NCERA217: Drainage design and management practices to improve water quality
Statement of Issues and Justification
Statement of Issue and Justification:In the North Central Region, most agricultural producers improve drainage on their land to improve trafficability, enhance field conditions for more timely planting and harvesting operations, and help decrease crop damage that can result from saturated soil and standing water. Agricultural drainage improvement can also help reduce year-to-year variability in crop yield, which helps reduce the risks associated with production of abundant, high quality, affordable food. Although subsurface (tile) drainage can reduce surface water runoff and associated soil erosion and contaminant losses from soils prone to saturation, these subsurface (tile) drainage systems are known to transport nitrate-nitrogen, sediment, particulate and dissolved phosphorus, pesticides, and microbial contaminants to streams and rivers (Carpenter et al., 1998; Scott et al., 1998; Gilliam et al., 1999; Kladivko et al., 1999; Addiscott et al., 2000; Randall and Goss, 2001; Jamieson et al., 2002). On-going water quality assessments of lakes, rivers and streams in the U.S. will result in additional water bodies listed as impaired for turbidity, nutrients, and fecal coliform; and thus, all sources of these inputs will require improved assessment and more stringent management. Eutrophication of surface water and its impact on coastal estuaries and hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico will continue to be important water quality issues.
The goal of drainage research is to improve drainage system design and function in order to simultaneously meet production goals and minimize detrimental environmental outcomes. Sustaining the high productivity of drained lands for food and fiber production and protecting the environment is a delicate balance between the interests of private farms and public policy objectives. The need to better understand and elucidate the role of drainage water management as a means of optimizing crop production systems while minimizing adverse off-site impacts on water quality continues to be of critical importance. Because of its fundamental importance in crop production and in aquatic systems, nitrogen has been and will continue to be the focus of drainage research and education. Additional information and education are needed to evaluate the impact of integrated crop-drainage water management systems on water quality and quantity. However, the impact of manure based sources of nitrogen is also becoming increasingly important in drainage water management because other manure based constituents adversely affect water quality. The many potential benefits from improved design and management of drainage systems requires further evaluation, demonstration and integration into the agricultural and watershed management sectors of society.
Accomplishments of NCERA207:
This committee has been very active, as demonstrated by the many accomplishments that have been documented during the last five years. The committee includes 20 official members that represent 12 states and two government agencies. This group was organized to focus on research and extension/outreach education topics related to agricultural drainage and water quality. More than 145 members and guests have attended Annual meetings held in Louisiana (2004), Minnesota (2005), Iowa (2006), North Carolina (2007), and Indiana (2008), respectively. During each meeting, time has been dedicated to focus on one or two key topics in a mini-symposia format. Mini-symposia topics have included: " Where does the rest of the water/N go; " Integration of perennials and cover crops for water quality improvement; " Hydrological changes on the landscape scale; " DRAINMOD-NII; " Flow measurement in tile; and " Manure management to prevent contamination of drainage water.
Extension and outreach education are important aspects of the mission of members of this group. Clientele groups for information generated from this committee included agricultural and environmental scientists and agricultural producers, drainage contractors, consultants, certified crop advisors and nutrient management planners, county and regional Extension staff, and local, state and federal agencies that have responsibility for surface water quality, and drainage system evaluation, design, construction, operation, management, and maintenance. Committee members hosted local workshops and field days, developed educational materials [bulletins, web sites (The Drainage Outlet, http://d-outlet.cfans.umn.edu/; Illinois Drainage Guide, http://www.wq.uiuc.edu/dg/; Agricultural Water Management, http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~agwatmgt/; Ag Drainage, http://www3.abe.iastate.edu/agdrainage/index.html; New York Drainage Guide, ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/NY/Engineering/publications/drainage_guide_ny.pdf; North Carolina Drainage Water Manage Advisory, http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/topic/drainageadvisory/ Purdue Agricultural Drainage site, https://engineering.purdue.edu/SafeWater/Drainage/] for drainage design and management systems, and soil and crop management practices for improved environmental quality in agricultural landscapes.
Committee members hosted and taught a DRAINMOD workshop, in conjunction with the 2007 annual meeting. Additionally, there have been field tours and a field day for members and guests of the committee during annual meetings. Members of this group have organized, moderated, and given oral presentations at two special symposia at national meetings of the ASA-CSSA-SSSA and SWCS. In addition, members of this group were among presenters at several annual ASABE International meetings, as well as the ICIDs 10th International Drainage Workshop in Helsinki, Finland and Tallinn, Estonia during 2008.
This regional group produced 169 publications, abstracts, book chapters, or proceedings on subjects ranging from subsurfae drainage and crop production, computer simulation modeling, nutrient loss (nitrogen and phosphorus) from drainage systems, and cover crop impacts on drainage discharges. One key collaborative extension publication authored by members of this committee and that won a Blue Ribbon award from ASABE for educational aids was titled Drainage Water Management for the Midwest: Questions and Answers for Drainage Water Management for the Midwest . For additional details on publications see the NCERA207 Station reports.
The members of this group have developed several successful partnerships at both national and local levels. The NCERA207 committee has been working in collaboration with the Agricultural Drainage Management Systems (ADMS) Task Force, a technical work group of the USDA Partnership Management Team, since 2004. The primary goal of the ADMS Task Force is to develop a national effort to implement improved drainage water management practices and systems that will enhance crop production, conserve water, and reduce adverse offsite water quality and quantity impacts. Other new collaborations have begun since this Committee was formed. Minnesota and Iowa annually hold a joint outreach forum highlighting drainage research results from the respective states. Each state alternately hosts the forum. In 2006, MN, IA, IL, IN, and OH successfully partnered with the Agricultural Drainage Management Coalition (ADMC), a diverse group of trade associations, agricultural industry groups, drainage suppliers and contractors, to be awarded a Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) from NRCS. The focus of the grant was the implementation and demonstration of drainage water management across the five-states, using the demonstration sites as an outreach mechanism.
Why a Renewal is Needed:
Many critical questions remain concerning drainage impacts on water quality, and particularly on the relationship among the various drainage management practices that may reduce contaminant loading.
Many agronomic management practices such as cover crops, crop rotations with forage grasses, and growing cellulosic fiber feedstocks, and enhanced efficiency fertilizers may complement improved drainage system designs and result in reduced nitrate and soluble phosphorus loads. However, these practices may compete during critical periods of the year, or may be less economically viable without additional agricultural infrastructure adjustments and improvements between food and energy production objectives.
With increasing prices for nitrogen and phosphorus, and the need to better utilize and recycle manure based nutrients on livestock farms, manure application to tile drained lands has become a critical issue. The impact of liquid manure applications to drained lands and on the transport of nutrients and other manure-based contaminants to subsurface drainage is being researched, and alternatives are being demonstrated. Since the problem appears to be relatively wide spread, particularly on similarly formed soils that are conducive to macropore development, cracking soils, and preferential flow, the project renewal will provide a unique perspective on questions regarding the potential of drainage water management as a tool to also improve manure management practices on drained lands. It is well known that nitrification and denitrification processes in soil are highly dependent on soil moisture and temperature, in tandem with other soil biological and chemical interactions imposed through various agricultural practices. Drained agricultural soils may constitute a net source or sink of nitrous oxide greenhouse gas, depending on various agricultural management practices. Although it is believed that subsurface drained soil enhances nitrification, thus reducing denitrification but raising the concern for nitrate in the discharge water, the overall impacts of drainage water management in combination with other agricultural practices on N cycling has not yet been well quantified. This research project will facilitate more discussion and potential collaboration to address the fate of N in drained soils.
Renewal of this successful research and extension project will enable researchers and extension specialists to continue to collaborate and solve problems associated with agricultural drainage, crop production, drainage system design, and environmental quality. The members of the NCERA207 committee have the range of technical expertise and the appropriate facilities to carry out the work of this committee. The regional and cross-regional perspectives and the range of environments provided by the various members of the committee will lead to broad applicability of the findings from the research/demonstration projects on drainage design and management practices to improve water quality.
Impacts from successful completion of the proposed regional project include improved drainage system design and management in the North Central region and in other areas represented by the committee membership. Communication of improved drainage water management techniques and cropping system management practices to agricultural professionals and farmers will lead to increased awareness and understanding of the impact of agricultural drainage and land use management at local, regional, and national scales. Implementation of improved drainage water management and cropping system practices will lead to more sustainable use of resources, a reduction in nitrogen, phosphorus and other contaminant losses from drained agricultural lands, and the dramatic reduction of water quality problems associated with nutrient enrichment.
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