GIS data and tables associated with irrigated agricultural land use survey in Polk County, Florida, 2016
Dates
Publication Date
2017-08-08
Citation
Marella, R.L., Berry, D.R. and Dixon, J.F., 2017, GIS data and tables associated with irrigated agricultural land use survey in Polk County, Florida, 2016: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/F76W98BN.
Summary
A detailed inventory of the current irrigated crop acreage is now available to accurately estimate agricultural water use and future water demands in Polk County, Florida. A detailed digital map and summary of irrigated acreage was developed in an effort to improve the accuracy of crop acreage, type, and location for the 2016 growing season. The irrigated areas were delineated using land-use data provided by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) and information obtained from the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) and the Southwest Florida Water Management Districts (SWFWMD) consumptive water-use permits. Each field that showed the presence of an irrigated crop or the potential for irrigation [...]
Summary
A detailed inventory of the current irrigated crop acreage is now available to accurately estimate agricultural water use and future water demands in Polk County, Florida. A detailed digital map and summary of irrigated acreage was developed in an effort to improve the accuracy of crop acreage, type, and location for the 2016 growing season. The irrigated areas were delineated using land-use data provided by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) and information obtained from the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) and the Southwest Florida Water Management Districts (SWFWMD) consumptive water-use permits. Each field that showed the presence of an irrigated crop or the potential for irrigation was field verified between April and December 2016. Selected attribute data were collected for each irrigated field, including crop type, primary water source, and type of irrigation system.
Results and field verification of this inventory indicate that during the 2016 growing seasons (spring, summer, fall, and winter), an estimated 88,652 acres were irrigated within Polk County. Of the total field-verified crops, 83,995 acres were in citrus; 2,893 acres were in other non-citrus fruit crops (blueberries, grapes, peaches, and strawberries); 621 acres were in row crops (primarily beans and watermelons); 1,117 acres were in nursery (container and tree farms) and sod production; and 26 acres were in field crops including hay and pasture. Of the total inventoried irrigated acreage within Polk County, 98.0 percent (86,566 acres) was in the SWFWMD and the remaining 2.0 percent (2,086 acres) was in the SFWMD.
About 85,788 acres (96.8 percent of the acreage inventoried) were irrigated by a microirrigation system, including drip, bubblers, and spray emitters. The remaining 3.2 percent of the irrigated acreage was irrigated using a sprinkler system (2,360 acres) or subsurface flood systems (504 acres). Groundwater was the primary source of water used to irrigate acreage (88.0 percent, or 78,050 acres); the remaining 10,602 acres (12.0 percent) used a combination of groundwater and surface water as the irrigation source.
Provide a detailed digital map and summary of field-verified irrigated acreage within Polk County for the 2016 calendar year, as part of a cooperative study between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the FDACS, Office of Agricultural Water Policy. The map and acreage summary produced by this study will be compared to the Florida Statewide Agricultural Irrigation Demand (FSAID) Irrigated Lands Geodatabase (ILG) prepared by the FDACS and the Balmoral Group (LLC) in 2014. FDACS has created a series of agriculture and irrigated land-use maps for all of the counties in Florida for the purpose of estimating current and projecting future water demands. Validating the county irrigated crop acreage totals and irrigated lands on the FSAID maps through USGS field verification provides FDACS a better level of accuracy for estimating water demands. The irrigated acreage was mapped, digitized, and field verified for the annual and seasonal crops grown during the spring, summer, fall, and winter of 2016 for all of Polk County. Attribute data were collected for each irrigated field, including crop type, irrigation system type, and primary water source (if it could be confirmed). The field verification was conducted between April and December 2016. Additional follow-up field verification was completed as late as January 2017.
Because field verification did not begin until late April of 2016, many of the seasonal vegetables (including beans and watermelons) and strawberries that were planted in late 2015 for a spring 2016 harvest were not inventoried. All of the fields were visited between September and December to identify and label a crop for the fall 2016 planting season, because these crops will be harvested in the early months of 2017. Most of the vegetables and strawberries grown in Polk County are planted between September and December and on the same fields year after year to achieve an early spring harvest. All other crops, such as citrus, blueberries, grapes, ornamentals (container nurseries and tree farms), and sod were also field verified between April and December, even though these crops are grown year round.
