USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

Irrigation Toolbox: Chapter 1

Lesson Plan 4

Drainage Primer
Introduction
Water management involves practices which may control the quantity, quality and use of water
within a watershed. Land drainage is an important part of water management and may influence
storm runoff, ponding, and the quality and quantity of water discharged into a stream. Drainage
increases the farmers' opportunities to reduce the unit cost of production.
It is often said that the aim of drainage is to control the water table and field wetness, to optimize
soil conditions for cultivation and plant growth, and within certain limits, to improve a particular
land use. In practice, however, land drainage is actually employed to establish a compromise
between restoration of the soil aeration and the removal of as little water as is necessary to obtain
the needed soil air content.

Soil
Soil is the medium in which crops grow. It provides water and nutrients for growth. "Soil"
includes the topsoil, subsoil, and substratum. Topsoil usually contains the highest amount of
organic matter which gives it a darker color. The subsoil is usually, but not always, more dense
and compact than the topsoil. The substratum is generally the parent material from which the
above layers were derived. The soil consists of three major components: soil particles, and void
spaces consisting of water and air.
Soil structure refers to the physical arrangement and organization of particles in the soil. Soil
structures differ in class, shape, size and orientation. The soil structure porosity strongly
influences water movement in the soil profile as well as water retention, aeration, root
penetration, microbiological activity and erodibility. Soil structure can be influenced and
changed by soil management practices. Soil structure is formed by physical and chemical forces.
Figure1 shows the common types of soil structure and their effect on water movement.
Soil compaction is a reduction in the total air space in a volume of soil. Compaction also reduces
the number and size of the large beneficial air pores in the soil. The solid particles and the water
in a soil are not compressible. Therefore, a completely saturated soil cannot be compacted. The
soil may be damaged structurally due to smearing and puddling if disturbed in a wet state. The
cutting edge of a drainage plow, tillage plow, disc, or tine causes the soil to compress and smear
on the underside, often restricting water movement. Compaction of the surface layers can often
be corrected by frost action over one winter but deep compaction resulting from heavy
equipment on wet soil will take many years to correct and will impede the vertical flow of water.

Plant growth in a compacted soil is restricted due to the high resistance to root penetration and
the smaller water storage capacity.

Soil Porosity and Aeration

Soil porosity is the percentage or fraction of the soil volume filled by air and water. The
"aeration porosity" or "non-capillary" porosity is the volume of air which enters the soil after
freely drained water has been removed. The "capillary porosity" is the volume of all the small
pores that retain water after the larger pores have drained. Plant and soil organisms need a steady
supply of oxygen from the atmosphere for respiration. The carbon dioxide produced by them
must be removed. Plants also need a plentiful supply of soil moisture. When the volumes of
aeration and capillary pores are about equal, the exchange of gases between soil air and the
atmosphere is optimum. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the soil does not reach toxic
levels nor does the oxygen become limiting. Some plant roots, like potatoes, die in about 5 days
when their roots are deprived of oxygen. Ample practical evidence exists that poor soil aeration
results in reduced crop yields. Pore size distribution and continuity of pores rather than total pore
space is more important in drainage and the water holding properties of a soil. Good drainage
and organic matter tend to increase the number of non-capillary pore spaces whereas compaction
crushes and reduces them.

Soil Water
Soil water infiltrates into the soil and adds to the groundwater already present. It renews the soil
profile moisture depleted by evaporation and crops. The sources of soil water are often rainfall,
snowmelt, groundwater flow and surface runoff.
The upper surface of the groundwater is called the water table. It is at atmospheric pressure and
approximates the water level which might be found in an open post hole after one day. (see
Figures 2 and 3). The water table will be highest in the late fall and early spring and lowest
during the summer when evaporation and transpiration are high.
The soil above a water table is unsaturated, except for the capillary fringe. The amount of
capillary soil water present depends on the depth to the water table and will change with each
rainfall. Due to capillarity, moisture will rise from the water table. The height of this rise
depends on the texture of the soil and the continuity of connected pores. Table 2 provides
representative amounts of capillary rise that might be experienced in different soils.
Soil water is often described as being made of three components:
a. gravitational water
b. capillary water
c. hygroscopic water
Gravitational water fills the non-capillary pores or large open voids in the soil. The purpose of
soil drainage is to remove this gravitational water as quickly and economically as possible after a
rainfall so air will replace this water in the large soil pores. Figure 5 depicts the difference
between gravitational and capillary water.
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Capillary water, or available water, forms a film of varying thickness around each particle and is
bound by cohesion to the hygroscopic moisture. The capillary water fills the small capillary
pores of the soil. This moisture will not drain away as the capillary force holds it against the
force of gravity. Capillary water is what is used by plants. It is replaced by rainfall, or by
capillary rise from the groundwater.
Hygroscopic moisture, or absorbed water, is a thin film of water absorbed on soil particles with
so much energy that it is unavailable to plants and cannot be drained. Plants only use moisture
within a certain range. The hygroscopic moisture is held in the small pores of the soil with so
much energy that plant roots cannot extract it. If this is the only moisture available, plants will
wilt.
Soil permeability, more properly called hydraulic conductivity, is the rate at which water will
move through a soil. Movement of water through soil is affected by soil texture and the
continuity of soil pores. Soil permeability is estimated by NRCS soil scientists when they
prepare a SOILS5 information page on each soil.

Why is Drainage Required?

During late autumn, winter and early spring there is usually an excess of rainfall over and above
the storage capacity of soils. The ability of the soil to dispose of surplus water quickly is an
important requirement for many agricultural crops. Timeliness in working the soil and in
planting improves crop yields and aids the farm workload. Soils that have some natural drainage
may be tile drained to gain the advantage of managing the timing of crop operations.
All soils that are not naturally well-drained require some improvement to be used for agricultural
purposes, or to optimize crop production. Indications of poor drainage are:
a. Farmer's experience of difficulties in working a field or in obtaining satisfactory yields.
b. Surface indications of:
i. ponded water
ii. boggy conditions
iii. water emerging on the surface
iv. high water level in ditches
v. damage to fields from livestock and machinery rutting
vi. areas of crop damage, with partial or total loss
vii. cloddy field surface
c. Presence of water-loving vegetation such as reeds, willows, sedges, horsetail, rushes, and
coarse grasses
d. Subsurface indications are a high water table, mottled colored soil profile and shallow crop
roots

Benefits of Drainage
A drained soil has enough empty pore space to store water for plant use. Water infiltrates into the
soil instead of running off over the surface. Table 1 shows the average yield of crops in Ontario
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with the percent increase from drained land. Figure 4 shows the effect of drainage on plant root
growth.
Alfalfa is sensitive to impaired drainage and has a low tolerance to flooding. On a well-drained
soil alfalfa remains in a mixture much longer before timothy grasses take over. In planting small
grains, experience has shown that the seeding date can be advanced about 2 weeks on drained
land compared with land that only has surface drainage. The surface of waterlogged soil tends to
heave when frozen; plants are lifted and their roots are broken. All cash crops will have
increased yields and improved quality when grown on well-drained land.
Good drainage is also needed when the crop is harvested. Crops such as potatoes have a high
oxygen demand and will rot after being waterlogged for 24 hours. Many fruit crops react
similarly. Crop roots which use nodules to obtain their nitrogen supply are susceptible to
temporary water logging. Tap-rooted crops are less able to contend with poor drainage than
crops with lateral root systems.

Drainage Systems
In the earlier days of subsurface drainage, tile systems were installed largely to remove the water
from "wet spots" in pastures and cropped fields. The tile system would connect a series of "wet
spots" to a drainage outlet in what is known as a random system. See Figure 7. Much of the
modem tile that is installed is in a pattern of some form, and therefore called pattern tiling. This
encourages tiling entire fields to optimize crop production, not just remove water from "wet
spots".
The top portion of Figure 6 shows the configuration that is sought by farmers seeking to optimize
crop production on their fields. If the drainage tiles are too far apart as shown in the lower
portion of the figure, an area of poor crops results over the subsoil that is inadequately drained. If
a tile has become partially or fully blocked by sediment, the effective width of drainage is
reduced. When the tile was first installed, the field would have good crops as shown in the upper
part of Figure 8, but as the tile fills with sediment, the field becomes more like that shown in the
lower portion of the sketch, with an ever widening band of poor crops between the sections that
produce well.
Drainage tile was originally made of clay, often reddish in color, and hence the name tile
evolved. When concrete became popular as a building material, it was also formed into drainage
tile. Older systems are often lengths of clay or concrete tile, laid such that the sections have a
small gap between them which allows water to enter the tile line and leave the field. In recent
years, drainage tile made of corrugated plastic has become quite popular, for its ease in
installation, and hence, low cost. It has slits cut in the sides which allow water to enter the tile.
The corrugated plastic drainage tile comes in long coils for smaller diameter sizes. When the
diameter reaches about 12", the tile is too rigid to coil so it is shipped in 20 foot lengths.

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Factors Affecting the Rate of Flow into Drains

The movement of water into drains is influenced by many variables:
1. Soil permeability. The horizontal and vertical permeability of the soil horizon(s).
2. Depth of drain. The depth of the drain below the surface and the drain location with respect
to the various soil horizons.
3. Drain openings. The size and distribution of openings into the drain; for example, cracks
between tile, perforations in the tile, gravel envelopes, or unlined channels.
4. Distribution of potential at the flow boundaries. The configuration and location of the free
water surface, and the presence and magnitude of artesian pressure or of back pressure in the
drain.
5. Drain spacing. The horizontal distance between individual drains.
6. Drain diameter. The diameter of drain tubes.

Tidbits
A. If the outlet is undersized, plugged, or inadequate, the system will not function as desired.
B. Regular maintenance is needed on a tile capacity.
C. Tile size is increased to allow the water from a larger watershed to be conveyed. A larger tile
size normally means a fairly small increase in the amount of water drawn from the soil to the
tile.
D. Drainage capacity can be limited by 1) the rate at which the soil conveys water to the tile, or
by 2) the size of the tile outlet and its ability to convey water away from the field.
E. As a tile system deteriorates, the field becomes wetter and wetter. This can be seen in a series
of aerial photos taken at regular intervals.
F. A blowout occurs when something plugs a tile and the pressure of the water trying to Ieave
exceeds the resistance of the soil and tile.
G. The economic benefit of tile is realized over a period of years with higher crop yields and
quality, timeliness of field operations, and efficiency of operations.
H. H. A tile system with surface inlets to convey surface water to the outlet needs to be larger
than does a system where only subsurface water is conveyed.

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Figure 1: Types of soil structure and their effect on downward movement of water
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Average Yield of Field Crops, 1978-1986

Crop
Winter Wheat
Spring Grain
Corn
Soybeans

Yield - bu/acres (t/ha)

Tiled Land
Untiled Land
61
(4.02)
44
(2.93)
58
(2.85)
36
(1.80)
101
(6.64)
75
(4.93)
37
(2.44)
30
(1.96)

Increase
(%)
37
58
35
25

Figure 2: Groundwater table in a

posthole

Table 1: Average Yield of Field Crops

Figure 3: Deep and perched water

tables

Figure 4: Effect of drainage on plant

root growth

Figure 5: Forms of soil water

Figure 6; Effect of wide drain spacing

on plant growth

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Table 2: Estimates of Capillary Fringe

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Figure 7: Types of drainage collection systems

Document originally released by National Employee Development Center, October 1, 1996.

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