Water abstraction from the River Spey area for domestic and agricultural purposes and its effect on agriculture

Abstract

Abstract The potential effects of water abstraction from the gravels adjacent to the River Spey, and in particular the possible effects on agriculture, are discussed. Information on soils, soil‐moisture conditions, and crop distributions was used in the development of a conceptual model. Three distinct areas were recognised in the alluvial floodplain, based on textural and soil‐drainage criteria, enhanced by water‐table fluctuation as measured in dipwells. At the eastern edge, close to the river, the soils are coarser, agriculture is rain‐fed and a change in level of the water‐table would have no effect. In the central belt, sandy topsoil overlies gravel; here shallow rooted crops would suffer no effects, but deeper rooted crops obtain supplementation from the water‐table in dry periods and may be affected by lowering of the water‐table. On the western edge, the water‐table is close to the surface. If a lowering of the water‐table was effected, farming operations may benefit.