MECAG 4203

IRRIGATION PRINCIPLES
SPRING 2005
INSTRUCTOR:

Dr. Michael A. Kizer

228 Ag Hall
744-8421 (office)
744-5653 (secretary Pat in 218 Ag Hall)

OFFICE HOURS:
GRADER:
PREREQUISITE:

mkizer@okstate.edu
Normally available in office daily;
Call before making a special trip to be sure that I am in.
TBA

Math 1513 (College Algebra)

COURSE MATERIALS: Class notes by Eisenhauer, Martin, and Hoffman
(University of Nebraska); Purchase notes (Cost: $25)
at OSU Bookstore; Various class handouts
FINAL EXAM:
Tuesday, May 1, at 10:00-11:50 AM in Room 225 AGH
GRADING:

Homework (35%) + Hour Exams (40%) + Final (25%) =

100%

Exams are open book and open notes. Homework will be collected at the
beginning of class on the date due. Late homework may be turned in (for half
credit) up to the beginning of the next class. For homework turned in after that
time, no credit will be given. Homework is to be done neatly and in pencil, with
the answers clearly identified. Show all work if you wish to receive any partial
credit for an incorrect answer. Staple all pages together and be sure your name
is on each page.
Attendance is not explicitly a part of the grading criteria. However experience
has shown that class attendance has a high correlation with performance on
homework and exams. Its very difficult to learn the material if you arent in class
on a regular basis.
In assigning letter grades at the end of the semester, the numerical scores will be
curved. In other words, your grade will depend on how well you perform
relative to the rest of the class, and how well the entire class performs relative to
previous classes. The curve cant hurt you, meaning that any score above 90
will be an A, 80-90 will be at least a B, 70-80 at least a C, and 60-70 at least a D.
Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. You are encouraged to discuss
concepts and homework problems with your fellow students, but direct copying of
someone else's homework answers is not allowed. Failure to work the
homework problems yourself is almost always reflected in poor performance on
the examinations.

READING ASSIGNMENTS
Chapter Topic
1.
Introduction
2.
Soil Water-Plant Relationships
3.
4.

Measuring Water Applications

Plant Water Use

5.
6.

Irrigation System Performance

Irrigation Scheduling

7.
8.

Salinity Management
Irrigation Hydraulics

9.
10.

Water Delivery Systems

Surface Irrigation

11.
12.

Sprinklers
Set Move/Traveler Systems

13.
14.

Center Pivots & Lateral Moves

Microirrigation

15.

Landscape Irrigation

Pages
1-12
13-52
53-76
77-123
124-161
162-195
196-220
221-253
254-277
278-309
310-351
352-387
388-415
416-447
448-474

Reading
Assignment

Approx.
# of Periods

A. Introduction
Class orientation
Chapter 1
Importance of irrigation
pp. 124-127; 159-160
Types of irrigation systems, Irrigation in OK
B. Water Measurement
Chapter 3
Units; Volume balance (Qt=Ad); Flow measurement
C. Soil-Water Relationships
Chapter 2
Soil properties; Water in soils; Infiltration;
Soil water measurement
D. Irrigation Water Requirements
Chapter 4
Evapotranspiration
pp. 127-160
Efficiencies and uniformities; System capacity
E. Irrigation Scheduling
Chapter 6
Principles; Moisture accounting; Other methods
F. Irrigation Water Supply
Chapter 9
Surface water; Ground water and wells;
Chapter 7
Water quality; Water law
Hour Exam 1
(TBA)

1
1
3
1
2
3

Reading
Assignment

Approx.
# of Periods

G. Pipeline Hydraulics
pp. 222-236
Basic relationships; Friction loss
pp. 458-464
H. Pumping Plants
Types of pumps; Pump characteristics; Pump selection
pp. 237-252
Power units; Pumping costs
I. Sprinkler Irrigation
pp. 124-125
Types of systems
pp. 159-160
System components
Chapter 11
Sprinkler performance
Chapter 12
Hydraulics of laterals
Chapter 13
Other design/management considerations
pp. 448-457; 465-473
Hour Exam 2
(TBA)
J. Microirrigation
pp. 126-127
Types of systems; System components
p. 159
Emitter and lateral hydraulics
Chapter 14
Other design/management considerations
K. Landscape Irrigation
pp. 126-127
Types of systems; Control systems
pp. 159-160
Other design/management considerations
Chapter 15
Final Exam
Tuesday, May 1, 10:00 11:50 AM

2
4
5

1
2

Class Notes
The lecture notes for class are available online on Dr. Kizers
personal web page:
http://biosystems.okstate.edu/Home/mkizer/index.htm
The notes are in MS PowerPoint and can be viewed with the
web browser of any campus computer with a network
connection. They can also be viewed from off-campus
computers which have Internet service. However, be warned
that many of the PowerPoint files are large (1 MB to 8 MB in
size). If you do not have a high-speed cable modem or DSL
service, it will take a long time to read the files via the typical
dial-up internet connection. Once you have finished all the
slides of a particular file (or any time you want to quit viewing)
click on the Back arrow of your browser and you will be
returned to the Home page.

If you want to print out copies of the notes for study or

review you can do so by using the following steps:
Open the target file by clicking on the appropriate hypertext
title in the class index;
On your web browsers tool bar click on File and then on
Print;
In the interest of saving trees, I would suggest that you go to
the Print what: drop-down menu of the print window and
select Handouts;
In the Slides per page: drop down menu select 6 (usually
the default value). This will print six, 2-in x 3-in images of
the slides per page, which are typically large enough to be
read easily;
Click on the OK button.

Introduction

Importance of Irrigation
Definition
the supply of water to crops and landscaping
plants by artificial means

Estimates of magnitude
world-wide: 544 million acres
(17% of land 1/3 of food production)

U.S.: 59 million acres

(10% of land 25% of crop value)

annual water withdrawal (world-wide):

870 trillion gallons (6X Mississippi River)

Purpose
Raise a crop where nothing would grow
otherwise (e.g., desert areas)
Grow a more profitable crop (e.g., alfalfa
vs. wheat)
Increase the yield and/or quality of a given
crop (e.g., fruit)
Increase the aesthetic value of a
landscape (e.g., turf, ornamentals)

Reasons for yield/quality increase

Reduced water stress

Better germination and stands
Higher plant populations
More efficient use of fertilizer
Improved varieties

Other Benefits of Irrigation

Leaching of salts
Frost protection
Plant/soil cooling
Chemical application
Wind erosion control
Waste disposal

An Historical Perspective
Nile River Basin (Egypt) - 6000 B.C.
Tigris-Euphrates River Basin (Iraq, Iran, Syria) 4000 B.C.
Yellow River Basin (China) - 3000 B.C.
Indus River Basin (India) - 2500 B.C.
Maya and Inca civilizations (Mexico, South
America) - 500 B.C.
Salt River Basin (Arizona) - 100 B.C.
Western U. S. - 1800s
Involvement of federal government - 1900 (only
about 3 million acres then)

Types of Systems
Sprinkler

pressurized irrigation through devices called sprinklers

(water is discharged into the air and hopefully
infiltrates near where it lands)
used on agricultural and horticultural crops, turf,
landscape plants

Surface

Irrigation water flows across the field to the point of

infiltration
primarily used on agricultural crops and orchards

Micro (drip, trickle)

frequent, slow application of irrigation water using

pressurized systems
used in landscape and nursery applications, and on
high-value agricultural and horticultural crops

Rainfall Distribution

Temperature Profile

Alfalfa Irrigation Requirement

(inches of irrigation/year)

Normal Year

Irrigated Acreage in Oklahoma by County

-2000(x 1000 acres)
90

190

34
20

61
16
21 68
52

Irrigation in Oklahoma
2000 Irrigation Survey

About 667,000 irrigated acres

48% in Cimarron/Texas/Beaver Counties
24% in Harmon/Greer/Jackson/Tillman counties
9% in Caddo County
68% sprinkler irrigation
28% surface irrigation
4% microirrigation
82% using ground water
18% using surface water

Irrigation in Oklahoma

51% pumped with natural gas as the energy source

23% pumped with LP gas as the energy source
20% pumped with electricity as the energy source
Agronomic crops

Corn (180,000 acres)

Wheat (105,000 acres)
Grain sorghum (57,000 acres)
Cotton (56,000 acres)
Alfalfa (98,000 acres)
Peanuts (60,000 acres)

Horticultural and turf crops

Commercial vegetables (15,000 acres)

Commercial nurseries (5,000 acres)
Golf courses, parks, sod farms (14,000 acres)
Orchards (5,000 acres)