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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Laboratory for Agriculture and The Environment » Agroecosystems Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #292282
Title: Storm water management: Potential for lower cost & more benefits if farmers & municipalities cooperate on tile drainage

Author
item KEMPER, DORAL - Retired ARS Employee
item FOUSS, JAMES - Retired ARS Employee
item Jaynes, Dan
item Dabney, Seth
item IHDE, AMOS - Farmer
item MEYER, DON - Retired ARS Employee
item REICOSKY, DON - Retired ARS Employee

Submitted to: Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/1/2013
Publication Date: 5/20/2013
Citation: Kemper, D., Fouss, J.L., Jaynes, D.B., Dabney, S.M., Ihde, A., Meyer, D., Reicosky, D. 2013. Storm water management: Potential for lower cost & more benefits if farmers & municipalities cooperate on tile drainage. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 68(3):79A-83A.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: A common approach to protect communities from the ravages of stream flooding is to construct storm water retention basins upstream from the property to be protected. Retention basins are an expensive solution and often take valuable agricultural land out of production. Improved drainage of agricultural lands using subsurface drainage pipes increases crop yield and can increase the amount of water stored in and slowly released from soil. We demonstrate that widespread adoption of subsurface drainage has the potential to reduce peak flow in streams at a much reduced cost to communities than the construction and maintenance of retention basins. Using agricultural land with enhanced subsurface drainage for local flood control should be investigated as a viable alternative to storm retention basins for future community needs.