Irrigation Practices and Return Flow Salinity in Grand Valley

摘要

This study was undertaken to evaluate the relationships between leachate volume and chemical quality. A numerical model of soil moisture and salt transport was used. Field data were collected on 63 research plots located in the Grand Valley, Colorado. From the calibration of the moisture flow model using infiltration data, water content profiles and storage change data, it was concluded that soil moisture flow could be adequately modeled for the Grand Valley. From comparisons of field and simulated data used in evluating the soil chemistry model, it was concluded that Total dissolved solids concentrations were adequately modeled but that individual ionic species concentrations were not. The TDS profile calculated at the beginning and end of the growing season show the salt concentration in the profile below the root zone to be relatively constant.