Em4885 irrigation management practices to protect ground water

Preventing Contamination Problems from Occurring
5
CHAPTER 5
If a contamination problem does not exist, the following is a list of highly recommended Practices
that should be used to help prevent a problem from developing:
1. IP 1.00.05 - routinely check any lined ditches and reservoirs, or pipelines that
are part of the on-farm irrigation system to prevent seepage.
2. IP 2.01.01 - measure all water applications accurately. In conjunction with
IPs 2.01.05-irrigation scheduling and 2.01.06-irrigation planning, this will allow
the manager to prevent overwatering while monitoring irrigation system performance
for improvements.
3. IP 2.01.02 - routinely monitor the performance of pumping plants, especially if
they are used to provide pressure for sprinkle or micro-irrigation systems.
4. IP 2.01.03 - routinely evaluate the distribution uniformity of the current irrigation
system and management. Good distribution uniformity is required to achieve good
overall application efficiency. High application efficiency will minimize surface
runoff and deep percolation, the two prime transport mechanisms for contaminants.
Note the different Practices that can be used to improve uniformity.
5. IP 2.03.03 and IP 2.04.06 - maintain sprinkle and micro-irrigation systems in good
operating condition. Assuming that the system design was appropriate and resulted
in good potential application efficiency, good maintenance will ensure continued high
potential. Note, however, that hardware is only as good as the management that operates it.
6. IP 3.01.01 and IP 4.01.01 - assess the risk of contamination from applied nutrients
and other chemicals based on site-specific conditions. This will indicate if special
care is required.
7. IP 3.02.01, 3.02.02, and 3.02.03 - routinely analyze soil, water, and plant tissue as
appropriate to guide the fertilizer program. Know how much fertilizer is required
for desired yields versus how much is currently available to the plant.
8. IP 4.01.05 - read and follow all chemical label instructions.
9. IP 3.01.04 and IP 4.01.4 - maintain records of all chemical and nutrient applications
as well as purchases and container disposal.
10. IP 4.01.02 - use management practices that are associated with integrated pest
management so as to reduce the amount of synthetic chemicals that are required.
11. IP 6.00.01-.04 - prevent a deep well from being a direct source of aquifer contamination.