IRRIGATION

AND
SOIL WATER
BALANCE
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IMPORTANT FACTORS AFFECTING
IRRIGATION PLANNING AND
DEVELOPMENT
Ref: (Ali, 2010_Fundamentals of irrigation and On-farm
water management: Volume 1)
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The major factors influencing development of irrigation facility
are as follows:
• Soil
• Climate
• Topography
• Water source
• Crop(s) to be cultivated
• Energy
• Labour
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• Capital
• Commodity/product market
• National policy and priority
• Institutional infrastructure
• Economic factor
• Environmental aspect
• Socio-cultural aspect

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 SOIL

• The evaluation of soil for irrigation purposes requires the co-

operation of a number of specialists.

• An irrigation scheme must be adapted to the soil and the

general agricultural system, and not vice versa.

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Soil conditions that are needed for profitable and diversified
crop production under sustained irrigation.

• Adequate moisture holding capacity for the proposed irrigation

and cropping pattern.

• Adequate infiltration rate to facilitate replenishment of soil-water

lost through evapotranspiration, to minimize erosion, to prevent
excessive deep percolation under the proposed method.

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• Adequate internal drainage through the root zone for
proper aeration, replenishment of soil-water reservoir, and
leaching of salts.
• Sufficient depth of suitable soil profile to allow necessary
development and provide adequate storage of moisture
and plant nutrients.

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• Suitable texture, structure, and consistency to permit
necessary field operations in time.
• Absence of hazardous amount of acidity, sodicity, salinity, or
any other toxic elements.

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Soil physical characteristics

• The physical characteristics of soil largely determine the

movement of water into and through the soil and the amount of soil
water available to plants.
a) Soil texture
b) Soil structure
c) Bulk density
d) Porosity and pore size
e) Depth
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Soil chemical and biological characteristics

Chemical characteristics

a) pH

The pH of the soil is only an indicator of the soil reaction and is not
normally taken as a criterion when evaluating soils for irrigation.

b) Sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) or Sodicity

The sodium adsorption ratio is determined by the ratio of Na to Ca and

Mg (Na:(Ca + Mg)) in soils.

c) Saline quality (brackishness) 10

 Table 1: Properties of brackish soil types.

Source: ARC-Institute for Agricultural Engineering (ARC-ILI) 11

In the evaluation of saline soils for irrigation development,
particular attention should be paid to:

a) Quality of irrigation water, infiltration rate and permeability of

the soil.
b) Drainability of the deep underlying soils and their ability to get
rid of leaching water.
c) The degree of brackishness and the availability of gypsum.

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Organic characteristics
• Organic matter plays an extremely important role in the
determination of the physical, chemical and biological
properties of a soil, as well as the availability of water.
• A well-drained soil with an organic matter content of 5% will,
in all likelihood, contain a higher quantity of available water
than a similar soil with an organic content of 3%.

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Variability of soil characteristics

• Soil characteristics may vary between different locations within a

field, and vary with depth.

• Soil characteristics should therefore be assessed in sufficient

locations, at adequate depths at each location, to ensure that this
variability has been measured.

• Variability at the surface can be detected by taking a large enough

number of samples.

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 CLIMATE

• Crop optimum climatic requirements.

• Maximum temperature, minimum temperature, night temperature,

and day length.

• Consideration of atmospheric water demand or crop

evapotranspiration for irrigation planning.

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 TOPOGRAPHY
• Suitability of a land for irrigated agriculture depends largely on
its topography.

• Slope and the changes in slope of the irrigated area have a

major influence over selection of the method of irrigation, and
the specifications of the method selected.

• Affect labour requirement, irrigation efficiency, drainage,

erosion, size and shape of fields, range of possible crops, and
land development. 16
A detailed topographic survey is essential for detailed planning
of an irrigation project.

The survey needs to include:

a) water storage sites,

b) pump station locations,

c) natural features such as waterways and timbered areas,

d) farm infrastructure such as roads, power lines and buildings.

e) Storm water catchment areas

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 WATER SOURCE
• Identification of water source(s) to ensure continuous water
supply.

• Consideration of other users’ rights and water demands.

• If the project is based on groundwater resource, sustainability of

the resource should be considered.

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 CROP(S) TO BE CULTIVATED

• Water requirement varies with crops.

• Water resources should be planned on the basis of the major

crop(s) and cropping pattern.

• Factors influencing the choice of crop are the local/national

demand, profitability factor, ease of marketing and market
demand, etc.

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 ENERGY

• Energy source is important for the pumping of irrigation.

• If an electric transmission line is to be constructed, it will require

an investment.

• If the pump is to operate with a diesel engine, it will certainly

create an environmental problem.

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 Labour

• Implementation of irrigation projects, require a huge amount of

human labour (depending whether is labour based or
mechanised).

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 APPLICATION EFFICIENCY
Water application efficiency refers to the amount of irrigation water that
becomes available to the plants’ root zone, as a percentage of the amount
of water pumped on farm or delivered to the farm boundary.

In this context, application efficiency is reduced by the loss of water

from:

• Wind blowing spray droplets away from the site or pushing water to one
side of the bay.

• Evaporation of droplets in the air and of free water lying on plant and soil
surfaces. 22
• Run-off, when application rates exceed the soil infiltration rate.

• Deep percolation, where irrigation water infiltrates below the

root zone, and there is no later possibility of root growth to
extract it.

• Seepage in channels and loss from damaged pipelines.

Most of these factors are related to the design of the system or

its management.

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• NB. note that application efficiency is not the same as water use
efficiency, which is normally defined as the ratio of the water taken
up by the plant to the water applied to the plant.

• To correct or provide for high application efficiency may require

higher initial expenditure.

• Attention to detail regarding soil types and appropriate scheduling

techniques will improve application efficiency.

• Poor application efficiency is a contributor to over-watering, which

can aggravate waterlogging and salinity problems. 24
Harmful effects of excess irrigation

• Impaired soil aeration

• Imbalance in nutrient uptake

• Physiological imbalance in plants

• Restricted root system

• Toxicity of nutrients

• Loss of soil fertility

• Soil erosion
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• Destruction of beneficial soil structure and soil aggregates

• Production of harmful gases

• Rise of water table

• Activities of micro organisms

• Water logging

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Application efficiency of different irrigation systems

• Application efficiency for micro-irrigated systems should be as

high as 90 – 95%.

• For spray systems, application efficiency is typically 70 –

80%, but lower in windy conditions.

• Under surface irrigation, application efficiency drops to 50 –

70%, but efficiencies as low as 30% have been recorded.

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 UNIFORMITY OF APPLICATION
• This is not always easy to achieve, because of the nature of
surface irrigation methods, the circular wetting patterns of
sprinklers, and the pressure and head variations, long pipelines
and channels.

• Uniformity of application can be enhanced by correct design

procedures, nominating acceptable pressure variation and
matching water application to soil conditions.

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• Note that uniformity of application is observed and measured at the
soil surface, and it is not always clear how lateral flow under the
soil surface may affect uniformity with depth through the root zone.

• Correctly designed micro-irrigation systems have a high uniformity

of application, a significant advantage of such systems provided
the system is designed with an acceptable pressure variation
(about 10 to 20%).

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• Spray irrigation systems can have high uniformity as well, but it
is influenced by the wetting pattern of individual sprinklers
(which is partly determined by sprinkler spacing).

• Surface irrigation methods typically have a low uniformity of

application, but this can be improved with design details and
management strategies.

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 WATERTABLES AND SALINITY

• An increasingly large amount of irrigated land is affected by

high (less than 2 m from the soil surface) or rising watertables.

• In some areas, production is severely limited because the

watertable restricts root development.

• A compounding problem is that much of this water is saline,

further hampering plant production.

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• For areas characterized by heavy subsoils, it is necessary to
distinguish between the true groundwater table, and one which
may be perched on the subsoil layer, perhaps temporarily.

• A number of strategies could be considered to manage

watertable levels, and therefore partly manage salinity hazards.

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• A number of on-farm drainage methods are possible. These have
the potential to remove groundwater and thereby lower the
watertable, but the drainage water is likely to be saline and
therefore not allowed to be discharged off-farm.

• If the water is of reasonable quality, it could be used as irrigation

water, or perhaps blended with high quality water to enable its re-
use.

• But if it is too saline for re-use, it may be necessary to deliver the

water to an evaporation basin. 33
 SELECTION OF IRRIGATION METHOD
• A wide range of irrigation methods are available, classified as
either surface (sometimes called flood or gravity), spray or micro-
irrigation methods.

• Factors such as soil characteristics and water supply need to be

considered when choosing an irrigation method.

• For some projects, the choice is obvious, because the technical

constraints dictate.

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• However, for some projects the choice is not so obvious, and a wider
range of factors will influence the decision:

a) Funds available to invest in irrigation hardware.

b) Operating costs of labour, fuel and maintenance.

c) Ability to apply smaller quantities of water at more frequent

intervals.

d) Availability of labour, and the possibility of automation.

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e) Skills of labour force and management.

f) The area irrigated and the scale of operations.

g) The value of the crop, its sensitivity to irrigation management

at critical growth stages, and the probability of rainfall during the
irrigation season.

h) Personal preference and experience.

i) Additional purposes, such as fertilizer application and frost

control.
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