WATER FLOW POTENTIAL & GROUNDWATER RECHARGE CAPABILITIES USING A SUBSURFACE IRRIGATION SYSTEM

An integral part of the Central Valley agricultural community depends on water. As we know, California has exhibited sufficient agronomic losses from inconsistent precipitation patterns, leading to years of extreme dry spells and droughts with the persistent demand for natural water resources. The significant division between supply and demand has prompted the implementation of practices that led to sustainable measures, such as improving modern farming operations and using groundwater recharge systems. This research project will focus on two main methods of understanding how a new class/category of subsurface irrigation system known as the Virtual Water Table Irrigation (VWTI) system can reveal knowledge of shallow and deep subsurface water flow potential and groundwater recharge capabilities. The study will involve three preexisting farm plots irrigated with the VWTI subsurface pipework in Pixley, Fresno, and Turlock. The three locations contain various variables, including soil moisture readings, temperature gauges, crop-yielding numbers, soil composition varieties, and water applications to understand how water moves underground. The Fresno field plot will include the current method of using the irrigation system and a new recharge setup to determine the volume of subsurface recharge possible with a crop on the surface during the growing season. The same principle will be used with a small-scale “mesocosm” display using plexiglass to view the same variables associated with the real-life plots to demonstrate how water moves subsurface and to what extent. The mesocosm and in situ field results will be (or were) analyzed from both instances, involving different data loggings, implications, and other factors to be researched. While discovering these topics, the integration of biochar matter in the soil will be approached to observe any difference in water retention and plant growth. Overall, this study will be beneficial in understanding how water when introduced at 3-5 ft depths can move and maintain soil saturation for agricultural crop production and attribute excess flow to groundwater recharge. The project will address matters associated with infiltration, percolation, and permeability of the soils and what solutions best serve the Central Valley's water scarcity problem to grow crops.