Polypipe Technology Conserves Water (Part 2)
Tests in Mexico could lead to 50 percent water savings
By Danielle Supercinski, July 2005
Texas Water Resources Institute, through the Rio Grande Basin Initiative, is helping farmers in Mexico test polypipe to conserve water, and thereby provide an expanded water source to help meet future water demands, maintain flows to the river system, and maintain better levels in Falcon and Amistad Reservoirs to enhance wildlife and natural resources in the area.
"Polypipe is like a garden hose 15 inches in diameter made out of 10 ply pieces of plastic," said Gordon Hill, General Manager for Bayview Irrigation District. "You make holes where your turnout is – where you want to water the plants. There are no losses and the water pours out right onto the plant."
Three polypipe test blocks have been installed in Tamaulipas, Mexico by Hill, Winzen Film & Fiber Inc., and Mexican farmers. Research personnel Drs. Juan Enciso and Guy Fipps will collect and certify the data to determine effectiveness and water savings. Tony Hinojosa from Texas A&M in Kingsville and four student interns from Monterey Tech are also involved with this project.
Three test blocks were installed April 1, April 6, and April 11, respectively. The fields will be watered and tested for six months. After the testing period, the data will be compiled to see how much water was actually saved.
There are three metered, irrigated fields using polypipe and another field beside them using conventional irrigation methods common to the area.
"To determine the savings due to the use of polypipe we are conducting these three tests, then we will multiply (the data) by 700,000 acres, which is the number of irrigated acreage in the area, to predict how much water polypipe potentially could save," Hill said.
Currently the overall irrigated acreage in the Rio Grande Valley of Mexico is twice as much as the irrigated acreage along the Rio Grande in the United States, he said.
Two 50 acre blocks are being measured for volume of water lost off the field. Open ditch irrigation, volume, crop yields and other data are also being collected.
"Twenty to 25 percent of water was saved from seepage in the Bayview Irrigation District by using polypipe, and Mexico could save up to 50 percent," Hill said. "So presume we save 50 percent. That means Mexico will save 700,000 to 800,000 acre-feet in one year. If we can reduce demands on the supply by 50 percent and apply it to their water supply, along with rainfall and a stable economy, it will significantly benefit the area."
Tom Wilson, representative for Winzen Film & Fiber Inc. in Sulphur Springs, Texas, donated seven rolls of polypipe for these tests. The Lower Rio Grande Authority, which consists of all Irrigation Districts in the Valley, donated the money to purchase six meters. The meters were then given to Texas Cooperative Extension to meter and evaluate the research and certify this project. This work is also supported by the U.S. State Department, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Senator John Cornyn and Governor Perry’s office. Hill said they all see the big picture and understand how the project affects all of us, and they are interested in what it would do for both Texas and Tamaulipas.
The Comisión Nacional del Agua (CNA), Mexico’s government, is interested in the data and has been involved step by step along the way. Costa Ricans and a man in the United Nations are also interested in the data as well.
"The CNA wants to take (the data) back and make a Mexican government policy to subsidize use of polypipe," Hill said. "Now they are subsidizing use of gated pipe, but it is expensive, isn’t used much, and a lot of water pressure builds up in it. Polypipe can be used by all farms for irrigation. Using polypipe is the easiest way to conserve water for the least amount of money, and it gets the biggest bang for the buck."
Use of polypipe causes a chain reaction of events to take place that leads to conserving water and farmers’ money in the Tamaulipas area.
"With university assistance with this technology through the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and Texas Cooperative Extension, we use less water, so there is more water left in Falcon and Amistad Reservoirs, and therefore, more water available for other uses," Hill said. "It keeps the river charged constantly because water is available and there is still enough to water crops. It has enhanced the ecosystem and the environment in the area."
The overall global picture is that this technology is helping the environment throughout the Rio Grande Basin by maintaining higher water levels in both reservoirs, creating steady flows, maintaining adequate supplies for irrigators, increasing the quality of life with water savings and crop differences, and impacting the economy on both sides of the River, he said.
"I think we’re going to do well," Hill said. "The only way I was able to do all of this is with the approval of the Bayview Irrigation District Board of Directors and through what the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and Texas Cooperative Extension does as part of the Rio Grande Basin Initiative project to help provide the information, find where the water losses are occurring, and where water savings can be made. We could not have done this without the funding from the university through the Rio Grande Basin Initiative."
