You are here:
Assessment of Subsurface Drainage Management Practices to Reduce Nitrogen Loadings Using AnnAGNPS
Citation:
YUAN, Y., R. L. Bingner, M. A. Locke, F. D. Theurer, AND J. Stafford. Assessment of Subsurface Drainage Management Practices to Reduce Nitrogen Loadings Using AnnAGNPS. APPLIED ENGINEERING IN AGRICULTURE. AMERICAN SOCIETY OF AGRICULTURAL AND BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERS, ST. JOSEPH, MI, 27(3):335-344, (2011).
Impact/Purpose:
The Future Midwest Landscape (FML) study is part of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s new Ecosystem Services Research Program, undertaken to examine the variety of ways in which landscapes that include crop lands, conservation areas, wetlands, lakes, and streams affect human well-being. The goal of the FML is to quantify current and future landscape services across the region and examine changes expected to occur as a result of two alternative drivers of future change: the growing demand for biofuels; and hypothetical increases in incentives for the use of agricultural conservation practices to mitigate the adverse impact caused by the growing demand for biofuels (increased corn production particularly).
Description:
The goal of the Future Midwest Landscape project is to quantify current and future landscape services across the region and examine changes expected to occur as a result of two alternative drivers of future change: the growing demand for biofuels; and hypothetical increases in incentives for the use of agricultural conservation practices to mitigate the adverse impact caused by the growing demand for biofuels. Nitrogen losses to surface waters are of great concern on both national and regional scales. Therefore, the overall objective of this study was to assess the agricultural management alternatives for nutrient loading reduction. To achieve the overall objective of this study, the USDA Annualized Agricultural Non-Point Source Pollution model was applied to the Ohio Upper Auglaize watershed, which is located in the southern portion of the Maumee River Basin. This watershed is also part of the USDA-NRCS Conservation Effects Assessment Project Special Emphasis effort with the objective to assess the effects of agricultural conservation practices on water quality. In this study, AnnAGNPS model was calibrated using USGS monitored data; and then the effects of various subsurface drainage management practices on nitrogen loadings were assessed. Wider drain spacing and shallower depths to drain can be used to reduce nitrogen loadings. In addition, nitrogen loadings could be significantly reduced by plugging subsurface drains from November 1 to April 1 of each year.