EQUIPMENT


Left: Changing from flood irrigation to pivot has allowed Slagowski to use irrigation water more efficiently, while also increasing his production.


Right: NRCS staff designed a pond and pipeline system that delivers water to the pivot.


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In the northeast corner of Utah, Robert Slagowski grows grass hay and pasture for his cows and calves. Originally, his fields were flood irrigated. His irrigation water came from an existing canal and ran through a ditch over 1.5 miles, which was inefficient and caused significant evaporation and water loss before the water got to his fields.


Slagowski contacted his local NRCS office about installing a new system to replace his flood-irrigated ground. In a mountainous area such as where Slagowski is located, it is estimated that an increase of efficiency in the water use on a field is close to 50% when changing from flood irrigation to


EQIP FUNDING


The NRCS runs the Environmental Quality Incentive Program, where payment sharing is provided for projects that meet the key resource priorities of an area. If your project qualifies, it is possible that your system could be installed with financial assistance that makes the project feasible for you.


The NRCS has funding options for irrigation-related projects, livestock water projects, waste management projects, energy conservation projects, erosion control projects, range and pasture improvement projects, and more. In an effort to “Do right and feed everyone” (USDA slogan), the NRCS invites you to be involved. Help us feed the world one field at a time.


For more information, search EQIP at www.nrcs.usda.gov. 16 Irrigation TODAY | Winter 2020


a pressurized sprinkler system such as a center pivot. The center pivot provides for even distribution of water across the field area, applying the water from above in a way that the natural undulations of the field topography are not a factor.


NRCS staff helped Slagowski develop, plan and design a new system to replace his flood irrigation with a center pivot. Through cost sharing, where Slagowski paid part of the cost along with the NRCS, the project was made affordable.


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The success of Slagowski’s project is not due solely to the installation of the pivot. As pivot operators know, a center pivot


has a motor on each tower to turn the wheels of that tire for the movement of the pivot. Generally, the motor requires an electrical current for it to work. But in many locations where irrigation is needed, the site is far from any power on the grid.


This was the challenge for Slagowski. Getting power to his site was cost prohibitive. The mountainous terrain in the area created a large elevation change across his land, which led Slagowski and the NRCS staff to pursue the possibility of generating power on-site.


With the help of NRCS personnel, they measured the elevation change of Slagowski’s system. They determined that there was 98 feet of pressure head available (42 psi) to convert into electricity.


The elevation change from the system’s beginning to the center point location was large enough to allow for power to be generated by a small turbine at the pivot center point. By designing and installing a small pond, screen and pipeline, the water is piped to the center pivot with enough water pressure to be converted into electricity to operate the turbine and pivot. The turbine is connected to a generator that, in turn, is connected to the motors on the towers to keep the pivot turning.


Not only is Slagowski using irrigation water more efficiently, he has also seen an increase in production. He estimates that after this irrigation system change, he had a 50% water savings on his 59 irrigated acres. In 2018, he produced 315


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