Cotton grown in southwestern oklahoma depends on irrigation water stored in a single reservoir, lake lugert-altus, and delivered through a canal system to about 50,000 acres of farmland in the…

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded Oklahoma State University $588,000 on September 15, 2026, under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (CFDA 10.310) to deploy soil moisture and crop canopy temperature sensors across the Lugert-Altus Irrigation District in southwestern Oklahoma and develop a water-management decision tool for cotton irrigation.

The project addresses chronic water scarcity in a district serving approximately 50,000 acres of cotton farmland dependent on a single reservoir that fails to release water in roughly 7 of every 15 growing seasons. Current irrigation decisions rely on calendar and custom rather than crop-specific water needs; field measurements show applied water actually reaching crop root zones ranges from 20 to 85 percent depending on location. The sensors will measure soil moisture and canopy temperature in fields distributed across the district's sub-districts to determine optimal timing for first and last irrigations of the season. Replicated research trials test both furrow and subsurface drip irrigation systems to measure effects on cotton yield and fiber quality. The project evaluates equipment and practice modifications to increase water efficiency, including smaller siphons, smaller and more frequent water orders, and row-by-row watering. Computer modeling will integrate sensor data and field measurements to show how different irrigation amounts and timings would affect yield, producing a decision tool for district managers to optimize water allocation. Work is performed in Stillwater, Oklahoma, with a period of performance through September 14, 2029.

Cotton grown in southwestern oklahoma depends on irrigation water stored in a single reservoir, lake lugert-altus, and delivered through a canal system to about 50,000 acres of farmland in the lugert-altus irrigation district. Rainfall in the region is highly variable from year to year and the reservoir does not always refill: in 7 of the last 15 growing seasons the district was unable to release any water to farmers at all. Even when water is available, much of IT never reaches the crop. Measurements in the district show that the share of applied water actually entering the soil, where roots can reach IT, ranges from 20 to 85 percent depending on the field. Farmers currently decide when to ask for water and when to stop largely by calendar and custom, and the district decides when to release water based on those requests, because no one has timely information about how much water the crop actually needs across the district. This project places soil moisture and crop canopy temperature sensors in farm fields spread across the district, with at least one in each of sub-districts, and uses what those sensors measure to answer two practical questions: when should the first irrigation of the season begin, and when can the last one safely stop. The same approaches are tested side by side in a replicated research trial under both furrow and subsurface drip irrigation so that effects on yield and fiber quality can be measured directly. The project also measures how much of each irrigation actually enters the soil and tests changes that raise that fraction, including smaller siphons, smaller and more frequent water orders, and watering every row instead of every other row. The measurements are combined with computer models to show how different amounts and timings of irrigation would affect cotton yield, and the results are assembled into a decision tool the district manager can use to decide where and when to send water. The expected benefit is more cotton produced per inch of water, more water left in storage for the following year, and a practical method other irrigation and conservation districts across the cotton belt can adopt without every farmer having to buy sensors.