Soil Water:

Characteristics
and Behavior
Water Uses

 How the plant uses water.

 60-90% of plant mass is water
 When a plant has a full complement of water it is
said to be turgid, loss of turgidity results in wilting.
 Is essential for cell functions
 Photosynthesis
 Transpiration helps cool the leaf
 Plant nutrients are in solution
 Carries carbohydrates in phloem
Water Uses

 Improper amount of water

 Stress – too little
 Wilting
 Permanent wilting point
 Water stress weakens plant
 Too much water
 No air space
 Anaerobic conditions exist when no oxygen
available
Water Molecule structure

 Structure
 Two hydrogen atoms one oxygen atom
 this attachment is held at 105
 this hydrogen side is positively charged
Water Molecule Structure

 Creating a polar molecule

 Causing it to be attracted strongly to itself,
cohesion
 Also attraction towards other material, adhesion.
 The force that attracts water to other objects
 In small spaces this force can move water
 In large spaces the affect is minimal
 Responsible for the surface tension of water
Water Molecule Structure

 Capillary water
 The ability of water to move upward against
gravity or outward.
 This ability is directly related to adhesion and
cohesion
 The meniscus is pulled up a small tube by
adhesion properties of the tube and the cohesion
pulls the other water molecules with it. The
height of travel is related to the size of the tube.
h = .15/r with the radius in cm
Soil Water Energy forms:
The energy that acts on soil water

 Matric force is the soil solid’s attraction

(adhesion) to water which causes
adsorption and movement of water
through the soil (capillarity) not counting
the force of gravity.
 Osmotic force is the movement of a
high concentration of ions to a lower
concentration.
 Gravity
Water movement and
retention
 Movement
 Texture and the wetting pattern
 Clay soils produce a more round ball pattern
 Sandy soils produce a more oblong pattern;
water percolates more quickly into the soil
Water movement and
retention
 Types of water movement
 Gravitational Water or Saturated flow
 Water that moves through the root zone and
below
 Water movement varies as to the soil texture
 Water movement in the soil changes when water
moves from one different/unmixed texture soil to
another
Water movement and
retention
 Types of water movement (cont’d)
 Capillary movement
 Small pores water moving laterally
 Conditional on texture and structure
 Large pores
 Little water retention
 Sand
 Small pores
 Great water retention
 Clay
 Types of water movement (cont’d)
 Capillary movement (Cont’d)
 Medium pores
 Fine sand and silt hold the most available water
 Infiltration - the process in which water moves
into the Soil
 Percolation is the downward movement of water
through
 the soil
 soil texture
 Compaction
 Soil stratifications affect the soil how?
Water soil terms of
wetness
 Maximum retentive capacity
 Water has filled all pore spaces
 Can only be maintained by more water or no
percolation
 Field Capacity
 After gravitational water has moved out and
the soil is holding the water
 Sometimes called capillary water
Water soil terms of
wetness
 Permanent Wilting Point (PWP) or wilting
coefficient.
 That point of no return for a plant wilting
 Water in the soil is no longer available to the plant
 Available water is the difference between Field
capacity and PWP
 A fine sand or silt loam will have the highest available
water
 Hygroscopic water - water held so tightly it is
unavailable to the plant
Water removal by the
plant
 Removal of water from the surface area
first then the lower areas
 Water around the soil particle is removed
by the root hair and used by the plant.
 The root must be in contact with the soil
to remove its water.
Measuring soil water

 Gravimetric Measurements
 Weight difference between soil and oven
dried soil = percentage of weight of the
water.
 Tensiometers
 Measures the moisture pull of the soil in a
tube or the measures the water potential of
the soil
Tensiometers
Measuring soil water

 Electrical Resistance block

 Measures the conductivity through a block of
gypsum or other buffering material. More
water the less resistance. This device can
easily be hooked to a watering device to
automatically water a given field.
Electrical Resistance
block
Time Domain
Reflectometry
 May be automated
 Requires wave guides
 Expensive instrument
Time Domain
Reflectometry
Neutron Scattering Probe

 Radiation permit required

 Expensive equipment
 Requires access tube
 Not good in high-organic soils
Neutron Scattering Probe
How does water move
around on this planet?
 97% of our world’s water is in the ocean
 our ground water only makes up another
.7%
 of the .05% of the other water, 60% is in
lakes and 33% trapped in the soil
How does water move
around on this planet?
 Most of the clouds are therefore formed form
the oceans by evaporation and transpiration
together these two avenues of water into the
atmosphere are called evapotranspiration (ET).
 This rain then falls on areas we call watersheds
usually defined as river area bounded by mountains
or hills that divide the waters movement from one
another.
 We utilize the Tuolumne River watershed with Don
Pedro the primary storage site with Modesto and
Turlock reservoirs the secondary storage site.
How does water move
around on this planet?
 Reducing ET and Evaporation
 Remove unwanted vegetation
 Fallow periods for water replenishing
 Vegetative mulches and crop residues
 Plastic mulches
 ??
How does water move
around on this planet?
 Water infiltration and percolation
 If water does not move into the soil, then
run-off occurs
 Water that is in the soil moves downward
into least water potential area.
 If the downward movement is impeded then the
water backs up until it forms a lake or moves into
another lower area.
 Drainage can reclaim high water saturated areas
 Surface draining – Ditches and slope
 Sub-surface -
Drainage

 What do we do with
our tail water?

 What is the problem

with tail water?
How does water move
around on this planet?
 Water infiltration and percolation (cont’d)
 Water and the dissolved elements move with the
water to lowest area
 Applications for septic tanks
 Enough percolation to have water move into the soil
 But not too fast as the soil cannot filter out the solids
(150cm per hour)
How does water move
around on this planet?
 Irrigation methods
 Water is getting scarcer and more people
want it we must use the present water in a
more efficient manner.
Irrigation
 1. How do we measure water?
 2. How do we decide what method to
use?
 A. Climate
 B. Type of crop
 C. Cost of water (availability)
 D. Slope of field
 E. Physical properties of soil
 F. Drainage capability
 G. Salinity or other problems
Irrigation

 1. Flood - Surface
 2. Sprinkler
 3. Drip - Microirrigation
Flood - Types

 1. Checks
 2. Furrow
A. Plastic or Alum. Pipes
B. Gated Pipe
C. Poly Pipe
D. Permanent pipe (valves)
Sprinkler - Types

 1. Hand Set
 2. Permanent Set
 3. Wheel Line
 4. Center Pivot
 5. Hose Drag
Drip - Types

 1. Micro Emitters
 2. In-Line Emitters
 3. Adjustable Emitters
 4. Drip Tape
 5. Many more types
Soil Moisture Behavior
 1. Saturation (1/10 Atmosphere)

 2. Field Moisture Capacity (1/3

Atmosphere) ½ saturation

 3. Permanent Wilting Percentage (15

Atmosphere) ¼ saturation
How does water enter the
soil?
 through pores in the soil
 sandy soils have the largest pores, but are
often filled with other material
 medium textured soils (loamy) have good
water entry properties
 clays, pores swell shut when they get wet
How does water move
around on this planet?
 Use of water for management of high salt
soils
 Perhaps improved drainage to remove
excess water
 Use more water to leach out the salts as
long as there is a good clean source of
water is available.
Salt movement in soil.
Salt movement in soil.