Graduate Academic Subdiscipline

Agricultural Water Management
West Texas cotton field being irrigated under a blue sky.

Overview

The Agricultural Water Management program educates students in the application of engineering principles to support useful plant life, with minimum degradation of soil and water resources. The primary objective of the interdisciplinary program is to understand soil, water and plant relationships and how they can be applied to better manage natural resources in the production of food and fiber.

In addition to increasing their understanding of engineering fundamentals, students are encouraged to appreciate environmental and ecological effects of irrigated agriculture. This is important since irrigated agriculture has come under increasing criticism for being a heavy user of scarce water resources and for polluting soil and water resources.

Faculty

José Chávez
José Chávez
Professor
Timothy Gates
Timothy Gates
Professor - FC

Courses

Each student consults with their graduate student committee to develop a specific program of study and research that is consistent with the individual’s background, interests, and goals. Many students follow programs similar to the one listed below.

  • CIVE 512 Irrigation Systems Design

  • CIVE 519 Irrigation Water Management
  • CIVE 549 Drainage and Wetlands Engineering

  • CIVE 580A2 Conjunctive Ground/Surface Management

  • CIVE 576 Engineering Applications of GIS and GPS

  • CIVE 520 Physical Hydrology

  • CIVE 521 Hydrometry

  • CIVE 531 Groundwater Hydrology

  • CIVE 532 Wells and Pumps

  • CIVE 525 Water Engineering for International Development

  • CIVE 544 Water Resources Planning & Management

  • CIVE 546 Water Resources Systems Analysis

  • CIVE 547 Statistics for Environmental Monitoring

  • CIVE 571 Pipe System Engineering and Hydraulics

  • CIVE 577 GIS in Civil and Environmental Engineering

  • ENGR 520 Engineering Decision Support/Expert Systems

  • AGRI 500 Advanced Issues in Agriculture

  • CIVE 612 Open-Channel Flow

  • CIVE 625 Quantitative Eco-Hydrology

  • CIVE 631 Computational Methods in Sub-surface Systems

  • CIVE 681A1 Systems for Developing Groundwater Resources

  • NSCI 696 Group Study: The Habitable Planet: a Systems Approach to Environmental Science

  • SOCR 470 Soil Physics

  • SOCR 471 Soil Physics Laboratory

  • SOCR 490 Hydrus-1D Workshop

  • SOCR 522 Plant Canopy Meteorology

Review course descriptions

 

Graduate studies in Agricultural Water Management typically consider issues like the following:

  • Soil-water-crop relationships
  • Analysis for crop water requirements
  • On-farm irrigation system design and water management
  • Design of water delivery and distribution systems
  • Water control and measurement in irrigation systems
  • Drainage of irrigated lands
  • Environmental concerns related to irrigation and drainage – salt problem, nutrient leaching, and reduction of stream flows in rivers

 

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Graduate Admission and Program Details

Prospective students can learn more about our requirements, objectives, and program details.

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Advising and Graduate Student Resources

Current students can schedule an appointment with the graduate advisor and access tools to help plan their academic journey.