Managing Water for Increased Resiliency of

Drained Agricultural LandscapesJane Frankenberger, Purdue University

Eileen Kladivko, Laura Bowling, Bernard Engel, Linda Prokopy, Purdue University;

Matt Helmers, Lori Abendroth, Giorgio Chigladze, Iowa State University; Jeff Strock, University of Minnesota; Dan Jaynes, USDA-ARS; Kelly

Nelson, University of Missouri; Mohamed Youssef, NC State University ; Larry Brown, Brent Sohngen, Ohio State University; Xinhua Jia, North

Dakota State University, Laurent Ahiablame, South Dakota State University

Agricultural Research Service

Issue 1: Nutrient loss from tile drainage is causing issues of national concern.

Tile drains greatly increase loss of nitrate to streams. Recent research is showing more clearly that

phosphorus also moves through tiles.

NitratePhosphorus

Water from Lake Erie during toxic algae bloom

Issue 2: Despite excess water in spring, yields are often limited by lack of water in late summer.

Two issues; both are expected to be exacerbated by climate change

Excess nutrients in spring will increase as winter and spring becomes warmer and wetter

Water availability in late summer will decrease with warmer summers and increased flashiness of precipitation

Photo: Tom Bridgeman

Retaining drained water in the landscape addresses both these issues.

Longer-term vision: The process of designing and implementing agricultural drainage will be transformed to

include water retention and even water recycling.

Where can we store water in drained landscapes like this?

Photo: Dan Jaynes

Storing water in the soil: Soil health initiatives emphasize water storage capacity of soils.

Increasing soil organic matter increases water holding capacity.

Image: Wikimedia Commons, Wilsonbriggs Image: NRCS

Storing water in wider ditches: Two-Stage Ditches

Storing water in the field:

Controlled drainage

Storing water in buffers: Saturated buffers

Storing water in ponds or reservoirs:Drainage water recycling

Subirrigation

Sprinkler irrigation

Storing water in ponds or reservoirs:Drainage water recycling

Few examples of drainage water recycling

Drainage water recycling ponds likely need to be both large and deep to be economical

~ 20 ft

Little published research on drainage water recycling

Wetland reservoir subirrigation (WRSIS) sites in Ohio (Fausey, Brown, Allred)

Drainage water recycling in Ontario, Canada; Missouri, Minnesota

University of Missouri

A $5 million USDA NIFA-funded Coordinated Agricultural Project

This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 2015-68007-23193, “Managing Water for Increased Resiliency of Drained Agricultural Landscapes”, http://transformingdrainage.org. Any

opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Project Flow Diagram

Strengthen and Broaden the Network (Researchers, Industry, Contractors, Agencies)

Field Research – Existing, New, Historical Sites

Economic analysis beginning for these

sites in 2017.

Missouri SiteResearch Leader: Kelly Nelson,

University of Missouri

Landscape: Claypan at approx. 24”

Water Management Practices: 1. Controlled Drainage, Subirrigation

20’ & 40’ spacing2. Conventional Drainage, No Irrigation

20’ & 40’ spacing3. No Drainage, Overhead Irrigation4. No Drainage, No irrigation

Experimental Design: Split-Plot Design with 4 replications Main plots: water management treatment

(150’ x 60-80’ depending on drain spacing)

Subplots: crop (corn, soybean) with cultivars and fertilizer treatments (30’ x 20-40’)

Measurements: Crop yield – 2002 to 2014 Rainfall/Irrigation water use – 2002 to

2013 Soil organic matter – 2002 to 2012 Soil NO3 , NH4, temperature, water

content, soil water NO3 (various depths) – 2004 to 2005

Soil N2O Flux – 2004 to 2005 Grain nitrogen – 2006 to 2007

This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 2015-68007-23193, “Managing Water for Increased Resiliency of Drained Agricultural Landscapes”, http://transformingdrainage.org. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Water Control Structure & WatererDrainage Tile MainsWater Supply

Lat: 39.94 N Long: 92.05 W

Transforming Drainage - Site Overview

We are building on the database of theCorn Systems Coordinated Agriculture Project

Our database now holds 186 site-years of data from historic and current drainage

practices.

Example: 5 years of Nitrate-N at DPAC under free and controlled drainage

Example: Reduction of nitrate loss due to controlled drainage

Next step: Synthesis across sites

Example: Tile Flow for 3 SitesIndiana

Ohio

Iowa

Example: Corn Yield Data for 3 Drainage Water Recycling Sites

Modeling will enable us to extend results spatially and temporally

DRAINMOD-DSSAT is basisLed by Mohamed Youssef at NC State.

Decision Support ToolsPrinciples We will ensure that tools are actually useful to the intended

audience, by engaging stakeholders throughout the process. – Dr. Linda Prokopy, U2U Project

All tools will be transparent so that interested users can understand the mechanism through which they provide decision support.

So far: Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework (ACPF, Tomer et al., ) includes saturated buffers; Inventory being developed of tools for site suitability, design, conservation effectiveness, economic analysis.

Project Flow Diagram

Strengthen and Broaden the Network (Researchers, Industry, Contractors, Agencies)

“To transform drainage, we need partners.”

Formal Collaborators Norm Fausey, USDA-ARS Kevin King, USDA-ARS Barry Allred, USDA-ARS Jeppe Kjaersgaard, MN Dept. Ag. Thomas Scherer, North Dakota State Gary Sands, U of MN Ken Kraemer, U of MN Richard Cooke, U of IL Mark Tomer, USDA-ARS Chris Hay, Iowa Soybean Association

A process is in place to add additional collaborators

Advisory Committee represents diverse and influential stakeholders

Bob Clark, Clark Farm Drainage; Land Improvement Contractors of America (LICA)

Brian Hicks, Farmer and research collaborator

Charlie Schafer, Agricultural Drainage Management Coalition

Dave De Geus, The Nature Conservancy  

Jim Gulliford, Soil and Water Conservation Society

Dr. Wayne Skaggs, North Carolina State University

Alex Echols, Ecosystem Services Exchange; Sand County Fdn

Dr. Jerry Hatfield, Midwest Climate Hub, ARS National Lab for Ag & Env

Dr. Gwen White, U.S. Fish and Wildlife LCC

 Katie FlahiveUSEPA Office of Water

Rob Sampson, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

The expanding network includes influential drainage groups

Agricultural Drainage Management Systems Task Force Agricultural Drainage Management Coalition (industry) NCERA-217 Multi-state Committee Led the 10th International Drainage Symposium

(Minneapolis, September 2016) with record-breaking participation from 10 countries

The Vision: Transforming Drainage

Photo from Dan Jaynes

Long-term vision:The process of designing and implementing

agricultural drainage will be transformed to include water retention and even water recycling.

NitratePhosphorus