Texas Alliance for Water Conservation
“Water is Our Future”
Texas Alliance for Water Conservation
Box 42122, Lubbock, Texas 79409-2122
Phone: (806)742-2774 Fax: (806)742-0988
www.tawc.us
The TAWC Project was made possible through a grant from the Texas Water Development Board.
Project Overview - Phase II
Agriculture is a vital part of the Texas High
Plains economy. However, this agriculture industry
is also dependent on water from the Ogallala Aquifer
— water that is being used far faster than it is being
replenished.
The Texas Alliance for Water Conservation
(TAWC) has organized a partnership whose goal
is to extend the life of the Ogallala Aquifer while
maintaining the viability of local farms
and communities. Area producers are
cooperating with universities, industries,
and government agencies to collect data
and transfer improved technologies for
improving farm profitability and water
use efficiency (see figure). On-farm
demonstrations of cropping and livestock
systems and comparisons of irrigation
scheduling techniques help producers
decide how best to conserve water.
From 2005 to 2013, the TAWC has
evaluated different crop species, irrigation
delivery systems and tillage types to evaluate crop
yields, costs of production, and net economic returns
per acre-inch of water applied and from rain. As we
move into Phase II of the project, we will continue
to monitor these systems while adding additional
acreage in a broader area to include more producers
and counties.
TAWC field sites
involve more
than 6,000 acres
located in eight
Texas counties:
Floyd, Hale,
Lamb, Lubbock,
Crosby, Parmer,
Swisher, and Deaf
Smith. These sites
represent a range of agricultural practices including
monoculture cropping systems; crop rotations; limittill, no-till and conventional tillage practices; land
application of manure; and fully integrated crop and
livestock systems. TAWC sites also demonstrate key
comparisons of irrigation delivery systems currently
found in the Texas High Plains.
Producers
Data Collection Technologies
All production-related decisions are made by the
more than 20 producers involved in the project.
Producers
Profitability
while saving
water
Data Collection
Technology
Transfer
The project sites are being intensely monitored for
water use, soil moisture depletion, crop productivity,
input costs and economic return. Each site is
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equipped with instruments to
determine total water applied
from the aquifer, solar radiation,
temperature, rainfall, timing
and amount of irrigation, and
soil moisture. Integrated central
processing controller equipment
records, stores, and transmits data
to a single database accessible to
project participants.
Data Analysis &
Technology Transfer
Roles of the collaborating
partners include installing and
monitoring data collection
equipment, documenting
production-related activities, developing economic
models that evaluate the various systems, and
conducting educational and communication projects
designed to share activities and outcomes of this
project with others.
Risk management specialists from Texas A&M
AgriLife Extension analyze production data gathered
from producer field records to calculate economic
return from irrigation. Findings are compared for total
irrigation water use and water use efficiency; crop
and livestock productivity and profitability; and total
input requirements (see table).
Online Tools
Data gathered from Phase I of the TAWC Project
were used to develop online irrigation management
tools. As we move into Phase II of the project, these
tools will be expanded to include additional crops and
field-specific irrigation scheduling. Current online
tools are described below and can be found at
www.tawcsolutions.org.
The Irrigation Scheduler is an aid for producers in
determining a more refined irrigation schedule. This
program utilizes weather information collected from
the Texas Tech Mesonet along with specific producer
input information to automatically calculate and
update soil water balance for a specific crop. Some
key inputs include: crop species, planting date, site
rainfall, irrigation, and other environmental and
producer information.
The Resource Allocation Analyzer is an economicbased decision aid, which uses economic variables
provided by a producer to calculate cropping options
that maximize per acre profits, whether at the field or
farm level. By inputting information such as expected
commodity prices, water availability, and enterprise
options, producers can view cropping options that
maximize their net returns per acre while accounting
for irrigation demands and revenue potential. This
user friendly aid is designed to help the producer
match water supply to the cropping option which
gives maximum economic return per acre.
2014 Crops, Tillage and Delivery Systems
Crops Grown in Phase II
Cotton
Corn Silage
Grain Sorghum
Corn Grain
Forage Sorghum
Millet
Perennial Forage
Grass for Seed
Alfalfa
Wheat
Sunflowers
Triticale
Total Acres --- 6,278
Irrigation Delivery
Systems Used
LESA Center Pivot
LEPA Center Pivot
Subsurface Drip
Furrow Irrigation
Tillage
Methods Used
Conventional tillage
Limit-till
No-till
Several sites will integrate livestock at various times
throughout the year for varying lengths of time.
The TAWC project utilizes on-farm demonstration sites, including cropping and livestock systems,
to identify the various production practices, technologies and systems that help maintain individual farm
profitability while improving water usage efficiency. One of the main goals of this project is to extend the life of
the Ogallala Aquifer, while maintaining the viability of local farms and communities.
The Texas Alliance for Water Conservation is a unique partnership of producers, data collection
technologies, and collaborating partners that include: individual industries, universities, and government
agencies. The TAWC project was made possible through a grant from the Texas Water Development Board.
www.tawc.us
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