08/15/1996

Auburn-TVA Project a Model for Future Irrigation of the Tennessee Valley

AUBURN, Ala.- An historic cooperative project aimed at expanding water resources and improving irrigation technology for cotton farmers in the Tennessee Valley is now in operation, according to an announcement by C. Michael Moriarty, vice president for research at Auburn University.

The $1.35 million, five-year project is located in Belle Mina at the Tennessee Valley Substation, a unit of the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station. It allows researchers to evaluate alternative water resources for irrigation and to conduct research to optimize production and profitability using the latest irrigation technology.

The research facility includes 96 research plots that can be independently irrigated by sprinklers and 48 research plots that can be independently irrigated via drip irrigation. These research plots will allow evaluation of irrigated cotton and other crops to develop optimum production techniques with irrigation. The facility includes operation of a 30-acre center pivot system and a 60-acre linear system from the reservoir. Combined, these irrigation components will create a water demand such that a better evaluation of the size reservoir needed for on farm or other projects can be determined.

A major component of the project is "off-stream storage," which is designed to take advantage of high stream flows that occur in the winter for most streams in the Tennessee Valley. A model off-stream reservoir was constructed and water is being pumped in from nearby Limestone Creek during high flow conditions. This water is being used to irrigate cotton and other crops during the summer, when irrigation demands are high. The 13-acre reservoir stores enough water to irrigate 120-150 acres of cotton per season.

AU and TVA officials believe this concept also will be practical for municipal and rural water suppliers as a backup supply system, especially where water is in short supply during the dry months.

U.S. Senator Howell Heflin of Tuscumbia, Ala., who was instrumental in securing funding for the project, said, "Every year it's the same story: crops in the South are devastated by floods or drought. Every year this happens, Congress is faced with the difficult task of finding funds for crop disaster relief in a federal budget that is getting smaller and smaller. It only makes sense to try and find a solution to the problem instead of continuing to throw money at it."

This joint AU-TVA project will allow researchers to look for ways to curb the damage brought on by the vicious cycle of floods and drought faced by farmers in the Tennessee Valley and throughout the South, he explained.

"If the AU-TVA team is successful in finding a way to harness water, an important yet dwindling natural resource, it would be one of the most significant breakthroughs in southern agriculture," Heflin said.

"This project is another example of the long and fruitful working relationship between Auburn and the TVA," Moriarty said. "We are pleased to be a part of this effort to bring the needed technology to push cotton production to a higher level in the Tennessee Valley and potentially to benefit people in rural communities throughout the state."

Alabama ranks 10th in U.S. cotton acreage, with about half the state's estimated 400,000 acres grown in the Tennessee Valley. If all of the Tennessee Valley's cotton had been irrigated from 1980-90, AU economists estimate the value of those cotton crops would have increased by $625 million.

However, Tennessee Valley farmers are limited in options for obtaining water. A few can irrigate out of nearby lakes or streams, but these options are often not available. Some can drill wells, but the potential for high-capacity wells is limited because of the geology of the area.

"We are excited about the potential benefits of this project to the people of the Tennessee Valley. Though the model is in Limestone County, Ala., it will be applicable throughout the Tennessee Valley," noted TVA Water Supply Projects Manager Dan Ferry.

"This model project is timely because water supplies are increasingly critical as a resource. What we hope to demonstrate is that a relatively small stream can support irrigation of high-value crops without harming the stream," Ferry concluded. Larry Curtis, an agricultural engineer at Auburn and research leader on the project, developed the idea for building storage facilities to harvest excess water in the winter for use in the summer.

"I worked with a cotton grower in Russell County who had an ideal location for an off-stream reservoir, which we have developed over the past few years. The success of pumping runoff water into this off-stream reservoir and using that water when needed led to my interest in developing a similar system in the Tennessee Valley," Curtis said.

"What we built at the Tennessee Valley Substation is clearly a model. In its practical application each farmer and/or community will have to adapt the concept to fit their particular needs," Curtis pointed out.

"Installation of this water storage reservoir has been a learning experience," Curtis said. Initial geological studies indicated that with proper soil compaction a reservoir could be installed that would hold water with minimum leakage. However, difficulties were encountered when a sink hole developed during initial filling. This problem and concern about further leaks led to the decision to install a geomembrane (polyethylene) liner in order to prevent loss of water from the reservoir.

"Success in economic development ventures like this can only be accomplished by consistent investment on a scale that cannot be achieved by universities alone, by government alone, or by industry alone," Moriarty said. "It takes a partnership of all three, as this water management project demonstrates."

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Office of Ag Communications & Marketing

Auburn University College of Agriculture
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
3 Comer Hall, Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849
334-844-4877 (PHONE) 334-844-5892 (FAX)

Contact Jamie Creamer, 334-844-2783 or jcreamer@auburn.edu
by Roy Roberson

08/15/96