7.10 - What is a Supply Limited Consumptive Use Analysis?

A water supply limited consumptive use analysis considers historical water supply available to meet irrigated water requirements. Water supply limited consumptive use is often called actual consumptive use, as it is the estimate of the amount of irrigation water actually use by the crops, as contrast to potential ET or irrigation water requirements which represent the amount of water the crops need (or could use under an unlimited water supply). This option is only available under a Structure Scenario and can be selected from Menu Control Option window if historical surface water supply data (*.ddh) and irrigation efficiencies (*.ipy) are provided. A soil moisture balance can be included in the supply limited analysis. A supply limited analysis is only performed on a monthly time step. If a daily consumptive use method is used, the daily irrigation water requirements are summed to monthly and then used in the water supply limited estimate. See Section 3.2 for more information.