1. Chapter 6 Municipal and Irrigation Water Development Prof. Dr. Ali El-Naqa Hashemite University June 2013

2. Chapter Headings Municipal water systems Ebenezer Howard Los Angeles Lincoln New York Boulder Irrigation The need for irrigation Irrigation techniques Salinity Competition for water 3. Ebenezer Howard 1850-1928 Born in London and visited US at age 21 Saw developing agricultural lands of US as well as Chicago and New York before returning to London Everywhere he traveled he saw unplanned, chaotic growth Thought urban development should be orderly, bucolic (strong rural/urban connection), and controlled 4. Ebenezer Howard Envisioned broad boulevards connecting cities to fields that grew food Large central gardens and garden plots near each house Described this in a book called Garden Cities of To-morrow 5. Community Supported Agriculture Related to a current concept known as community supported agriculture (CSA) Rural-urban connection Urban residents pay a fixed fee to a local farm that guarantees delivery of fresh produce for a given period (year or season) http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/csa/ http://www.fullmooncoop.org/ 6. Chapter Headings Municipal water systems Ebenezer Howard Los Angeles Lincoln New York Boulder Irrigation The need for irrigation Irrigation techniques Salinity Competition for water 7. Marc Reisner, Cadillac Desert 8. Los Angeles Aqueduct William Mulholland first superintendent of LA Water Department Initiated a program to bring water to LA 1905 LA purchased farm land in the Owens Valley 1907 began construction of 233-mile LA Aqueduct to transport water by gravity to LA 9. Water. 1993. National Geographic Special Edition 10. Circa 1908 52-member mule team moving steel pipe for LA aqueduct Water. 1993. National Geographic Special Edition 11. Current population of LA: 9.9 million 12. Water. 1993. National Geographic Special Edition 13. 1974 movie starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway roughly based on LA waterworks and Owens Valley scheme 14. Other LA Region Aqueducts Colorado River Aqueduct Begun in 1928 Brings water from the Colorado River to San Diego and LA California Aqueduct Begun in 1960 Brings water from Northern CA through the Central Valley to LA 15. Water. 1993. National Geographic Special Edition 16. California Aqueduct pumping station at the Tehachapi Mountains Water. 1993. National Geographic Special Edition 17. Chapter Headings Municipal water systems Ebenezer Howard Los Angeles Lincoln New York Boulder Irrigation The need for irrigation Irrigation techniques Salinity Competition for water 18. New York Relied on shallow groundwater initially but this became contaminated due to lack of system for handling waste Developed reservoirs and system of tunnels to deliver water Tunnel # 1 completed in 1917 Tunnel # 2 completed in 1936 Tunnel # 3 now under construction 3rd generation sandhogs 19. Chapter Headings Municipal water systems Ebenezer Howard Los Angeles Lincoln New York Boulder Irrigation The need for irrigation Irrigation techniques Salinity Competition for water 20. Boulder CO Restricted growth by limiting expansion of water supply 1959 established blue line at the base of foothills beyond which no water or sewer service would be provided 1967 first city to enact tax for purchase of green space 1972 approved growth management plan that limited residential growth to 2% per year Nickname Republic of Boulder, 25 square miles surrounded by reality (Wikipedia) 21. Blue line 22. Chapter Headings Municipal water systems Ebenezer Howard Los Angeles Lincoln New York Boulder Irrigation The need for irrigation Irrigation techniques Salinity Competition for water 23. 100th meridian dividing line between areas where crops do and do not need irrigation to survive snr.unl.edu/metr351-03/jnothwehr/prevention.html 24. Need for Irrigation 100th meridian is dividing line for average annual rainfall of 20 in Crops vary in the annual rainfall needed to survive 20-25 in: corn, vegetables, alfalfa 12-18 in: wheat, oats, sorghum, sunflowers To obtain maximum yields, these crops may be irrigated east of 100th meridian 25. Need for Irrigation Western expansion began after Civil War Irrigation expanded rapidly in west after invention of centrifugal pump shortly after WWI By mid-1920s California became richest agricultural state in U.S. (surpassing Iowa) This was an unusually wet period in climate 26. Chapter Headings Municipal water systems Ebenezer Howard Los Angeles Lincoln New York Boulder Irrigation The need for irrigation Irrigation techniques Salinity Competition for water 27. Irrigation Techniques Surface water or groundwater may be the source Gravity irrigation usually used where surface water is the source Furrow irrigation for row crops Wild flood irrigation for grasses Not very efficient due to evaporation losses Relatively cheap once canals are built since it is all gravity flow 28. Furrow Irrigation 29. Furrow Irrigation 30. Irrigated rice being grown on flooded land in the Central Valley near Sacremento Water. 1993. National Geographic Special Edition 31. Irrigation Techniques Sprinkler irrigation usually used where groundwater is the source Developed after WWII due to availability of Light weight aluminum pipe Low cost rural electricity Better electric motors Center pivot systems most common in GA Pivot system can be mile long Expensive due to equipment and pumping 32. Look in SW corner of Kansas using Google Earth 33. Irrigation Techniques Drip irrigation relatively new technology that delivers just enough water to each plant Used often with high-value vegetable crops Low pressure surface or buried tubing runs along each row Small opening at each plant drips water 34. www.tsystemsinternational.com Drip Irrigation 35. Chapter Headings Municipal water systems Ebenezer Howard Los Angeles Lincoln New York Boulder Irrigation The need for irrigation Irrigation techniques Salinity Competition for water 36. Salinity Long-term danger with irrigation in arid regions Soil and rock is usually high in salt due to low rainfall Salts concentrate in the root zone unless enough water is added to leach them downward Adding excess water tends to raise the water table near the surface Evaporation causes more movement of salt to surface 37. Water. 1993. National Geographic Special Edition 38. Salinity May have been the cause of failure of ancient civilizations such as Mesopotamia, Tigrus River Valley, Hohokam, etc. Only Nile River survived for centuries Reliable annual flooding leached salts out of root zone and deposited fresh soil Aswan Dam built in 1960s stopped annual flooding and now salinity is a problem 39. Chapter Headings Municipal water systems Ebenezer Howard Los Angeles Lincoln New York Boulder Irrigation The need for irrigation Irrigation techniques Salinity Competition for water 40. Competition for Water Traditionally in the west, water rights have been held by agricultural users Western cities are looking for new sources of water Sets up a conflict between cities and rural water users Third party in conflict is environmentalist arguing for keeping water in streams ecosystem services 41. Water. 1993. National Geographic Special Edition Competition for Water 42. Competition for Water New York Times article, December 14, 2004 Central Valley Project is countrys largest federal irrigation project Initiated in 1937 to provide cheap water to family farmers Fall 2004 was time for farmers to renew their water contracts Contracts are for 25 or 40 years Contract specifies how much water and what price 43. Competition for Water Federal water subsidy to farmers total value estimated at $416 million per year Median subsidy of $7,076 per farm each year Largest 10% of farms average $349,000 per farm per year Negotiations between Bureau of Land Reclamation (federal agency that runs project) and farmers over 233 new contracts began in 1999 44. Competition for Water Subsidies are limited to farms no larger than 960- acres Woolf Enterprises, a family-owned farming business Received $3.5-4.2 million in subsidies in 2002 Grow almonds, cotton, tomatoes and other crops on about 20,000 acres Each 960-acre tract is owned by different family member New contracts will continue subsidies 45. Competition for Water Under a CA law, farmers may be able to sell water to cities Representative George Miller, California Congressman "What these guys are doing is freezing in time the massive subsidies that go to the largest and wealthiest farmers in the state, and who are then going to sell it back to the taxpayers "It is a great gig if you can get it." 46. Competition for Water Department of Interior officials Defend new contracts as keeping with the bureau's mission since 1902 of encouraging agricultural development in the West Though costs of water supplies are below market value, new rates will be high enough to recover costs of building Central Valley Project by 2030 47. Water Subsidies Environmental Working Group (EWG) maintains a website on water subsidies http://www.ewg.org/reports/watersubsidies/ Look at Westlands WD, third from bottom 48. Chapter Summary Two big users of water are cities and agriculture Elaborate systems have been developed to move water from rural areas to large cities Irrigation systems became common in western U.S. in 1900s Salinity is the long-term danger with irrigation in arid area Both cities and agriculture will have to develop better methods to conserve water 49. Quiz 6 Who are the two big users of water in the U.S.? Where does Los Angeles get its water? What is a center pivot system? Why does salinity become a problem with irrigation in arid areas?