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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Mississippi State, Mississippi » Crop Science Research Laboratory » Genetics and Sustainable Agriculture Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #366500
Research Project: Closing the Yield Gap of Cotton, Corn, and Soybean in the Humid Southeast with More Sustainable Cropping Systems

Location: Genetics and Sustainable Agriculture Research

Title: Simulating weekly available streamflow and pond water resources potential in Mississippi Delta

Author
item GAO, FEI - Beijing Normal University
item Feng, Gary
item OUYANG, YING - Forest Service (FS)
item Jenkins, Johnie
item LUI, CHANGMING - Chinese Academy Of Sciences

Submitted to: Water
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/3/2019
Publication Date: 6/18/2019
Citation: Gao, F., Feng, G.G., Ouyang, Y., Jenkins, J.N., Lui, C. 2019. Simulating weekly available streamflow and pond water resources potential in Mississippi Delta. Water. 11:1271. https://doi.org/10.3390/w11061271.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/w11061271

Interpretive Summary: The groundwater storage and groundwater level have declined rapidly in the past 30 years in Mississippi Delta. Therefore, farmers in Mississippi Delta are beginning to realize reducing the groundwater use while increasing surface water use in agricultural irrigation for mitigating groundwater resources depletion. The objectives of this research were to determine the available weekly surface water resources for agriculture irrigation by using a hydrological model in Mississippi Delta. This study also estimated the percent of weekly groundwater use for irrigation replaced by surface water resources. Our results showed that he weekly surface water resources include streamflow and pond were not able to meet the total weekly irrigation demand, but surface water resources can be used as alternative irrigation source for reducing the groundwater use. Our studies suggested that conjunctive use of surface and groundwater for agriculture irrigation is proper way to manage both surface and groundwater resources in Mississippi Delta.

Technical Abstract: Groundwater storage and level have declined rapidly in the Big Sunflower River Watershed (BSRW) of Mississippi Delta in recent years. Farmers in this region are beginning to save groundwater resources by increasing surface water usage for agricultural irrigation. In this study, we estimated the weekly amount of surface water available in ponds and streams, determined if the weekly surface water resources are sucient for major crop irrigation demand, and assessed how much surface water can replace groundwater for agriculture irrigation in the BSRW. The SWAT (Soil andWater Assessment Tool) model was employed to simulate the weekly water resources for 23 sub-basins from the BSRW. Results showed that weekly stream water resources (SWR), stream evaporation (SE) and water loss from the channel via transmission through the side and bottom of the channel (stream transmission, referred as ST) for BSRWduring the growing seasons ranged from 20.4 to 29.4 mm, 7.4 to 14.4 mm, 1.6 to 4.5 mm and 1.1 to 1.6 mm, while pond water resources (PWR) and pond evaporation (PE) ranged from 1.9 to 2.1 mm and 0.3 to 0.5 mm. The value of SWR '' (ST + SE) and PWR '' PE were positive in all sub-basins, indicating that there are net surface water resources available in this region. The percentages of total groundwater usage for irrigation that could be replaced by surface water in each sub-basin every week of each month from May to September ranged from 10% to 87%. Our studies suggested that the conjunctive use of surface and groundwater for agriculture irrigation is a feasible method for groundwater sustainable management in the Mississippi Delta.