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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Sustainable Water Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #390633
Research Project: Development of Sustainable Water Management Technologies for Humid Regions

Location: Sustainable Water Management Research

Title: A quantitative review of irrigation development in the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta from 1991 to 2020

Author
item LO, TSZ HIM - Mississippi State University
item PRINGLE, H.C.(LYLE), III - Mississippi State University

Submitted to: Agronomy
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/10/2021
Publication Date: 12/15/2021
Citation: Lo, T., Pringle, H. 2021. A quantitative review of irrigation development in the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta from 1991 to 2020. Agronomy. 11(12):2548. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11122548.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11122548

Interpretive Summary: Scientists at the National Center for Alluvial Aquifer Research were preparing a special collection of journal articles that analyzed university surveys on farmers' perceptions and adoption of irrigation best management practices in the Mid-South. The impact of the special collection would be enhanced if an additional article focused on background information related to Mid-South irrigation. The present paper provided an overview of irrigation development between 1991 and 2020 in the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta, which is one part of the Mid-South. This paper pointed out and commented on patterns over space and trends over time related to irrigated area, irrigated land cover, and irrigation systems. The immediate contribution of this paper is helping readers of the special collection understand the Mid-South better and transfer findings to other regions more easily. A further contribution of this paper is acting as a centralized and condensed secondary source for three decades of irrigation history to save others the time and effort of compiling and making sense of multiple primary sources.

Technical Abstract: The Yazoo-Mississippi Delta is one of the regions within the Lower Mississippi River Basin where substantial irrigation development and consequent groundwater depletion have occurred over the past three decades. To describe this irrigation development, a study was conducted to analyze existing geospatial datasets and to synthesize the results with those of past government surveys. The effort produced a quantitative review characterizing three aspects of irrigation development from 1991 to 2020. First, the expansion of irrigated area was tracked in terms of absolute area and in terms of fraction relative to total land or cropland area. Second, trends in irrigated land cover were traced in terms of irrigated crop mix, irrigated fractions of main crops, and comparisons with non-irrigated land. Third, changes in irrigation systems were examined in terms of water sources, energy sources, and application methods. Original findings of this study for the end of 2020 included moderate positive spatial autocorrelation in the density of irrigated areas; a higher irrigated crop preference for soybean and rice over cotton and corn in highly hydric soils; and 91% and 3% of permitted areas studied being respectively under groundwater withdrawal permits exclusively and under surface water diversion permits exclusively. By compiling such information, this paper can serve as a convenient reference on the recent history and status of irrigation development in the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta.