Water Table Management to Improve Drainage Water Quality in Semiarid Climatic Conditions of Iran
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 135, Issue 5
Abstract
A lysimeter study was conducted in the field in Karaj, Iran to investigate the effects of water table management on water quality of subsurface drainage effluents. Drain volumes, nitrate-N concentration, phosphorus concentration, and electrical conductivity of drain effluents were monitored during the growing seasons of alfalfa (Medicago scutellata). Totally 12 lysimeters consisted of four treatments were used in this study, of which nine of them were equipped with subirrigation (SI) and the other three with free drainage (FD) systems. Annual alfalfa (Medicago scutellata) was planted in all lysimeters. Water table levels were kept at 30 cm (SI30), 50 cm (SI50), and 70 cm (SI70) below the soil surface in SI-lysimeters and more than 100 cm below the soil surface in FD-lysimeters. The results of this 2-year study showed a significant reduction in nitrate-N concentrations in SI-lysimeters compared to FD-lysimeters. In 2005, the mean nitrate-N concentrations in drainage effluent were reduced by 84% in the SI30 and by 82% in the SI50, relative to FD. Similarly, in 2006, drain water depth and nitrate-N concentrations were significantly reduced relative to FD. The forage dry matter production from SI30 and SI50 were significantly higher than those from FD in both years. In 2006, the average of dry matter production was increased by 69 and 89% by the SI30 and SI50, respectively, relative to FD. The average electrical conductivity of drainage water was reduced in SI lysimeters compared to FD lysimeters that meet Iranian standard level (3 dS/m). There are no statistically significant differences in phosphorous concentration in drainage water of different treatments. Finally, the results of this 2-year study indicate that the water table management practices are economically and environmentally feasible in Iran in order to have a sustainable agriculture.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Addiscott, T. M., Whitmore, A. P., and Powlson, D. S. (1991). Farming, fertilizers and the nitrate problem, CAB Int., Oxon, U.K.
Agricultural Planning Research Institute (APRI). (2003). General studies of agricultural development in Karaj, Agricultural Planning Research Institute, Karaj, Iran (in Persian).
Baker, J. L., and Johnson, H. P. (1981). “Nitrate—Nitrogen in tile drainage as affected by fertilization.” J. Environ. Qual., 10, 519–522.
Barry, D. A. J., Goorahoo, D., and Goss, M. J. (1993). “Estimation of nitrate concentration in groundwater using a whole farm nitrogen budget.” J. Environ. Qual., 22, 767–775.
Drury, C. F., Tan, C. S., Gaynor, J. D., Oloya, T. O., and Welacky, T. W. (1996). “Influence of controlled drainage—Subirrigation on surface and tile drainage nitrate loss.” J. Environ. Qual., 25, 317–324.
Evans, R. O., Gilliam, J. W., and Skaggs, R. W. (1989). “Managing water table management systems for water quality.” Proc., National Water Conf., American Society of Agricultural Engineers, St. Joseph, Mich., 256–269.
Evans, R. O., Skaggs, R. W., and Gilliam, J. W. (1995). “Controlled drainage versus conventional drainage effects on water quality.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 121(4), 271–276.
Fausey, N. R., Brown, L. C., Belcher, H. W., and Kanwar, R. S. (1995). “Drainage and water quality in great lakes and cornbelt states.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 121(4), 283–288.
Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations (FAO). (2002). Agricultural drainage water management in arid and semi-arid areas, Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations, Rome, 57.
Gilliam, J. W., Skaggs, R. W., and Weed, S. B. (1979). “Drainage control to diminish nitrate loss from agricultural fields.” J. Environ. Qual., 8, 137–142.
Kaluli, J. W., and Madramootoo, C. A. (1995). “Water table management and cropping systems for improved water quality.” Proc., Agricultural Institute of Canada Annual Conf.. Canadian Society of Agricultural Engineers, Saskatoon, Canada.
Liaghat, A., and Prasher, S. O. (1996). “A lysimeter study of grass cover and water table depth effects on pesticide residues in drainage water.” Trans. ASAE, 39(5), 1731–1738.
Lothar, M., Behrendt, A. Schalitz, G., and Schindler, U. (2005). “Above ground biomass and water use efficiency of crops at shallow water tables in a temperate climate.” Agric. Water Manage., 75(2), 117–136.
Lowrance, R. R., Todd, R. L., and Asmussen, L. E. (1984). “Nutrient cycling in agricultural watershed. II: Streamflow and artificial drainage.” J. Environ. Qual., 13(1), 27–32.
Madramootoo, C. A. (1996). “Drainage practices and biological systems for enviromental protection.” Proc., 6th ICID Drainage Workshop: Drainage and the environment, Slovenian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, Ljubljana, Slovenian, 50–59.
Mejia, M. N., and Madramootoo, C. A. (1998). “Improved water quality through water table management in eastern Canada.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 124(2), 116–122.
Patell, R. M., Prasher, S. O., Donnelly, D., and Bonnell, R. B. (2001). “Effect of initial soil salinity and subirrigation water salinity on potato tuber yield and size.” Agric. Water Manage., 46(3), 231–239.
Patell, R. M., Prasher, S. O., Donnelly, D., Bonnell, R. B., and Broughton, R. S. (1999). “Subirrigation with brackish water for vegetable production in arid regions.” Bioresour. Technol., 70(1), 198–209.
Skaggs, R. W., Evans, R. O., and Gilliam, J. W. (1999). “Effects of controlled drainage/subirrigation on crop yield and water quality.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 125(5), 272–281.
Wright, J. A., Shirmohamadi, A., Magette, W. L., and Hill, R. (1990). “Impacts of BMPs and water table management on selected nitrogen processes.” American Society of Agricultural Engineers, St. Joseph, Mich., 47–56.
Zumft, W. G., and Kroneck, M. H. (1990). Metabolism of nitrous oxide: Denitrification in soil and sediment, N. P. Revsbech and J. Sorensen, eds., Plenum, New York, 37–55.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 135 • Issue 5 • October 2009
Pages: 665 - 670
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Dec 23, 2007
Accepted: Feb 24, 2009
Published online: Feb 26, 2009
Published in print: Oct 2009
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.