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Control of subsurface drainage system outlets is a recommended water quality best management practice (BMP) in North Carolina and is perceived to provide at least a partial solution for hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico if applied widely throughout the Mississippi River basin. A replicated field plot experiment was conducted to examine the hydrology, water quality, and crop yield impacts of controlled drainage, uncontrolled drainage, and subirrigation drainage on Hoytville silty clay soil in Ohio. Drainage volume, nitrate content of drainage water, nitrate content of vadose zone water, and crop yields were measured to compare and contrast the water management treatment impacts. Controlled drainage resulted in less water and nitrate released offsite and a lower concentration of nitrate in the vadose zone water than with uncontrolled drainage.