place a strategy that focuses on water use and salt disposal within irrigated regions. This strategy would enhance irrigation productivity and sustainability and minimize negative environmental impacts.