Soil Salinity in the Texas Lower Rio Grande Valley
Abstract
In recent years, increasing levels of soil salinity have begun to affect production levels of farmland in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Since high salinity levels greatly impede the ability of plant crops to absorb needed moisture, plant growth and production may be severely affected. Tree crops, which generally exhibit the least tolerance of saline conditions, deem the citrus industry particularly vulnerable.
Since this is a problem which greatly affects the economic basis for an entire geographical region of the state and since this area is climatically replicated only in the very limited areas of Southern California and Southern Florida, it must be regarded as a natural resource of highly valuable significance.
One of the primary purposes for which this research was undertaken was to pinpoint those factors contributing to the formation of saline soil. Those factors were identified as derived from three primary sources: the chemical quality of the water utilized in irrigation, impermeable soil and/or the presence of a high water table, and an arid or semi-arid climate. This report differs from conventional information provided on the topic in that a historical perspective is provided which leads directly to the conclusion that the chief causal factor lies not with these secondary occurrences but with a very serious, fundamental failure in our agricultural land management practice.
The report concludes with a call for change from long established traditions regarding agricultural land policy and management and offers specific recommendations employing the solutions derived.
A strong emphasis is placed on the revelation that salinity is not an isolated occurrence within the Lower Rio Grande Valley but is one of the four major contributors to the process of desertification and, as such, is part of an extensive global problem.
Description
Program year: 1986-1987Digitized from print original stored in HDR
Citation
Aleman, Marthanne Payne (1987). Soil Salinity in the Texas Lower Rio Grande Valley. University Undergraduate Fellows. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /CAPSTONE -AlemanM _1987.