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Development and application of a distributed modeling approach to assess the watershed-scale impact of drainage water management

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  • Ale, S.
  • Bowling, L.C.
  • Owens, P.R.
  • Brouder, S.M.
  • Frankenberger, J.R.

Abstract

Drainage water management, also known as controlled drainage, is the practice of using a water table control structure at the end of the subsurface drain pipe to reduce subsurface drainage, and thereby nitrate losses. Methods to quantify the potential effects of drainage water management for entire watersheds are needed to evaluate the impacts of large-scale adoption. A distributed modeling approach was developed to apply the field-scale DRAINMOD model at the watershed scale, and used to assess the impact of drainage water management on nitrate load from an intensively subsurface drained agricultural watershed in west central Indiana. The watershed was divided into 6460 grid cells for which drain spacing, soil parent material, and cropping pattern were estimated, resulting in 600 unique field conditions. The annual edge-of-field nitrate load from each grid cell was estimated as the product of DRAINMOD-predicted drain flow and the average annual nitrate concentration in drain flow, estimated from observations from related drainage sites in northern Indiana. Predicted monthly streamflow was in good agreement with the observed streamflow (Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency of 0.87 and 0.84 during the calibration and validation periods, respectively) and the predicted drain flow matched well with the measured drain flow (77.1cm vs. 77.8cm and 121.3cm vs. 128.4cm). Drainage water management decreased the average annual (1985–2009) predicted drain flow from 11.0 to 5.9cm, and the total nitrate load through subsurface drainage from 236 to 126ton (both about 47% reduction). The percent reduction in nitrate load varied between 40% and 53% for all combinations of drain spacing, soil parent material and cropping patterns, with drain spacing and soil parent material having a greater effect than cropping pattern. The methodology developed in this study showed potential for predicting the watershed-scale effects of subsurface drainage and drainage water management in drained agricultural watersheds.

Suggested Citation

  • Ale, S. & Bowling, L.C. & Owens, P.R. & Brouder, S.M. & Frankenberger, J.R., 2012. "Development and application of a distributed modeling approach to assess the watershed-scale impact of drainage water management," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 23-33.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:107:y:2012:i:c:p:23-33
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2012.01.003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ale, S. & Bowling, L.C. & Brouder, S.M. & Frankenberger, J.R. & Youssef, M.A., 2009. "Simulated effect of drainage water management operational strategy on hydrology and crop yield for Drummer soil in the Midwestern United States," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 96(4), pages 653-665, April.
    2. Fernandez, G.P. & Chescheir, G.M. & Skaggs, R.W. & Amatya, D.M., 2006. "DRAINMOD-GIS: A lumped parameter watershed scale drainage and water quality model," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 81(1-2), pages 77-97, March.
    3. Daniel R. Petrolia & Prasanna H. Gowda, 2006. "Missing the Boat: Midwest Farm Drainage and Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 28(2), pages 240-253.
    4. Naz, B.S. & Ale, S. & Bowling, L.C., 2009. "Detecting subsurface drainage systems and estimating drain spacing in intensively managed agricultural landscapes," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 96(4), pages 627-637, April.
    5. Singh, R. & Helmers, M.J. & Crumpton, W.G. & Lemke, D.W., 2007. "Predicting effects of drainage water management in Iowa's subsurface drained landscapes," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 92(3), pages 162-170, September.
    6. Bechtold, Iris & Kohne, Sigrid & Youssef, Mohamed A. & Lennartz, Bernd & Skaggs, R. Wayne, 2007. "Simulating nitrogen leaching and turnover in a subsurface-drained grassland receiving animal manure in Northern Germany using DRAINMOD-N II," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 93(1-2), pages 30-44, October.
    7. Lalonde, V. & Madramootoo, C. A. & Trenholm, L. & Broughton, R. S., 1996. "Effects of controlled drainage on nitrate concentrations in subsurface drain discharge," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 187-199, January.
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    2. El-Ghannam, Mohamed K. & Aiad, Mahmoud. A. & Abdallah, Ahmed M., 2021. "Irrigation efficiency, drain outflow and yield responses to drain depth in the Nile delta clay soil, Egypt," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    3. Ali, Riasat & Viney, Neil R. & Hodgson, Geoff & Aryal, Santosh & Dawes, Warrick, 2012. "Modelling the impact of subcatchment and regional scale drainage in the Blackwood Basin, Western Australia," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 252-266.
    4. Ross, Jared A. & Herbert, Matthew E. & Sowa, Scott P. & Frankenberger, Jane R. & King, Kevin W. & Christopher, Sheila F. & Tank, Jennifer L. & Arnold, Jeffrey G. & White, Mike J. & Yen, Haw, 2016. "A synthesis and comparative evaluation of factors influencing the effectiveness of drainage water management," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 366-376.
    5. Mariusz Sojka & Michał Kozłowski & Rafał Stasik & Michał Napierała & Barbara Kęsicka & Rafał Wróżyński & Joanna Jaskuła & Daniel Liberacki & Jerzy Bykowski, 2019. "Sustainable Water Management in Agriculture—The Impact of Drainage Water Management on Groundwater Table Dynamics and Subsurface Outflow," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-18, August.

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