G90-992 Evapotranspiration (ET) or Crop Water Use

What must irrigators consider in the most efficient use of water? Read on. Irrigators in the Great Plains have two major challenges in the years ahead: 1. Maintain groundwater quality by adjusting management to minimize the leaching of agri-chemicals from the crop root zone; 2. Continue profitable production in the face of a less abundant and increasingly costly water supply. Irrigators must learn to convert water to grain the most efficient manner possible. Applying only enough water to meet full evapotranspiration (ET) of the crop is one key to efficient water use (ET is also called crop water use.