Design and Management of Subsurface Horizontal Drainage to Reduce Salt Loads

Many irrigated areas have shallow water tables creating waterlogging and salinization problems. This has often been controlled by installation of subsurface horizontal pipe drainage; however, these systems export large amounts of salt off farm in the drainage effluent. Improved design and management of subsurface drainage systems to reduce drainage salt loads were tested in a replicated field experiment. Deep, widely spaced drains allowed to flow without control were compared to drains with management to reduce drain flow. These were also compared with shallow, closely spaced drains that protected the root zone only and an undrained control. The deep drains flowed continuously during the two irrigation seasons with an electrical conductivity of around 11 dS/m resulting in a drainage salt load of 5,867 kg/ha. The management measures reduced drainage volume and salinity resulting in a 50% reduction in salt load. The shallow drains only flowed directly after an irrigation or rainfall event with low salinity, around 2 dS/m, resulting in a 95% reduction in salt load. This showed that by management there is great potential for reducing salt mobilization in existing drainage systems, and for new systems shallower drains will minimize salt loads.