Water News Archive

Reduce Need for Irrigation by Maintaining Crop Residue and Reducing Soil Tillage

Leaving higher levels of crop residue and doing less tillage can increase the soil water balance by increasing the amount of water that infiltrates the soil from irrigation or precipitation, and decreasing the amount of water that runs off the soil surface. More residue and less tillage also reduce the rate of evaporation of water from the soil. Maintaining residue on the soil surface and doing less tillage can significantly reduce the amount of irrigation water needed to grow a crop.

Nutrient Management

Water quality is affected by nutrient management when chemicals, soil, and residue move off of agricultural land or below it. This section focuses on a number of production issues that when managed correctly minimize the potential for off-site consequences because excess of the nutrients is limited or eliminated.

Pathogens and Organic Matter

Pathogens, typically microbes (e.g., bacteria, viruses, protozoa, fungi) or parasitic worms, are organisms capable of causing infection or disease in other organisms, including humans, wild and domestic animals, and plants. Several pathogens naturally occur in livestock and poultry manure and under certain circumstances may pose a risk to human health.