Deep drainage in a Grey Vertosol under furrow-irrigated cotton
Anthony J. Ringrose-Voase A C and Anthony J. Nadelko BA CSIRO Land and Water, GPO Box 1666, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
B CSIRO Land and Water, Australian Cotton Research Institute, Private Bag No. 59, Narrabri, NSW 2390, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: Anthony.Ringrose-Voase@csiro.au
Crop and Pasture Science 64(12) 1155-1170 https://doi.org/10.1071/CP13217
Submitted: 20 June 2013 Accepted: 20 November 2013 Published: 18 December 2013
Journal Compilation © CSIRO Publishing 2013 Open Access CC BY-NC-ND
Abstract
Deep drainage under irrigated cotton is not only a waste of a scare resource but also has the potential to cause groundwater levels to rise and cause salinity. Drainage is difficult and expensive to measure directly, so most estimates have relied on modelling or chloride mass-balance calculations. However, direct, accurate measurements of drainage are required to understand drainage processes in cracking clay soils and to provide some certainty about other estimates. A variable-tension lysimeter was installed at 2.1 m depth in a Grey Vertosol under a furrow-irrigated, cotton–wheat rotation. The collection trays were installed without disturbing the overlying soil. A vacuum was applied to the trays and was continuously adjusted to match the matric potential in the surrounding soil at the same depth, thus maintaining the same hydraulic gradient as in the surrounding soil.
The lysimeter was used to measure drainage and other components of the water balance from 2006 to 2011, including three cotton crops, one wheat crop and a long fallow. During this period, two types of drainage were observed. Matrix drainage occurred after an extended period during which rainfall exceeded evapotranspiration. This caused a wetting front to move through the soil over a period of months until it reached the lysimeter and was measured as drainage. Matrix drainage extended over a period of 1 month but at a low rate of ~0.5 mm/day.
During the cotton season, the earlier irrigations generally caused a sharp peak in drainage of up to 3.5 mm day–1 ~25 h after irrigation. However, the water content and soil-water potential at 2.1 m were largely unaffected, and in some cases, the hydraulic gradient was upwards while drainage was occurring. This suggests this drainage is caused by irrigation flowing rapidly through the profile bypassing the soil matrix. Later in the season, when soil-water deficits developed in the subsoil at 0.5–1.0 m between irrigations, the peaks in drainage rate became much smaller.
Bypass drainage appears to account for most of the drainage during the measurement period. Apart from lowering the water use efficiency, it is also more unpredictable and difficult to manage. In addition, bypass drainage is less efficient at removing salt from the soil profile, so that a higher leaching fraction may be required to prevent excessive salt accumulation.
Additional keywords: cotton, deep drainage, furrow irrigation, lysimeter, Vertosol.
References
Brye KR, Norman JM, Bundy LG, Gower ST (1999) An equilibrium tension lysimeter for measuring drainage through soil. Soil Science Society of America Journal 63, 536–543.| An equilibrium tension lysimeter for measuring drainage through soil.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DyaK1MXks1ajtLY%3D&md5=3cdb81b06e46df85a39f11e671e62399CAS |
Foley JL, Rassam D, Silburn DM (2003) Conceptual designs for lysimetry on swelling clay soils. In ‘International Soil Tillage Research Organisation 16th Triennial Conference’. Brisbane, Queensland. pp. 429–434. (University of Queensland: Brisbane)
Gordon I (2000) Land and water salinity—a threat or reality? In ‘Proceedings 10th Cotton Conference’. Australian Cotton Growers’ Research Association, 16–18 August 2000, Brisbane, Queensland. (Cotton Catchment Communities CRC: Narrabri, NSW) Available at: www.cottoncrc.org.au/content/Industry/Publications/Conference_Proceedings_/2000_Cotton_Conference_Titles_.aspx
Graecen EL, Correll RL, Cunningham RB, Johns GG, Nicolls KD (1981) Calibration In ‘Soil water assessment by the neutron method’. (Ed. EL Greacen) Ch. 6, pp. 50–81. (CSIRO Information Services: Melbourne)
Gunawardena TA, McGarry D, Robinson JB, Silburn DM (2011) Deep drainage through Vertosols in irrigated fields measured with drainage lysimeters. Soil Research 49, 343–354.
| Deep drainage through Vertosols in irrigated fields measured with drainage lysimeters.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hearn AB (1998) Summer rains on Vertosol Plains: A review of cotton irrigation research in Australia. In ‘Irrigation Association of Australia, 1998 National Conference’. 19–21 May, Brisbane. (Irrigation Association of Australia: Sydney)
Hulugalle NR, Weaver TB, Finlay LA (2010) Soil water storage and drainage under cotton-based cropping systems in a furrow-irrigated Vertisol. Agricultural Water Management 97, 1703–1710.
| Soil water storage and drainage under cotton-based cropping systems in a furrow-irrigated Vertisol.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Isbell RF (1996) ‘The Australian Soil Classification.’ (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne)
Paydar Z, Huth N, Ringrose-Voase A, Young R, Bernardi T, Keating B, Cresswell H (2005) Deep drainage and land use systems. Model verification and systems comparison. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 56, 995–1007.
| Deep drainage and land use systems. Model verification and systems comparison.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Pegler D, Foley J, Silburn DM (2003) Design and construction of an equilibrium tension lysimeter for use in swelling clay soils. In ‘International Soil Tillage Research Organisation 16th Triennial Conference’. Brisbane, Queensland. pp. 891–896. (University of Queensland: Brisbane)
Prendergast JB (1995) Soil water bypass and solute transport under irrigated pasture. Soil Science Society of America Journal 59, 1531–1539.
| Soil water bypass and solute transport under irrigated pasture.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DyaK2MXpvVSqsLg%3D&md5=68ed65727483b36b72843067a8cd1719CAS |
Ringrose-Voase AJ, Nadelko AJ (2006) Quantifying deep drainage using lysimetry. Final report to Cotton Research and Development Corporation (Project CRC47C) and Cotton Catchment Communities Cooperative Research Centre (Project 1.2.01). Science Report 56/06, CSIRO Land and Water, Cotton Catchments Communities CRC, Narrabri, NSW. Available at: www.cottoncrc.org.au/general/Research/Projects/1_02_01
Ringrose-Voase AJ, Young RR, Paydar Z, Huth NI, Bernardi AL, Cresswell HP, Keating BA, Scott JF, Stauffacher M, Banks RG, Holland JF, Johnston RM, Green TW, Gregory LJ, Daniells I, Farquharson R, Drinkwater RJ, Heidenreich S, Donaldson S (2003) Deep drainage under different land uses in the Liverpool Plains catchment. Report 3, Agricultural Resource Management Report Series. CSIRO Land and Water, NSW Agriculture. Available at: www.clw.csiro.au/publications/consultancy/2003/Deep_Drainage_in_Liverpool_Plains.pdf
Silburn DM, Cowie BA, Thornton CM (2009) The Brigalow Catchment Study revisited: effects of land development on deep drainage determined from non-steady chloride profiles. Journal of Hydrology 373, 487–498.
| The Brigalow Catchment Study revisited: effects of land development on deep drainage determined from non-steady chloride profiles.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD1MXot1eltb4%3D&md5=8df0b8036b613c8e84f31a1571b80881CAS |
Silburn DM, Tolmie PE, Biggs AJW, Whish JPM, French V (2011) Deep drainage rates of Grey Vertosols depend on land use in semi-arid subtropical regions of Queensland, Australia. Soil Research 49, 424–438.
| Deep drainage rates of Grey Vertosols depend on land use in semi-arid subtropical regions of Queensland, Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Silburn DM, Montgomery J, McGarry D, Gunawardena T, Foley J, Ringrose-Voase AJ, Nadelko A (2013a) Deep drainage under irrigated cotton in Australia: a review. In ‘WATERpak’. 3rd edn (Ed. D Wigginton) pp. 40–58. (Cotton Research and Development Corporation: Narrabri, NSW)
Silburn DM, Foley JL, Biggs AJW, Montgomery J, Gunawardena TA (2013b) The Australian Cotton Industry and four decades of deep drainage research: a review. Crop & Pasture Science 64, 1049–1075.
Slavich PG, Yang J (1990) Estimation of field scale leaching rates from chloride mass balance and electromagnetic induction measurements. Irrigation Science 11, 7–14.
| Estimation of field scale leaching rates from chloride mass balance and electromagnetic induction measurements.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Thorburn PJ, Rose CW (1990) Interpretation of solute profile dynamics in irrigated soils. III. A simple model of bypass flow. Irrigation Science 11, 219–225.
| Interpretation of solute profile dynamics in irrigated soils. III. A simple model of bypass flow.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Weaver TB, Hulugalle NR, Ghadiri H (2005) Comparing deep drainage estimated with transient and steady state assumptions in irrigated vertisols. Irrigation Science 23, 183–191.
| Comparing deep drainage estimated with transient and steady state assumptions in irrigated vertisols.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Weaver TB, Hulugalle NR, Ghadiri H, Harden S (2013) Quality of drainage water under irrigated cotton in Vertisols of the lower Namoi Valley, New South Wales, Australia. Irrigation and Drainage 62, 107–114.
| Quality of drainage water under irrigated cotton in Vertisols of the lower Namoi Valley, New South Wales, Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
