Southeast, USDA building reservoir for irrigation

Southeast Missouri State University is continuing to improve its drainage and irrigation system at the David M. Barton Agriculture Research Center by partnering with the U.S. Department of Agriculture -- Agriculture Research Service.

Southeast announced this week that the USDA will invest $50,000 to create a reservoir at the center in Gordonville, Missouri, where high-quality tile-drain water generated during the dormant winter season will be stored, then pumped back into the soil during the summer.

Michael Aide, chair of Southeast's department of agriculture, said the reservoir will be designed by the USDA. The project will go through state-approved bidding, and construction is expected to begin in early fall.

Mark Nussbaum, an area engineer with the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service, said the reservoir will resemble a farm pond, and the goal is to see whether enough dormant-season water can be collected during the wintertime to provide all of the irrigation needs for the same field over the summer.

"The reason that's important is because if we can do that, then we can irrigate those acres with the amount of water that fell on the field the previous winter. We don't have to pump the aquifer, and we don't have to pump streams," he said.

Last year, the center installed a bioreactor, which is an underground chamber designed to remove nutrient runoff from farm fields fitted with subsurface drainage systems. Aide said a second bioreactor also will be installed as part of the upgrades.

Wood chips in the bioreactor break down nitrates in the water, he said. The water then goes into streams in a pristine state, according to standards set for drinking water by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Aide said as aquifer depletion increasingly becomes a national concern, the information gained from the center's enhancements have the potential to provide important methods for fighting aquifer depletion.

"With the bioreactor, you can take the water and cleanse it," he said. "Then the water that comes back out could be pumped into the aquifer, because it's quality water."

Nussbaum said the drainage subirrigation reservoir concept has application throughout the Midwest and Great Plains.

"The bioreactor, with respect to treatment for future irrigation or aquifer recharge, that has tremendous applicability in the Mississippi Delta Area," he said. The delta is a large farming area beginning at Cape Girardeau and ending at the Gulf of Mexico.

"The goal is to make sure there's an aquifer there for use today and use tomorrow," he said. "Right now, that is really in question. There's no doubt that if we continue to pull the delta aquifer down at the rate that's occurring, it's not going to be too long before there are numerous entities that won't have access to water. We want to have solutions available before things start to run out."

The USDA is putting in the infrastructure for the reservoir, and the university is putting in research and will pay for the second bioreactor. Aide said the entire system is about a $150,000 investment.

The soil at the center is completely studied, Aide said, and soil water sensors that were installed recently tell the water content at 6, 12, 18 and 24 inches continuously. The data is sent to the staff's cellphones, so they know exactly how much water the plants have.

"This may sound like a lot of work and a lot of money," Aide said. "But we figure it's an eight-year payback in terms of cost savings and increased yield."

klamb@semissourian.com

388-3639

Pertinent address:

6885 Highway 25, Gordonville, Mo.