Design and evaluation of surface irrigation systems applying an analytical formula in the irrigation district 085, La Begona, Mexico

The area under irrigation in Mexico is just over 6.64 million hectares, most of which is irrigated with surface gravity systems (borders or furrows). However, one of the main problems presented by these methods is the loss associated with deep infiltration, tailwaters, and flooding in some parts of the land as a result of a poor flow design at the entrance of the furrow or border. In this study, the evaluation of irrigation tests, the data of the plot and the net irrigation depth to be applied show that the optimum expense that can be put in each furrow during an irrigation event can be calculated under the hypothesis that with this expense, the historical water depths applied in the evaluated plots can be reduced. The results obtained in 250 irrigation tests in 1010 ha in the Irrigation District 085, La Begona, Guanajuato, Mexico, showed that average water depths decreased by 19 cm, irrigation time decreased 12 h ha(-1) on average, and the average volume saved was 2150 m(3) ha, which represented a total of 49% of the total volume used. In addition, the average efficiency rose from 51 to 86%.