AG TECH NO LOG IE S
FALL 2015
PRECISION AG U P DAT E THE AQUIFER SYSTEM Did you know that aquifers hold 99% of all the freshwater on earth? Underground layers of rock that are saturated with water that can be brought to the surface through natural springs or by pumping, aquifers store groundwater and are one of the most important sources of water on Earth. The water cycle of an aquifer begins with rainwater. As rainwater hits the ground and slowly soaks into the soil, any rainwater located below the ground is considered groundwater. The groundwater moves through the soil, which acts like a sponge and becomes saturated with water. The area where the soil is saturated is called the water table. Any excess groundwater will move below the water table and continue moving down until it hits a barrier, often comprised of rocks. Pockets or opening in the rocks fill with groundwater to form an aquifer, which is simply an underground reservoir for water. Because it's impossible to see and difficult to measure, there are a number of myths associated with groundwater. It's widely believed, for example, that groundwater flows like an underground river. Though there are a handful of places with large underground gaps where water can flow rapidly, these are very rare. Groundwater can be found in a range of different types of rock, but the most productive aquifers are found in porous, permeable rock such as sandstone, or the open cavities and caves of limestone aquifers. More porous rock has innumerable small spaces that can hold water. Groundwater moves more readily through these materials, which allows for faster pumping and other methods of extracting the water. Some of the world's largest aquifers, including the Floridan aquifer found in this area, are found in regions with these porous bedrocks. The Floridan aquifer system is the largest, oldest, and deepest aquifer in the southeastern U.S., underlying an area of about 100,000 square miles in southern Alabama, southeastern Georgia, southern South Carolina, and all of Florida. It is also one of the most productive aquifers in the world, issuing out over 3 billion gallons a day and serving as the principal source of freshwater for agricultural irrigation, industrial uses, and drinking water. This extensive underground reservoir currently supplies drinking water to about 10 million people residing across the area, as well as 50% of the water that is used for agricultural irrigation in the region. Crops consume large quantities of water removed from the Floridan aquifer - more than 1.5 billion gallons of water each day. A single center-point irrigation system on a typical farm may use over one million gallons of water per day. One of the primary goals of water management for agriculture is to increase the amount of crop produced per drop of water. Conserving water by putting it where it will gain the greatest return, and only using what’s needed, makes crop production more sustainable and more profitable.
Protecting our aquifers while attempting to feed a growing global population is a tricky balancing act, but with the help of precision irrigation solutions, Ag Technologies can provide some of the answers.
Source: www.floridaswater.com