Rick Grimes, owner of Southwest Irrigation in southwest Arizona, has been servicing the state of Arizona and parts of Imperial Valley California for 40 years.

The Challenge

In Arizona and Imperial Valley, California summer weather brings temperatures of 47-49 °C, and ET rates range between six-tenths to seven-tenths of an inch a day. This means that a farmer with 129.5 hectares of land will need, at a minimum, 172 liters of water per minute per acre just to offset the ET rates in June, July, and August. Farmers in the region are irrigating around 6000 hours a year and farming 12 months out of the year, so most are looking for ways to lower their pumping costs. 

Arizona has flat, laser-leveled fields with heavy soil ranging between a sandy loam and clay consistency. Because of the heavy soil in the state, farmers also need to keep their wheel tracks dry. Otherwise their machines are prone to getting stuck. 

The Solution

Southwest Irrigation has been recommending LEPA Close Spacing packages for 25 years - and as of 2017, almost 99% of their sales can be attributed to LEPA technology. The bulk of their packages are spaced 76 to 101.6 cm apart between sprinklers and 6 to 91 cm off the ground.

They depend on this technology to keep the grower's pumping costs down and wheel tracks dry.

In their experience, a LEPA sprinkler closer to the ground uses less horsepower and less pressure to achieve the same results as a traditional sprinkler that's 0.9, 1.22, or 1.8 meters off the ground. Meaning LEPA Close Spacing lets growers irrigate more acres and save money because they can  put more water on the ground more efficiently and get a better uniform crop with it.

"That was kind of a whole idea behind it: water application, energy savings. Take a guy that's pumping 3785 liters a minute on his pivot over 48.5 hectares, and he's got sprinklers that are 3 meters apart and 1.2 or 1.5 meters off the ground. If you change that over to Close Spacing and lower that sprinkler down to the ground, you're putting more water on the ground. A 76-cm spacing will typically result in 98-99% uniformity and distribution of water applied. You can't get that with the sprinkler that's 3 meters apart and 1.5 meters off the ground." - Rick Grimes