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Recycling Runoff and Drainage Water

Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org

Citation:  Paper number  032166,  2003 ASAE Annual Meeting . (doi: 10.13031/2013.13792) @2003
Authors:   Norman R. Fausey, Barry J. Allred, W. Bruce Clevenger, Larry C. Brown
Keywords:   Drainage water management, nonpoint source pollution, water quality, nitrate, suspended solids, phosphorus

An innovative agricultural water management system has been developed and is being tested for reduction of nonpoint source pollution of surface water streams. The system includes a constructed wetland and a water storage reservoir linked to subsurface pipes used at different times to drain or irrigate the root zone. Runoff and subsurface drainage water are collected in the wetland. Natural processes partially treat the water for removal of nutrients, pesticides, and sediment. Treated water is held in the reservoir until needed to irrigate crops or released to the stream to create addidional treatment and storage capacity. The integration of the components allow the system to operate in a closed loop mode most of the time with water released outside the system only under controlled conditions. Benefits include greater crop yields, additional wetland acres and wildlife habitat, and reductions in the amount of nutrients and sediment discharged into local waterways.

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