| Title: | Simulating potential weekly stream and pond water available for irrigation in the Big Sunflower River Watershed of Mississippi Delta |
| Authors: | Gao, F., G. Feng, Y. Ouyang, J. Jenkins and C. Liu |
| Year: | 2019 |
| Journal: | Water |
| Volume (Issue): | 11(6) |
| Pages: | |
| Article ID: | 1271 |
| DOI: | 10.3390/w11061271 |
| URL (non-DOI journals): | |
| Model: | SWAT |
| Broad Application Category: | hydrologic only |
| Primary Application Category: | irrigation impacts or irrigation BMP scenarios |
| Secondary Application Category: | hydrologic, pollutant and/or crop indices (or metrics) |
| Watershed Description: | 10,877 km^2 Big Sunflower River, located in northwest Mississippi U.S. |
| Calibration Summary: | |
| Validation Summary: | |
| General Comments: | |
| Abstract: | Groundwater storage and level have declined rapidly in the Big Sunflower RiverWatershed (BSRW) of Mississippi Delta in recent years. Farmers in this region are beginning to save groundwater resources by increasing surface water usage for agricultural irrigation. In this study, we estimated the weekly amount of surface water available in ponds and streams, determined if the weekly surface water resources are sufficient for major crop irrigation demand, and assessed how much surface water can replace groundwater for agriculture irrigation in the BSRW. The SWAT (Soil andWater Assessment Tool) model was employed to simulate the weekly water resources for 23 sub-basins from the BSRW. Results showed that weekly stream water resources (SWR), stream evaporation (SE) and water loss from the channel via transmission through the side and bottom of the channel (stream transmission, referred as ST) for BSRWduring the growing seasons ranged from 20.4 to 29.4 mm, 7.4 to 14.4 mm, 1.6 to 4.5 mm and 1.1 to 1.6 mm, while pond water resources (PWR) and pond evaporation (PE) ranged from 1.9 to 2.1 mm and 0.3 to 0.5 mm. The value of SWR - (ST + SE) and PWR - PE were positive in all sub-basins, indicating that there are net surface water resources available in this region. The percentages of total groundwater usage for irrigation that could be replaced by surface water in each sub-basin every week of each month from May to September ranged from 10% to 87%. Our studies suggested that the conjunctive use of surface and groundwater for agriculture irrigation is a feasible method for groundwater sustainable management in the Mississippi Delta. |
| Language: | English |
| Keywords: | Irrigation; Pond; SWAT model; Stream; Surface water resources |