JWSS - Journal of Water and Soil Science

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In this study, seven citrus gardens in different parts of Darab were chosen to evaluate the drip irrigation systems. The evaluation process was based on the Merriam and Keller’s model (1978). Besides the evaluation of drip irrigation systems, the water requirement of citrus was estimated using four models including Blany-Criddle modified by FAO, Hargrive-Samani, Pan Evaporation and Solomon-Kodama model. On the basis of the results obtained by Hargrive-Samani with 1296 mm annual water requirements, a comparison was made between irrigation with existing systems and irrigation under favorable and desired conditions.

The results from field measurements indicate a considerable reduction in the emitter discharges. The low pressure and emitter clogging could be two major reasons for the problem. Low pressure at head control, topography, head losses and also using no filter(s) or unefficient filters are the main reasons for the reduction. In some gardens, overirrigation even up to 2.5 times of water requirement was practiced by using extra emitters and increased irrigation times. Overirrigation causes considerable water losses through deep percolation and in reased overwetting area.

Field measurements indicated a good emission uniformity (EU) for the fields with overirrigation. EU in chosen fields varied from 40 to 91%, AELQ varied from 31 to 82% (poor to good) and PELQ varied from 36 to 82%. This study showed that most farmers are not familiar with plant water requirements. The fields with efficient filtration due to using extra emitters per plant are mainly overirrigated. But fields without any filter of unefficient filters are not irrigated sufficiently. The very high manufacturing variation coefficient of IEM emitters (C_v=0.22), which are widely used in Darab, causes a design emission uniformity of 55%.

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One of the simple methods for erosion control, flood mitigation and flood damage reduction in the streams is building the checkdams. The present study was carried out to evaluate the performance of checkdams, location across the streams in the retention of the fine sediments in Droudzan watershed in Southern Iran. For this purpose, a number of streams with many stabilized check dams which were more than 27 years old were selected. For each stream, three check dams (one at the far beginning (upstream), the second one at the middle and the third one at the far downstream) were selected. In each stream, a number of samples were taken from retained sediment behind the selected check dams and also original soil was taken from both sides of the same check dams. Laboratory analysis on the size of particles and also texture of soil and sediment samples showed that in general, soils taken from both sides of the check dams were finer than sediment behind the same check dams. Comparison of particle sizes showed in all streams except Joobkhaleh (with extensive tree coverage) the performance of the third check dams (far downstream) in fine sediment retention is much better than the second one (at the middle) and the second one is more effective than the first one (upstream). Comparison of sands, silt, and clay percentage of soil and sediment also showed that in all streams except Joobkhaleh the clay and silt percentage behind the third check dam is more than the second check dam and that of the second check dam is more than the third one (upstream). In the same way, results showed that the sand retained behind the first check dam, was more than the sand behind the second and first checkdams, respectively. Therefore, if the retention of the fine sediments is the main purpose of the check dam construction, it is recommended that they be built in the far downstream rather than in the upstream of waterways.

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Root depth is one of the main parameters affecting soil moisture availability held within the plant root zone. This study was conducted to evaluate the trend of corn root development during the growing season in different irrigation methods with two water qualities, and distribution of roots in soil profile. The experiment was a split plot design with three main treatments (subsurface drip(SSD), surface drip(SD) and furrow irrigation(FI)) and two sub main treatments (municipal effluent and fresh water) in two consecutive years conducted in Korbal plain, Fars province. Root monitoring was carried out with the observation of soil profile root depth measurement. Samples were taken during the growing season 16 times, each with a 7 day interval. Measurement of root weight in different soil layers was carried out using monoliths of soil washed with water pressure using 50 mesh sieves. Although the longest roots were observed in plots irrigated with SSD and the shortest in FI, the final root length was not significantly affected by irrigation methods and water qualities. In this research, a model showing the trend of root length average growth was developed and tested in the experiment conditions. The average final main root depth for all treatments was 77 cm. Irrigation volume using root depth monitoring could be reduced compared to linear model, Borg & Grimes and CROPWAT model for root depth estimation. Irrigation water on the base of soil moisture deficit within the root zone in each irrigation event could be reduced when the real root depth is considered compared with the conventional general models giving a final root depth. Results showed the total dry root weight in SSD was more than that in SD and FI methods. However, water quality did not show a significant effect on dry root weight. The most root concentration in SSD was measured in depth of 20-40 cm, while in SD and FI the most concentration was in surface layer (0-20 cm). In the SSD, the roots were distributed more evenly compared with SD and FI methods. The concentration of roots in all treatments below 65 cm was not significant.