AGRICULTURE DRAINAGE SYSTEMS

WHERE AND HOW DRAINAGE IS USED IN MINNESOTA

• This system has been used over the past 100 years in Minnesota making large areas very productive cropland.
• First drainage ditches were made then drainage pipe (tile) for removal of water from poorly drained soils.

LAWS AND REGULATIONS

• People are not aloud to be doing activities that involve disposing dredge material even on privately owned lands, if that land is considered "wetland" unless a COE permit is issued.
• Any person proposing to change the course, current, or cross section of a public water (includes drainage) must obtain a permit from the DNR.

LAWS AND REGULATIONS

• "Swampbuster rules" protect wetlands on the farms they own.
• Producers cannot plant an agriculture site on land that was changed due to drainage, leveling, or any other means.
• Producers may maintain existing drainage systems on drained wetlands if its formed the same way before Dec. 23, 1985 if no additional wetlands are drained.

IMPACTS ON THE ENVIROMENT

• Drainage activities have reduced the number and extent of wetlands as much as 90%.
• Proper soil drainage also improves the opportunity to employ other conservation practices such as minimum tillage.
• Tile drainage may reduce surface runoff pollutants but may increase dissolved nutrients, such as nitrate.

IMPACTS ON ENVIROMENT

• Poorly drained soils increase risks to agriculture production from excess water and high water tables.
• We will have 7 to 9 billion people to feed by 2050 and tillable land is being lost at a rate of 2 acres per minute.

HOW AS CHANGES IN THE ENVIRONMENT AFFECTED MINNESOTA

• A recent study shows about 21 rivers in Southern Minnesota from 1940 compared to 2009, which showed flows in about half the rivers steadily in the last 70 years, with some nearly doubling.
• Increasing crop reliability and productivity in many soils in Minnesota that are typically to wet

CHANGES TO THE ENVIRONMENT CONTINUED

• Today drainage systems are old and overloaded as they are updated and replaced there is an opportunity to have new designs and practices that protect water quality and improve drainage capacity to better manage floodwaters.

RECENT NEWS

• According to MPR news article titled "Farmers adapt to big rains but send trouble downstream" As rains have gotten heavier, Minnesota farmers in recently have expanded a 150 year old drainage system, taking billions of gallons of water off the land and greatly improving the state's corn and soybean fields.

This drainage system is so helpful yet their are some negatives. Negatives include the addition of all the drained water to streams causes more erosion destroying some water habitats. Then also nitrogen, fertilizer, and natural resources gets into the drained tile water which caused 25% of the 40% of lakes and rivers in Minnesota that are impaired are due to excess nutrients.

THE HAPPY MEDIUM

• A drainage system has its pros and cons but how can you improve it and still keep it safe for the environment? The answer was found in the development of the controlled drainage system.
• A controlled drainage system is a drainage system that allows you to choose how much water you would like on your farm land. This could help with issues and problems of drainage systems in the future.