Em4885 irrigation management practices to protect ground water

Organization of Manual
3
CHAPTER 1
Complete understanding and effective use of the Implementation Practices in achieving the
Objectives requires an integrated knowledge of water quality issues and the contamination process.
To that end the Manual provides the following:
1. A summary discussion of water quality issues in Washington.
2. A summary discussion of how water pollution occurs.
3. A summary discussion of irrigation science.
4. A presentation of Overall Management Objectives to reduce the potential for water
pollution and Implementation Practices that will help achieve the Objectives.
5. A listing of Government and private resources available to growers to help achieve
the Objectives.
There are eight chapters in the Manual. Chapter 1 is the Introduction and lists the purposes of
the Manual, describes the organization of the Manual, and tells how to use the Manual.
Chapter 2 is a summary discussion of water quality issues in the State. It describes the current
status of both surface and ground water quality, discusses the impacts of this status
on various aspects of society, and describes the current strategy for controlling
nonpoint source contamination of surface and ground waters.
Chapter 3 is a summary discussion of how surface and ground water become polluted.
It also contains a summary discussion of basic soil-water-plant relationships.
These describe how water enters the soil, is held by the soil, moves in the soil
and into the plant, and through the plant back to the atmosphere. The objective
measures of irrigation performance, distribution uniformity, and application
efficiency are identified and explained.
Chapter 4 is the presentation of Overall Management Objectives. These Objectives, if
achieved, will reduce the potential for pollution of surface and ground water.
Implementation Practices are identified. These are specific actions, either a change
in hardware or a change in management, that will help achieve the Objectives.
Six Objectives are presented in Chapter 4:
1. Objective 1.00 - Minimize water losses in the on-farm distribution system
2. Objective 2.00 - Improve irrigation system performance and management to minimize
deep percolation and surface runoff
3. Objective 3.00 - Manage fertilizer program to minimize excess fertilizer available
for transport