Row lengths should not exceed 1,320 feet on heavy soils and, depending on soil texture and slope, can be shorter. The coarser the soil or the steeper the slope, the shorter the run length. Row slopes should be between 0.05 feet per 100 feet to 0.5 feet per 100 feet. Cross slopes should be less than or equal to row slope, except in a permanent-graded furrow design. Depending on surface conditions, stream size used should be as large as possible to move water through the field quickly without causing erosion.
Automation is close to breaking into furrow irrigation.
This takes some of the labor out of changing gates and allows for better set design but does not totally eliminate the nonuniformity and overland-flow effects that cause inefficiencies in furrow irrigation. The best success from a furrow irrigation program is the result of hard work and good management. Border Border irrigation is a modern method of surface irrigation. Borders generally are prepared with zero side slope and a small but uniform longitudinal slope not exceeding one percent. The borders are divided by levees running down the slope at uniform spacings.