The effect of standing water above drains on the water table height midway between drains

Wesseling (1964) stated that standing water above drains as a result of submerged outlets creates a radial flow in the vicinity of the drains which promotes flow conditions so that a smaller rise of the water table height midway between drains results. Wesseling (1979) concluded the same for standing water above drains as the result of too high entrance resistance. Standing water above drains may also be due to overpressure in the drains as a result of too small pipe diameter or to irregular drain slopes. With the exception of submerged outlets the resulting water table rise midway between drains is however in the same order of the water table rise above the drain as can be derived from theoretical analysis. This conclusion was confirmed by measurements at an experimental field where the standing water above drains, as a result of overpressure, and the water table midway between drains were monitored in a field located at the northwest of the Nile Delta. In spite of the low discharge rates, overpressure was observed in the drains. It was mainly attributed to irregular drain slopes. The analysis of field data showed that the water table midway between drains rises at least the same as the water table height above the drains. Since overpressure in drains causes a decrease of the dewatering zone, a careful and accurate installation is of utmost importance for the proper functioning of a drainage system.     

Modeling subsurface drainage for salt load management in southeastern Australia

Subsurface drainage has been implemented in irrigation areas of South-eastern Australia to control water logging and land salinisation. Subsurface drainage has been identified as a major salt exporter from irrigated areas. The water table management simulation model DRAINMOD-S was evaluated to simulate daily water table depth, drain outflow, and salt loads by using experimental field data from a two year field trial was carried out in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area South-eastern Australia to study different options for subsurface drainage system design and management to reduce salt load export. Three subsurface drainage systems were modeled, deep widely spaced pipe drains, shallow closely spaced drains and deep pipe drains that were managed with weirs to prevent flow when the water table fell below 1.2 m. The reliability of the model has been evaluated by comparing observed and simulated values. Good agreement was found between the observed and simulated values. The model confirmed the field observations that shallow drains had the lowest salt load and that by managing deep drains with weirs salt loads could be significantly reduced. This work shows the value of the DRAINMOD-S model in being able to describe various drainage design and management strategies under the semi-arid conditions of South-eastern Australia. The model can now be used to investigate design and management options in detail for different site conditions. This will assist decision makers in providing appropriate subsurface drainage management policies to meet drainage disposal constraints within integrated water resources management planning.     

A model for the design of drainage in flat agricultural lands

A model is presented that can be used to determine drainage measures and their costs. It has been elaborated for a wet tropical climate, for situations with open field drains, shallow groundwater table and a homogenous soil underlain by an impervious layer. The land is flat and the proposed agricultural use requires control of the groundwater table.A basic element of the model is a scheme to compute the water balance per day for a drainage parcel. Discharge, evapotranspiration, groundwater level and soil moisture storage are estimated as functions of rainfall, potential evapotranspiration, vegetation and soil characteristics and of an assumed drainage intensity. The water balance computation is performed for periods of 5–40 years of daily rainfall data, for a series of drainage intensities. The results can be subjected to a drainage criterion, from which a design drainage intensity and a corresponding drain spacing can be derived.Finally the layout of canals for a block of 4 × 1 km² is determined and excavation and a series of canal characteristics are computed.A summary of some applications is included.     

Shallow subsurface drainage in an irrigated vertisol with a perched water table

Waterlogging and salinity are reducing the productivity of irrigated agriculture on clay soils in south east Australia. We compared five drainage treatments: (1) undrained control (Control); (2) mole drains (Mole); (3) mole drains formed beneath gypsum-enriched slots (GES) (Mole + GES); (4) shallow pipe drains installed beneath GES (Shallow Pipe); (5) deep pipe drains (Deep Pipe). The experiment was set out on a vertisol and our measurements were made during the growth of an irrigated onion crop.

Over the 3 months before the spring irrigations commenced, the perched water table on the Control was less than 400 mm below the soil surface for 27% of the time, whereas the shallow drainage treatments (Treatments 2, 3 and 4) reduced this time to less than 4%. During the irrigation season, the perched water table on the Mole + GES treatment rose above 400 mm for 3% of the time. The perched water table on the Mole treatment was above 400 mm for 14% of the time, compared with 19% of the time on the Control. The Deep Pipes were less effective in reducing the depth to the perched water table, both before and during the irrigation period.

Mole drains increased the gas-filled porosity above the drains. However, the gas-filled porosity remained below reported levels for optimum root growth. Although the drains effectively drained excess water, and lowered the water table, the hydraulic gradient was insufficient to remove all of water from the macropores. Gypsum enriched slots above the mole drains increased the gas-filled porosity in the slots but the drainable porosity in the undisturbed soil appeared to be inadequate for optimum root growth, even though some drainage occurred near the slots.

Discharge from the shallow drainage treatments averaged 58 mm for each irrigation, and was considerably more than the amount required to drain the macropores. The mole channels were in reasonably good condition at the end of the irrigation season, with at least 70% of the cross-sectional area of the channel open.

Shallow subsurface drains increased onion yield by about 38%. For each day the water table was above 400 mm, the yield declined by 0.23 tonnes per hectare. Farmer adoption of shallow subsurface drainage will depend on the long-term economic benefits (influenced by the longevity of the mole channels and yields response) and the need to develop more sustainable management practices.     

A simple numerical analyses software for predicting water table height in subsurface drainage

A two dimensional saturated-unsaturated Galerkin finite element numerical model was used to predict water table height between parallel drains. A user-friendly software (DRENAFEM) was developed to allow for the calculation of the distance between drains and the water table height at middle space between drains. It also allows for determination of variations of the total head throughout the entire geometric space considered in the model. Such facts lead to the design of flow nets with streams lines and equipotentials. The numerical drain outflow is also obtained by using the radial flow equation, conservation of mass and finite element analysis. The results obtained with the model agree well with Khirkam’s and Hooghoudt analytical solution for the distribution of total head in ideal drains and for the total head calculations midway between drains.     

Evaluating a multi-level subsurface drainage system for improved drainage water quality

This paper describes a multi-level drainage system, designed to improve drainage water quality. Results are presented from a field scale land reclamation experiment implemented in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area of New South Wales, Australia. A traditional single level drainage system and a multi-level drainage system were compared in the experiment in an irrigated field setting. The single level drainage system consisted of 1.8 m deep drains at 20 m spacing. This configuration is typical of subsurface drainage system design used in the area. The multi-level drainage system consisted of shallow closely spaced drains (3.3 m spacing at 0.75 m depth) underlain by deeper widely spaced drains (20 m spacing at 1.8 m depth). Data on drainage flows and salinity, water table regime and soil salinity were collected over a 2-year period.     

Modelling surplus canal water releases for artificial recharge of groundwater through surface drainage systems

 Intensive agriculture in various countries has resulted in over-exploitation of groundwater resources leading to a decline in the water table. Artificial groundwater recharge offers a good method of preventing the water table from declining further. The Indo-Gangetic plain is currently facing the problem of a declining water table. The network of surface drains constructed to control previous waterlogging could now be used for recharging groundwater with surplus canal water during the low irrigation requirement period, as most of the drains cut across the irrigation canals. Therefore, a model was developed to determine the optimum discharge to be released at the head of each drain under natural flow conditions and with interruption in the flow by providing check structures across the drains at suitable intervals. In the proposed method, water is released in such a way that outflow becomes zero at the outfall of the drain. The results obtained reveal that the strategy developed could be adopted for recharging the declining water table through surface drainage systems. Received: 3 February 1999     

Erosion deposits in tile-drains

The mechanism of silting up of tile field drains in two heavy textured surface water gley soils was examined by comparing the physical and mineralogical characteristics of deposits in drains with those of the clay soil directly above. The deposits consist of clay, silt and sand and are distinctly laminated. They appear to be the result of internal erosion of the soil. The processes operative seems to have been: (a) inflow of soil through the drain joints; (b) sedimentation in the drain; (c) elution of very fine material. It is possible that this silting-up phenomenon is not uncommon in the tile field drains of surface water gley soils of Scotland.     

不同位置秸秆覆盖条件下土壤水盐运动实验研究

以地下水与土壤水动力学理论为基础,通过对不同地下水埋深不同位置秸秆覆盖试验资料分析,建立了土壤水分运动数学模型,并进行了数值模拟,试验实测数据与模型计算值吻合较好,说明所建立的模型是可行的。并以此为基础,分析了不同地下水埋深不同位置秸秆覆盖土壤含盐量,得出地表以下30 cm处秸秆覆盖的土壤含盐量大于地表表层秸秆覆盖的土壤含盐量,这为新疆地区控制潜水蒸发改良盐碱地研究提供了可靠的基础依据。     

A methodology for up-scaling irrigation losses

This paper presents a methodology for up-scaling field irrigation losses and quantifying relative losses at the irrigation area level for potential water savings. Two levels of analysis were considered: First, the field level where irrigation is applied. Second, the irrigation area level, where the field level losses are aggregated, or up-scaled, using average loss functions. In this up-scaling approach, detailed crop-soil-water modelling can capture the variability of physical parameters (such as soils, crops, water table depth, and management practices) at the field level which are then used to derive loss functions for aggregating losses at higher scales (irrigation area level). This allows potential field-level adaptations and water management changes made by individual farmers to be assessed for impact at the larger irrigation area level. The APSIM farming systems model was used for simulation of crops (wheat, rice, and soybean) and their interaction with the wider system processes at the field level. Given the climate, soil, and management information (sowing, fertilisation, irrigation, and residue management), the model simulates infiltration, the soil moisture profile, plant water uptake, soil evaporation, and deep drainage on a daily basis. Then, by placing the field level analysis in the context of the wider irrigation system or catchment, it is possible to correlate field level interventions (e.g. water savings measures) with water requirements at these higher levels. Application of this method in the Coleambally Irrigation Area in NSW, Australia, demonstrated that an exponential function can describe the relationship between deep drainage losses and the water table depth for different soil, crop, and water table depth combinations. The rate of loss increase (slope of the curve) with the water table depth is higher on lighter (higher intake rates) soils than on heavy soils and is more pronounced in areas under rice cultivation. We also demonstrate that this analysis technique can assist in identifying spatial distribution of losses in irrigation areas, considering water table depth as an additional factor, leading to targeted areas for water-saving measures.     

Evaluation and application of DRAINMOD in an Australian sugarcane field

DRAINMOD is a water management model developed to simulate the performance of drainage and water table control systems for shallow water table soils, and it has been widely used in the United States over the last 20 years. This model has been evaluated and applied for predicting water table fluctuations in a sugarcane field for acid drainage management in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia. The reliability of the model has been evaluated using 2-year experimental field data from water level recorders installed in a sugarcane field. Good agreement was found between the observed and simulated values with a standard error of about 0.07 m. However, the model is not readily applicable to daily water management in Australian soils since it requires extensive soil and climate data, which are normally not available for most Australian sugarcane areas. In this application, refinements have been attempted in evapotranspiration estimation and in soil input data preparation so that the model requires only easily obtainable input data but still retains acceptable accuracy. With these improvements, the model can be used as a practical tool for investigating drainage management options for different site conditions. This will assist decision-makers in providing appropriate subsurface drainage management policies, such as acid drainage management, in Australian estuarine sugarcane areas.     

Modeling shallow water table evaporation in irrigated regions

Groundwater discharge through evaporation due to a shallow water table can be an important component of a regional scale water balance. Modeling this phenomenon in irrigated regions where soil moisture varies on short time scales is most accurately accomplished using variably saturated modeling codes. However, the computational demands of these models limit their application to field scale problems. The MODFLOW groundwater modeling code is applicable to regional scale problems and it has an evapotranspiration package that can be used to estimate this form of discharge, however, the use of time-invariant parameters in this module result in evaporation rates that are a function of water table depth only. This paper presents a calibration and validation of the previously developed MOD-HMS model code using lysimeter data. The model is then used to illustrate the dependence of bare soil evaporation rates on water table depth and soil moisture conditions. Finally, an approach for estimating the time varying parameters for the MODFLOW evapotranspiration package using a 1-D variably saturated MOD-HMS model is presented.     

堤内地下水受河水位的影响规律及其排水研究

河水位对堤内地下水有重要的影响,且河水向二岸的侧渗常导致堤内排水困难,使农作物遭受渍害。针对汉江中下游典型的二元土壤结构,利用V isualM od flow建立地下水流数学模型,模拟分析堤内地下水位和沿程“向上补给”流量随河水位变化的规律。为了排水降压,将渗流模型简化,导出排水沟深度和间距的计算公式,并用数值法验证了该处理方法的正确性。研究成果可为河岸渍害的防控提供理论依据。     

土体冻胀与地下水关系的研究进展

地下水与冻胀之间的关系在各种工程的施工设计、冻害防治和农业灌溉中起着重要的作用。地下水位的高低直接影响着土体的冻胀。概述了近五十年来我国在这方面取得的成果。包括产生冻胀的地下水位临界深度，受地下水位影响的冻胀带的分布规律和冻胀性分类，冻胀与地下水位之间的定性定量关系以及他们之间的作用机理。今后的研究发展方向是加强冻胀机理的研究，建立健全冻胀预报模型的研究和对冻结过程中地下水位变化的研究。     

Drainage models to predict soil water regimes in drained soils: a UK perspective

Drainage is an intervention in the natural hydrology of the soil to alter the duration of adverse (waterlogged) soil conditions. The effects of drainage can be investigated by models that predict the position of the water table at a site in the presence of drainage. An inter-related series of models, which include the van Schilfgaarde non-steady state model, that have been used in the UK for the evaluation of drainage design options, are described. A simplified form of the van Schilfgaarde equation is presented, equivalent to a standard time series model, allowing both the efficient implementation of the model, and the inverse use of the model to derive performance parameters from observational data using statistical methods. A sensitivity analysis is used to investigate the relative importance of the two soil parameters, drainable porosity and soil hydraulic conductivity, on the performance of the model. This shows a far greater effect due to the variation of hydraulic conductivity.The use of a similar model to predict water tables in non-homogeneous soils has also been explored, including the investigation of a two-phase model to describe water movement in soils which are dominated by macropores. More useful, however, is the prediction of water table fluctuations in soils in which the soil hydraulic conductivity is a continuous function of soil depth, using the drainage theory of Youngs (1965). Solutions are presented for the logarithm of the hydraulic conductivity varying linearly with depth. The improvement in model performance is however gained at the expense of an additional parameter that describes the variation of hydraulic conductivity with depth. Some methods for deriving this parameter are discussed. Results from the use of this model are compared with those derived from the simple uniform conductivity model, showing superior performance.Lastly, the issue of soil lateral heterogeneity and the replicability of measurements is discussed. A detailed study of the variation of water table levels from a replicated drainage experiment indicates that in a practical situation very real limits exist on the accurate measurement of water tables, and that these present limits on our ability to verify models.     

暗管排水改良滨海盐土及其效果分析

试区位于渤海之滨、黄河右岸的山东打渔张灌区,其潜水动态类型属灌溉、降雨——蒸发型,为半湿润季风性气候,暗管排水的工程布局为窄深式、窄浅式、宽深式。由试验分析得出了粉砂壤土地区防治盐碱化,改良后利用阶段的水盐控制标准,以及具体的适宜条件。对暗管排水改良盐土的效果进行了分析,说明了暗管排水改良盐土的机理,为类似地区盐土改良提供了科学依据。     

基于近红外光谱信息的土壤电导率预测模型研究

利用土壤含水率与近红外光谱土壤反射率和土壤电导率三者之间的关系,以土壤含水率为中间变量,间接表达土壤光谱反射率和土壤电导率之间的关系。土壤含水率与土壤光谱反射率存在指数关系,土壤含水率与土壤电导率存在线性关系,消除中间变量（土壤含水率）,得到土壤光谱反射率和土壤电导率之间的关系。以土壤水分敏感波段1450nm作为研究对象,研究土壤电导率的预测模型,分别建立指数预测模型和对数预测模型,并分别对两种模型进行验证。本文实验建模集样本72个,验证集样本48个,土壤电导率对数预测模型R2达0.80,土壤电导率指数预测模型R2达0.85,预测效果均可满足农田电导率估算,但对数模型在土壤电导率较低区间预测效果不理想,因此土壤电导率指数预测模型预测效果优于对数模型的预测效果。研究结果表明,土壤光谱反射率预测土壤电导率的方案可行,并为光谱信息预测土壤电导率提供了新思路。     

Simulation of pesticide concentrations in groundwater using Agricultural Drainage and Pesticide Transport (ADAPT) model

A water quality model for subirrigation and subsurface drainage, ADAPT (Agricultural Drainage And Pesticide Transport), was tested with field data collected under various water table management practices near Ames, IA. Atrazine and alachlor concentrations at various soil depths for water table depths of 30, 60, and 90 cm were simulated using ADAPT model for corn growing seasons of 1989 through 1991. Daily pesticide concentrations in groundwater predicted by the model were compared with available observed data for the same site. Predicted values of atrazine and alachlor concentrations in groundwater decreased when shallow water table depths were maintained in the lysimeters. Similar trends were noticed with the observed data. Reasonable agreement was obtained between the observed and predicted values of atrazine and alachlor for 1989 to 1991. However, in few cases, results showed a wide variation between observed and predicted values. Because no observed data was available for pesticide concentrations in the unsaturated zone, predicted results could not be compared. Based on our investigation, it appears that ADAPT may be used for predicting subsurface water quality under water table management practices; however, further validation is necessary with more field observed data from similar studies before wider application of this model is made.     

Simulation of heat and water transfer in a surface irrigated, cropped sandy soil

Field experiments were conducted to validate a one-dimensional numerical Simple Soil Plant Atmospheric Transfer (SiSPAT) model that simulates heat and water transfer through the root zone of a surface irrigated, cropped sandy soil. The model accounts for the dominant processes involved in water and heat transfer in a cropped soil. Model validation used field experimental data from 2004 and suggested that the SiSPAT model could be successfully applied to predict soil water and temperature dynamics of a cropped soil in experimental conditions. Validation resulted in high values of model efficiency (ME), and low values of root mean square deviation (RMSD) and mean bias error (MBE) between the simulated and measured values. Model predictions were obtained using field experimental data from 2005 and showed that the SiSPAT model reproduced reasonably well the experimental distributions of soil moisture and temperature. Minor discrepancies between the predicted and measured data during the prediction period can probably be attributed to the uncertainties in soil water content and soil temperature probe measurements. In addition, the influence of irrigation water temperature on water and heat transfer was ignored in the model. This could have contributed to deviations between the simulated and measured values during the experiment. Prediction results indicated that the variability of the water and heat transfer fluxes following a surface irrigation in different stages of the crop (wheat) growth season resulted from the difference in net radiation reaching the cropped soil due to the varying shielding factor as controlled by leaf area index (LAI), root water uptake, meteorological conditions and soil water regime. Furthermore, an interaction between water and heat transfer through the root zone in the cropped soil could be observed during the prediction period.     

Exploring options for water savings in lowland rice using a modelling approach

Water-saving irrigation regimes are needed to deal with a reduced availability of water for rice production. Two important water-saving technologies at field scale are alternately submerged–nonsubmerged (SNS) and flush irrigated (FI) rice. SNS allows dry periods between submerged soil conditions, whereas FI resembles the irrigation regime of an upland crop. The effects of these regimes on the water balance and water savings were compared with continuously submerged (CS) and rainfed (RF) regimes.The crop growth model ORYZA2000 was used to calculate seasonal water balances of CS, SNS, FI, and RF regimes for two locations: Tuanlin in Hubei province in China from 1999 to 2002 during summer seasons and Los Baños in the Philippines in 2002–2003 during dry seasons. The model was first parameterized for site-specific soil conditions and cultivar traits and then evaluated using a combination of statistical and visual comparisons of observed and simulated variables. ORYZA2000 accurately simulated the crop variables leaf area index, biomass, and yield, and the soil water balance variables field water level and soil water tension in the root zone.Next, a scenario study was done to analyse the effect of water regime, soil permeability, and groundwater table depth on irrigation requirement and associated rice yield. For this study historical weather data for both sites were used.Within seasons, the amount of irrigation water application was higher for CS than for any of the water-saving regimes. It was found that groundwater table depth strongly affected the water-yield relationship for the water-saving regimes. Rainfed rice did not lead to significant yield reductions at Tuanlin as long as the groundwater table depth was less than 20 cm. Simulations at Los Baños with a more drought tolerant cultivar showed that FI resulted in higher yields than RF thereby requiring only 420 mm of irrigation.The soil type determined the irrigation water requirement in CS and SNS regimes. A more permeable soil requires around 2000 mm of irrigation water whereas less permeable, heavy soil types require less than half of this amount. We conclude that water savings can be considerable when water regimes are adapted to soil characteristics and rainfall dynamics. To further optimize water-saving regimes in lowland rice, groundwater table dynamics and soil permeability should be taken into account.