New crop irrigation project also reduces flooding
North Carolina Sea Grant and NC State University, in partnership with the NC Department of Agriculture (NCDA), are launching an innovative water management project in Kinston. A two-acre pond and earthen berms will collect runoff so it can be used to irrigate adjacent cropland.
“The new source of water will help to increase crop productivity,” says Barbara Doll, water protection and restoration specialist for North Carolina Sea Grant. “The system will provide essential water during hot, dry periods, which are becoming more typical during early summer, when growing plants need the water most.”
In addition to providing irrigation water for crops, the pond and berms also will offer flood relief. Located at the NCDA’s Caswell Research Farm, near the corner of Hull Rd and Goodson Boulevard in Kinston, the new system will lessen flooding downstream along Adkins Branch.
Doll says the project will improve water quality as well by allowing time for sediment and other pollutants in runoff water to settle out. “The nutrients stored in the pond will be recirculated back to the crops, helping to reduce fertilizer applications and associated costs,” she says.
NC State University designed the project and will administer it with funding from the NC Land & Water Fund’s Flood Risk Reduction Grant Program. Charles Hughes Construction, a contractor based in LaGrange, North Carolina, will begin construction in mid-to-late March.
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