Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2002CO6B

Evaluating Strategies to Mitigate Waterlogging and Salinization in Colorado's Lower Arkansas River Valley

Institute: Colorado
Year Established: 2002 Start Date: 2002-03-01 End Date: 2005-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $51,124 Total Non-Federal Funds: $102,249

Principal Investigators: Timothy Gates, John Labadie, Grant Cardon, W. Frasier

Project Summary: The research proposed herein focuses on one of the most salinity-affected irrigated regions in the United States, the Lower Arkansas River Basin in Colorado. If agricultural production is to be sustained, well-designed and economical changes must be made in fields and subregions along the entire Lower Arkansas Valley. Old irrigation habits will have to be altered to become more efficient, aging water-delivery infrastructure will need to be rehabilitated and modernized, subsurface drainage systems must be installed and maintained, and new and more salt-tolerant crop varieties will need to be adopted. This proposal presents an approach that builds upon ongoing studies to apply and refine sound modeling tools, rooted in and calibrated by extensive field data, and founded upon strong working relationships with numerous agencies and with over 80 valley farmers. The goal is to build a framework for evaluating strategies to support a productive irrigated agriculture in a salinity-threatened valley.