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THE Southern High Plains has approximately 1.2 million hectares (3 million acres) of moderately permeable irrigated soils. Graded-furrow irrigation can result in large applications of water and intake that exceeds profile storage capacity, resulting in losses to deep profile drainage and reduced irrigation application efficiency. A 2-yr field study of irrigated corn (Zea mays L.) was conducted on Olton clay loam (fine, mixed, thermic Aridic Paleustoll) near Friona, TX, in 1982-83. The objective was to evaluate the use of tractor-wheel compaction of irrigated furrows in reducing excessive water intake and profile drainage. Treatments evaluated were irrigation only 1.5-m (60-in.) spaced furrows (a) compacted to about 1.6 Mg/m3 (1.6 g/cc) bulk density, designated as HARD, and (b) nonwheel traffic furrows having bulk densitites of 1.2 to 1.3 Mg/m3, designated as SOFT. Four seasonal irrigations were evaluated in 1982 and seven in 1983. In 1983, a management option was tested in which the fourth and fifth seasonal irrigations in the HARD furrow treatment were switched to SOFT furrows for "catch up" and to meet water requirements during a high evaporative demand period. HARD furrows reduced water advanced time for 400-m (1,320-ft) field length by 48%, water intake by 33%, and estimated profile drainage by about one-half without affecting grain yields. In the 1983 test, utilizing a system of alternating SOFT and HARD furrows permitted flexibility in managing irrigation water intake to meet conditions of varied evaporative demand and profile storage needs. We conclude that combining wide-spaced furrows with tractor-wheel compaction permits a reduction of 20 to 30% in irrigation water requirements for graded-furrow irrigation of the moderately permeable soils in the Southern High Plains.