LONG-TERM SOIL-MOISTURE STATUS IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA

Nineteen years of soil moisture content data at Lethbridge and two locations near Turin were examined to evaluate the efficiency of fallow for conserving moisture, and to calculate the long-term mean amount of water recharge during growing and nongrowing seasons under a fallow-cereal, 2-yr rotation and a continuous cropping system. The significantly higher soil water content at the 90- to 120-cm depth for the fallow field than for other fields during various periods of time indicates that the soil water recharge from precipitation might be deeper in the fallow field than in continuous cropping and fresh stubble of fallow-cereal rotation fields. The deeper soil water recharge could increase the available soil moisture for crop production and it could also contribute to ground water recharge. -from Authors