Researchers Tap Secrets of Water Quality, Availability, Efficiency

By Darrell J. Pehr

As a February storm scattered abundant rain and snow across southern New Mexico, the topic of limited water supplies seemed a little out of place for participants at a tree crop irrigation workshop at the Otero County Extension Office in Alamogordo, N.M. But even with a wet winter under way and a forecast of plentiful spring runoff, the efficient use of water is a topic that is probably never far from the thoughts of farmers in the dry Southwest.

The workshop, which focused on irrigation techniques at pecan and pistachio orchards, was sponsored by the Otero Soil and Water Conservation District, in cooperation with New Mexico State University’s Cooperative Extension Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Speaker Ron Walser, NMSU Extension specialist, illustrated the critical nature of irrigation methods. An orchard may require 36 inches of water a year, Walser told participants, but how water is delivered can make a big difference in how much actually gets to the trees. Flood irrigation, for instance, would actually require 60 inches of water because the method is only 60 percent efficient. Drip irrigation, in contrast, would require just 40 inches to meet the 36-inch threshold because it is 90 percent effective.

So is drip irrigation actually the best way to irrigate Otero County orchards? The two dozen workshop participants were equipped with more than $20,000 worth of moisture meters and sensors to help conduct a yearlong research project to find out.

The workshop is one of more than 100 NMSU projects to improve the quality, availability, conservation and efficient use of water. With projects ranging from irrigation to desalination to the economics of water allocation, NMSU plays a leading role in water-related research in New Mexico, said Vimal Chaitanya, vice president for research, graduate studies and international programs.

Extensive water research is particularly appropriate in the dry Southwest.

“New Mexico’s water supply varies from month to month and year to year,” said Karl Wood, director of the NMSU-based Water Resources Research Institute. “A growing human population demands more water. During some months and some years, the supply is adequate, but that adequacy is decreasing.”

Wood, who also heads the water subcluster of NMSU’s Natural Resource Sustainability and Renewal research cluster, said much of New Mexico’s water is poorly suited for human health and agriculture sustainability. “Research can help increase the useful supply and assure safety.”

The water research focus has brought national recognition to the university. In January, the Rio Grande Basin Initiative, operated by NMSU and Texas A&M University, won USDA’s Integrated Water Programs Team Award. The award recognized collaborative efforts on research, extension and education, said Craig Runyan, water quality specialist in NMSU’s Extension Plant Sciences Department.

Collaboration was a key element in another national award-winning project, partially funded by RGBI. Researchers from the College of Engineering and College of Agriculture and Home Economics used satellite technology to measure water lost by evaporation in the Mesilla Valley. Engineering student Brad Kirksey presented the team’s research paper at a National Science Foundation competition in November.

“Winning second prize basically shows what we’ve been doing is important to the national level,” said Zohrab Samani, professor of civil engineering. “This was the most practical paper they’ve seen. It has real-world application.”

Other funding came from NSF’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, the Office of the State Engineer, Gov. Bill Richardson’s Water Innovation Fund II Project and WRRI.

Student involvement in water research is a focus at WRRI, which funds several NMSU student research projects each year.

This year’s projects include physics student Jesus Cantu’s focus on using plants to help clean sites contaminated with heavy metals; fishery and wildlife sciences student Ryan McShane’s research into non-native and native fish species in Las Animas Creek; and fishery and wildlife sciences student Kristin Swaim’s study of fish abundance and environmental factors in desert sinkholes.

“The student mini-grant programs have several huge benefits for the little monies that they cost,” Wood said. “Undergraduate and graduate students are able to experience the process of writing a proposal, having it funded, managing the project, and making some interesting discoveries. It is excellent training of our future water scientists.”

In NMSU’s College of Arts and Sciences alone, more than 45 water-related research projects are pending or under way. They range from the use of nanotechnology to fabricate sensor arrays for water quality monitoring to a project that examines the removal of e. coli from water using synthetic and natural layered materials.

The wide scope of water research requires the involvement of numerous entities, across campus and across the country. Federal assistance is vital.

“Water problems are regional and national in nature. Therefore, federal help is needed,” Wood said. “New Mexico’s congressional delegation works hard to help solve water problems in the Southwest.”

One example is the federally funded desalination research facility in the Tularosa Basin, which may hold the key to developing more of New Mexico’s groundwater, three-fourths of which is brackish.

“In partnership with efforts from New Mexico State University and its partners in neighboring universities and national laboratories, this research facility will go a long way toward making desalinated water more affordable and environmentally safe,” Wood said.

Much of the groundwater along the U.S.-Mexico border is poorly understood as far as the extent of the aquifers, their depth, thickness, quality, recharge and direction of flow on both sides of the border, Wood said. Here, too, federal involvement is needed.

“The recently passed federal Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Act will assist in understanding these important water sources,” Wood said.

Much NMSU water research is funneled through the water subcluster. Its vision – to be a regional, national, and international leader in water research, technology, education, service, and policy – is reflected in the results of a survey of more than 2,000 water experts and stakeholders in New Mexico to help guide NMSU’s water research efforts. The survey found the top areas of interest touched on topics like water conservation, water use efficiency, water pollution and water supply-enhancing technologies that are the core of so many research efforts already under way, planned or just on the horizon.