Surge Irrigation on Various Soils

Researchers at Washington State University field tested surge irrigation on a cherry orchard with fine sandy loam soils. The soils have less than 10% clay and are easily eroded. The field had about a 3% slope to the south and a 5% cross slope to the west. Results of the test showed that application efficiencies were near 80% and soil erosion was minimal.
Daily Furrow Irrigation in Orchards, Evans, Proebsting, Mahan, Washington State University.

Field studies using surge irrigation on clay loam and sandy loam fields showed that surge accelerated water advance rates on both soils. Also noted were improved distributions of infiltrated water and consequently lower drainage volumes.
Surge vs Continuous-Flow Irrigation, Goldhamer, Alemi, Phene, University of California Cooperative Extension.

Satisfactory results have been obtained with surge flow irrigation on sandy soils (0.5 inch/hour water intake rate) and on finer-textured soils (0.3 and 0.1 inch/hour water intake rate under certain conditions.
Surge Flow Irrigation, Henggeler, Sweeten, and Keese, Texas Agricultural Extension Service.