Root zone salinity management using fractional skimming wells with pressurized irrigation: Proceedings of the project-end workshop 2003

In the short water supply environment of Pakistan, farmers try to minimize the gap between demand and supply of canal water by extracting groundwater for irrigation purposes. However, saline groundwater upconing may occur in response to fresh groundwater withdrawals from unconfined aquifer underlain by salty groundwater. Skimming well technology can help in controlling this upconing phenomenon. However, in most cases, the small discharges of such wells cannot be efficiently applied on surface irrigated croplands. Pressurized irrigation systems use small discharge effectively, but the cost and availability of equipment in the local market are the constraints. Root zone salinity is also expected to increase if this skimmed groundwater is used for irrigation purposes, particularly in the absence of proper salinity management practices.