Cost Savings with Surge Irrigation

Surge irrigation is inexpensive to adopt in relation to the benefits of more uniform water distribution, reduced deep percolation, reduced to no tailwater, and less total irrigation. Some growers have cut irrigation amounts by 50 percent.
Opportunities to Maximize the Utilization of Water by Irrigators, Leon New, Texas Agricultural Extension Service.

The Calls estimate a water savings of about 40 percent compared to previous methods.
Surge Flow Irrigation: Automatic Surface Irrigation Demonstration for Summer Onion Tour, Hill and Stringham, Utah State University Cooperative Extension Service.

In 1992 surge irrigation saved 12.1 and 23.8 percent irrigation water when compared to conventional furrow irrigation on Colorado corn.
Surge Irrigation Saves Water with Top Yields, Jim Valliant, Colorado State University Cooperative Extension.

Six irrigation systems were evaluated using a variety of factors to establish a net investment per acre. Surge was on the low end with $48.83 per acre and LEPA was the high end with $238.72 per acre.
The Economics of Efficient Irrigation Systems, Stephen H. Amosson, Texas A&M University.

Surge irrigation used 15, 30, and 40 percent less water than conventional irrigation in 1992 on three corn irrigation demonstration sites.
Surge Irrigation Saves Water, Jim Valliant, Colorado State University Cooperative Extension Service.

Furrow irrigation is used on more than half the irrigated acres in Nebraska. Some farmers are switching from furrow to center pivot irrigation to reduce labor and improve irrigation performance. Surge irrigation allows furrow irrigators to gain these same advantages without investing in major equipment. Getting over the field during the first irrigation in half or three quarters of the time it normally takes may more than pay for a valve in a single year. By realizing a water savings, pumping costs can be reduced. For each inch of water saved, pumping cost savings may exceed $150 for a quarter section field.
Fundamentals of Surge Irrigation, Yonts, Eisenhauer, and Cahoon, Cooperative Extension, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.