HPWD is looking for more ag producers to participate in its Irrigation Assessment Program (IAP). Since 2013, local producers have been cooperating and volunteering to have their center pivots or drip irrigation systems evaluated by HPWD Field Technicians. The IAP provides individual technical services to irrigated producers, builds relationships between HPWD and producers, and gives us a better understanding of the aquifers of HPWD.
HPWD Field Technician Supervisor, Billy Barron, said, “We are looking for more ag producers in the following counties: Bailey, Cochran, Hale, Swisher, southwest Potter, and Lynn. We want to provide a benefit to our producers.”
According to Barron, yearly goals for the IAP include:
• obtaining water levels from irrigation wells at the beginning and end of each growing season.
• performing early, mid, and late growing season flow tests on each irrigation system or wells.
• providing basic water quality analysis: total dissolved solids, pH, chloride.
• collecting total water usage by crop. This includes rainfall and applied irrigation.
• summarizing production by collecting crop yields.
A custom report for each farm is provided to the producer and includes a summary of all water well and irrigation system data. This information also helps HPWD provide the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) with more accurate irrigation estimates for water modeling and projections.
For more information, please contact Billy Barron by phone (806) 762-0181 ext. 19 or email billy.barron@hpwd.org.