Water table control by subsurface drainage has been shown to affect leaching losses of nitrate-nitrogen: a concern both for economic use of fertilizer, and for maintenance of water quality. The effect of water table height on leaching of NO₃⁻-N was investigated in this study in nineteen 15cm x 100cm undisturbed cores of silty clay loam. The experiment simulated fertilization followed by rainfall, then rapid water table rise and fall, under conditions similiar to those experienced in the early spring in the Lower Fraser Valley. In the first part of the experiment, a concentrated solution of KNO₃ and KG (equivalent to 35 kg/ha of N and 22 kg/ha of Cl) was applied to the columns, followed by intermittent leaching with distilled water. Leachate from two depths in each column was collected before and after a period of static water table, and analyzed for NO₃⁻, No₂⁻, NH₄⁺, and Cl⁻. This procedure was repeated without nutrient addition in the second part of the experiment. Chloride was used an inert tracer to follow anion movement and retention within the columns. There was no significant difference in the leachate NO₃⁻ concentration or leachate N/CI ratio from any of the four water table heights tested (15, 35, 55, and 75 cm above drain depth). The NO₃⁻ concentrations and N/CI ratios decreased with depth in the soil columns, indicating removal of N from the percolating soil solution, either by denitrification or immobilization. The variability in leachate concentrations among all columns was very high (eg. for a typical sample time, NO₃⁻-N ranged from 0.01 to 15.72 mg/L, and Cl⁻ ranged from 4.8 to 14.5 mg/L), as was the variability in constant head satiated hydraulic conductivities (range: 1 to 1468 cm/day; CV = 181%), and drainable porosity (range: 2.7 to 10.4%; CV = 39%). Cross sections of columns leached with 1% methylene blue solution did not reveal differences in patterns of water transmission between low and high conductivity columns. Indications were that penetration of dye was greater in columns with higher conductivities, and that preferential flow occurred in all columns examined. Leachate concentrations and N/CI ratios correlated significantly with hydraulic conductivity: Spearman's correlation coefficients were always > 0.8 for samples obtained from the bottom of the columns. However, even when the conductivity was included as a covariate in an analysis of covariance, there was no significant effect of water table height on nitrate leaching. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Chemical and Biological Engineering, Department of / Graduate

Literature on subsurface drainage theories, determination of drainage parameters, and analysis approaches of uncertainty was reviewed. Sensitivity analysis was carried out on drain spacing equations for steady state and nonsteady state, in homogeneous soils and in layered soils. It was found that drain spacing is very sensitive to the hydraulic conductivity, the drainage coefficient, and the design midspan water table height. Spacing is not sensitive to the depth of the impermeable layer and the drain radius. In transient state, spacing is extremely sensitive to the midspan water table heights if the water table fall is relatively small. In that case steady state theory will yield more reliable results and its use is recommended. Drain spacing is usually more sensitive to the hydraulic conductivity of the soil below the drains than to that of the soil above the drains. Therefore, it is desirable to take samples from deeper soil when measuring hydraulic conductivity. A new spacing formula was developed for two-layered soils and a special case of three-layered soils with drains at the interface of the top two layers. This equation was compared with the Kirkham equation. The new formula yields spacings close to the Kirkham equation if the hydraulic conductivity of the soil above the drains is relatively small; otherwise, it tends to give more accurate results. First and second order analysis methods were employed to analyze parameter uncertainty in subsurface drainage design. It was found that conventional design methods based on a deterministic framework may result in inadequate spacing due to the uncertainty involved. Uncertainty may be incorporated into practical design by using the simple equations and graphs presented in this research; the procedure was illustrated through an example. Conclusions were drawn from the present study and recommendations were made for future research. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Graduate

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<p>Controlled drainage is a management strategy designed to mitigate water quality issues caused by subsurface drainage. To improve controlled drainage system management and better understand its hydrological and environmental effects, this study analyzed water table recession rate, as well as drain flow, nitrate and phosphorus loads of both free and controlled drainage systems, and simulated the hydrology of a free drainage system to evaluate surface runoff and ponding at the Davis Purdue Agricultural Center located in Eastern Indiana. </p> <p>Statistical analyses, including paired watershed approach and paired t-test, indicated that controlled drainage had a statistically significant effect (<i>p</i>-value <0.01) on the rate of water table fall and reduced the water table recession rate by 29% to 62%. The slower recession rate caused by controlled drainage can have negative impacts on crop growth and trafficability by causing the water table to remain at a detrimental level for longer. This finding can be used by farmers and other decision-makers to improve the management of controlled drainage systems by actively managing the system during storm events. </p> <p>A method was developed to estimate drain flow during missing periods using the Hooghoudt equation and continuous water table observations. Estimated drain flow was combined with nutrient concentrations to show that controlled drainage decreased annual nitrate loads significantly (p<0.05) by 25% and 39% in two paired plots, while annual soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) and total phosphorus (TP) loads were not significantly different. These results underscore the potential of controlled drainage to reduce nitrate losses from drained landscapes with the higher level of outlet control during the non-growing season (winter) providing about 70% of annual water quality benefits and the lower level used during the growing season (summer) providing about 30%. </p> <p>Three different methods including monitored water table depth, a digital photo time series and the DRAINMOD model simulations were used to determine the generation process of surface ponding and runoff and the frequency of incidence. The estimated annual water balance indicated that only 7% of annual precipitation contributed to surface runoff. Results from both simulations and observations indicated that all of the ponding events were generated as a result of saturation excess process rather than infiltration excess.</p> <p>Overall, nitrate transport through controlled drainage was lower than free drainage, indicating the drainage water quality benefits of controlled drainage, but water table remained at a higher level for longer when drainage was controlled. This can have negative impacts on crop yields, when water table is above a detrimental level, and can also increase the potential of nutrient transport through surface runoff since the saturation excess was the main reason for generating runoff at this field.</p>

A computer simulation model, LINKFLOW, has been developed to simulate the movement of water during various water table management practices, such as subsurface drainage, controlled drainage and subirrigation. Water movement is simulated to, or from, a buried tile drainage system through a heterogeneous and anisotropic soil to a zone of water extraction by plant roots and the atmosphere. The computer package links a newly-developed one-dimensional unsaturated ground water flow model to a three-dimensional saturated water flow model that was modified for the linkage and for simulating water flow under different water table management systems and varying climatic conditions. The movement of water is determined for a region of the field and the model can show the effectiveness of a water table management scheme to meet moisture conditions for crop growth for a wide range of soil, topographical, drain layout and weather conditions. LINKFLOW was validated and verified with measurements on subsurface drainage, controlled drainage and subirrigation systems in a corn field in southwestern Quebec. The model provides a powerful tool for the design and evaluation of water table management systems, and it can assist in developing control strategies for efficient management of water resources. LINKFLOW is unique among soil water models for the following features: (1) it can be used to simulate with varying topography; (2) it determines 3-D flows from drains in a heterogeneous, anisotropic soil; (3) it presents results in tabular format, contour map format, or 3-D surface format; and (4) it contains software routines for automated control in subirrigation. The formation of the conceptual model, numerical relations, methods of solution, validation, field verification and examples are presented.

A major challenge facing agriculture is to improve water use and minimize environmental impact while increasing productivity levels. This study, carried out in Winkler, Manitoba, tested four water management treatments: no drainage and no irrigation (NDNI as control), no drainage with overhead irrigation (NDIR), free drainage with overhead irrigation (FDIR), and controlled drainage with subirrigation (CDSI). Each treatment was replicated in three plots during two growing seasons in 2010 and 2011. The monitored variables included soil moisture content, water table depth variation, drainage outflow volume and quality, weather parameters, and agronomic indices. In 2010, yields were 8.48 (NDNI), 10.36 (NDIR), 10.10 (FDIR), and 9.22(CDSI) Mg ha-1 with only the mean yield difference for the NDIR and the CDSI treatments being statistically significant (p = 0.014). In 2011, yields were 9.25 (NDNI), 10.47 (NDIR), 11.28 (FDIR), and 9.49 (CDSI) Mg ha-1 with no statistically significant differences in yield. In 2010, the exports of NO3-N (138 kg ha-1), PO4-P (0.6 kg ha-1) and salts (2.34 Mg ha-1) from the FDIR treatment were significantly larger (p <0.05) than exports from CDSI, which were 0.07 kg ha-1, 0.08 kg ha-1, and 0.41 Mg ha-1, respectively. In 2011, the exports of NO3-N (36 kg ha-1), PO4-P (0.27 kg ha-1), and salts (1.1 Mg ha-1) from FDIR were significantly larger (p < 0.05) than the exports from CDSI which were 10 kg ha-1, 0.08 kg ha-1, and 0.39 Mg ha-1, respectively. These results indicate that irrigation was the main factor driving corn yields under the conditions prevailing in the Canadian Prairies, while subsurface drainage had a beneficial impact when the beginning of the season was wet. Also, this study showed the advantage of controlled drainage over free drainage in reducing the nutrients and salt exports.

Thesis (M.Sc.). / Written for the Dept. of Bioresource Engineering. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2008/07/30). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2009. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 151-158). Also available on the World Wide Web.