By Ina, Golden Waves WIFE

There are several ways to water the soil. You may have used some of these techniques in your yard or garden. You can use a garden hose, a sprinkler can, have an underground sprinkler system to water a large area all at once, or put a small sprinkler on the end of a hose and let it water a smaller area.

Remember, water runs downhill. However, water can be pumped uphill. Today, water is often pumped uphill to water a farmer's fields. Farmers use different types of irrigation to water crops, just as you might use different ways to water your lawn or garden.

The farmer is starting an electric pump to bring water from deep in the ground (called ground water) to the surface for irrigation of the farmer's crops. The boy in the blue shirt (standing in the weeds) is watching to see if the gasket on the first pipe holds and there are no leaks when the flow of water comes into the pipe.

The water runs into a section of "gated pipe" for distribution to the cropland. Gated pipe is pipe with small holes cut where the water can come out. The pipe shown here is 10 inches in diameter and is gated every 30 inches. The farmer bought it that way to match the crop rows planted by his planter.

The boy carrying the "socks" is bringing them to the next "set" for placement at the gated pipe openings. Socks are nylon tubes threaded through a hoop that can be looped over the pipe at the "gate" for the water to run through. Using socks allows the water to run onto the land without eroding the soil.

These kids are changing this "set" for the evening. A set is the number of gates that can be opened to match the flow from that irrigation well. This set will need changing again the morning.
It takes time and is hard work to lay the pipe out and get the dirt up against it to keep the water from running back under the pipe and going the wrong way. However, once the pipe is laid out, it is a much easier job to change a set. This is a job young people can do. Don't forget the mosquito repellent as mosquitoes are almost always present!

The water in this pit was pumped from an underground well. It flowed through a pipe that extended across a creek and into this plastic lined pit. From the pit, a "booster pump" (the red engine) puts the water into a longer pipe under the ground.

The underground pipe carries the water from the plastic lined pit to a "center pivot sprinkler", which is a long pipe with wheels under it. This machine is approximately 1,320 feet long and runs in a circle around its center or pivot, much like a hand on a clock runs around the clock but is attached only at the center of the clock circle.

At the pivot of this sprinkler, the water comes up and into the long pipe. Each length of pipe has several drop nozzles attached to it where the water comes out and is spread evenly over the land as the machine rolls around the circle. The crop under this sprinkler is very small milo. It will grow tall, have a long head, and be harvested for cattle feed.

Can you see the rainbow on the left side under the sprinkler? The family garden is behind the orange fence. This center pivot sprinkler runs very close to the family home. These machines require less physical labor than other types of irrigation but they are very expensive and can be easily damaged by wind or storms.

This is a copy of an aerial photo taken for farm records. It shows the placement of center pivot sprinklers on a section of land (640 acres or 1 square mile). On this section, only 390 acres are watered by the 4 center pivot sprinklers. The snake-like black line going through the drawing is a creek. If you ever fly over the Great Plains in the daytime, the fields irrigated by center pivot sprinklers will look like circles on the land.

Another type of irrigation is often called "flood" irrigation since the water runs down a slope to irrigate the crops. The farmer uses "siphon tubes" to draw the water out of this ditch and onto the land. The farmer has "corrugated" between the rows of corn in this field so that the water can run downhill and water the crop. Can you see the white siphon tubes on the right side of the ditch? This "run" will last about 12 hours. Then the tubes will need to be moved again. The land has to be maintained with a slope to make this all work right.

The orange thing in the irrigation ditch is called a plastic "dam". It is carefully placed into the soil in the bottom and inner sides of the ditch to hold the water while this "set" of tubes is running water out onto the field. If the dam is not set properly, or if there are not enough tubes running from the ditch, the force of the water being pumped into the ditch will take the dam out. Then, the water would run over the sides of the ditch and the water would not be controlled and the "set" would not be irrigated as it should be.

In Kansas, farmers must receive permission to pump water for irrigation from the state. Farmers are required to keep records on how much water is used each year. A farmer cannot use more water than his "water right" from the state allows him to use.

Farmers who irrigate do not want to waste water because they know it will cost them extra time and money. In the Great Plains, farmers know that water is a very precious natural resource.