Projected energy and water consumption of Pacific Northwest irrigation systems

Technical Report · Sun Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1978

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6315143· OSTI ID:6315143

King, L. D.; Hellickson, M. L.; Schmisseur, W. E.; Shearer, M. N.

A computer model has been developed to predict present and future regional water, energy, labor, and capital requirements of irrigated agricultural production in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The energy requirements calculated were on-farm pumping, and total energies. Total energies are the combined energies of on-farm pumping, manufacture, and installation. Irrigation system selections and modifications were based on an economic analysis utilizing the following input parameters: water, energy, labor, and capital costs and requirements; groundwater and surface water pumping lifts; improved application efficiencies; and pumping plant efficiencies. Major conclusions and implications of this analysis indicate that: as water application efficiencies increases additional quantities of water will not become available to other users; an overall increase in water application efficiencies resulted in decreases in gross water applications and increases in overall on-farm pumping and total energy consumptions; more energy will be consumed as pumping and total energies than will be conserved through decreased diversion pumping energy requirements; pump-back and similar technologies have the potential of both increasing application efficiencies and energy conservation; and the interrelationships understood between applying water in quantities greater than required for crop consumptive use and leaching, and late season in-steam flow augmentation and/or aquifer recharge are not well understood, and sound policy decisions concerning agricultural use of water and energy cannot be made until these interrelationships are better understood.

• Research Organization: Oregon State Univ., Corvallis (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• OSTI ID: 6315143
• Report Number(s): PNL-RAP-33; RLO-2227/T25-3
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
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60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
AGRICULTURE
DATA
DATA FORMS
DECISION MAKING
ECONOMICS
ENERGY CONSUMPTION
ENERGY POLICY
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IRRIGATION
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MATHEMATICAL MODELS
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NUMERICAL DATA
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PACIFIC NORTHWEST REGION
REGIONAL ANALYSIS
TABLES
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
THEORETICAL DATA
USA
WASHINGTON
WATER REQUIREMENTS