Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2005SD35B

Water Conservation Using Automated Irrigation Water Management for Center Pivots

Institute: South Dakota
Year Established: 2005 Start Date: 2005-03-01 End Date: 2009-06-30
Total Federal Funds: $85,282 Total Non-Federal Funds: $171,259

Principal Investigators: Hal Werner, Todd Trooien

Project Summary: Water conservation and increased crop production can result from the use of scientific irrigation scheduling. Center pivots irrigate over 20 million acres in the U.S., but scientific irrigation scheduling is not widely used because of the time and effort required by the farmer. This project will complete the development of an innovative center pivot automation (CPA) system and test it in the field. The CPA system includes monitoring and control hardware, short and long-range radio communications, and irrigation management software. The farmer will maintain overall management of the irrigation system but will be relieved of the daily tedium of irrigation scheduling. Expected benefits of the CPA system include water conservation, increased crop production and profitability, and protection of the environment.