ADAPTING THE CLIMATE CHANGE— WET-SEASON RAIN HARVESTING FOR DRY-SPELL IRRIGATION IN ALABAMA

Alabama, like the rest of the South Eastern States, is characterized by sufficient amount of rain on a decadal average base. However, the agricultural sector could not use this to its advantage due to lack of irrigation supplement for its mainly rain fed agriculture. One way of overcoming this problem would be to capture the wet season excess of rain water on nearby locations of crop farms and use it in the time of needs. This investigation explored the potentials and challenges in a statewide praxis of cool-season run-off impoundment for dry season irrigation purposes. The study assessed the broader irrigation potentials based on the precipitation trend, geology, and hydrogeology of the state of Alabama and recommend optimal ways to identify appropriate water retention and irrigation use mechanisms. Findings on integrated use of underground aquifer systems, tectonic lineaments, fractures, and other regional and sub-regional geological and geo-morphological features were analyzed and discussed.