A synthesis and comparative evaluation of factors influencing the effectiveness of drainage water management

Viable large-scale crop production in the United States requires artificial drainage in humid and poorly drained agricultural regions. Excess water removal is generally achieved by installing tile drains that export water to open ditches that eventually flow into streams. Drainage water management (DWM) is a conservation practice that allows farmers to artificially raise the outlet elevation of a field’s drain tile and can reduce nutrient loss during wet periods by storing more water in the field. We intended to assess the effectiveness of DWM to reduce drainage discharge and nutrient loads and additionally identify predictor variables that influence DWM effectiveness. We compared managed (i.e., DWM) and free draining records using paired t-tests, and identified factors associated with DWM effectiveness using a multiple linear regression approach. T-test results indicated that DWM was highly effective in reducing drainage water discharge and nutrient losses via drain tiles as tile discharge volumes were reduced on average 46%, while tile nitrate loads were reduced by 48%. In addition, total phosphorus and dissolved reactive phosphorus loads were reduced by 55% and 57%, respectively. Based on regression results, we found that several aspects of farm and tile drain management were associated with DWM effectiveness, while site specific landscape characteristics were less likely to predict effectiveness. While DWM is effective as a conservation practice to reduce discharges of water and nutrients from drain tiles, we also identified several knowledge gaps. Future research should investigate effects of DWM on water and nutrients lost in other pathways such as surface runoff, preferential flow, groundwater recharge and biological uptake, and also focus more attention on phosphorus as there is a paucity of research on this topic.