NCERA217: Drainage design and management practices to improve water quality

(Multistate Research Coordinating Committee and Information Exchange Group)

Status: Active

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Annual/Termination Reports:

[07/01/2025]

Date of Annual Report: 07/01/2025

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 04/01/2025 - 04/03/2025
Period the Report Covers: 01/01/2024 - 12/31/2024

Participants

Ehsan Ghane, Michigan State University; Jane Frankenberger, Purdue University; Sushant Mehan, South Dakota State University; Tyler Groh, Penn State University; Jeppe Kjaersgaard, Minnesota Department of Agriculture; Kelly Nelson, University of Missouri; Laura Christianson, University of Illinois; Steven Hall, University of Wisconsin; Jeff Strock, University of Minnesota; Vinayak Shedekar, Ohio State University; Eileen Kladivko, Purdue University; Matt Helmers, Iowa State University; Gary Sands, University of Minnesota; Lindsay Pease, University of Minnesota. Attending online: Xinhua Jia, North Dakota State University; Luciano Alves de Oliveira, University of Illinois

Brief Summary of Minutes

Brief Summary of the Annual Meeting

The annual meeting of NCERA-217 was held during the annual Conservation Drainage Network (CDN) conference. The CDN is made up of people from academia, industry, state and federal agencies, and NGOs. NCERA-217 members had a key role in forming the CDN and continue to lead the group forward into the future. The 2024 CDN Annual Conference had 97 in-person participants and 27 virtual, including the 16 people who attended the NCERA-217 business meeting. The NCERA-217 business meeting was held at 7:30AM on April 2^nd 2025. Those in attendance are listed in the bold section above. Administrative Advisor Kanwar opened the meeting with a comment on the NCERA-217 group and how well everyone is doing at identifying opportunities such as greenhouse gas emissions related to conservation drainage and recycling water and building teams to acquire funding to develop meaningful resources. Kanwar went on to say that the midterm review of the current project is 2026 and that members should consider applying for a new engagement and excellence award. The meeting progressed into discussions on the previous year’s monthly research discussions, lead by Frankenberger. These monthly discussion meetings will likely continue into this coming year since NCERA-217 members find value in them. There was then a brief discussion on the accomplishments of the NCERA-217 group over the past year in order to determine what will be submitted in the annual report. Kladivko nominated Sands for Vice-Chair with a second from Nelson. The group voted unanimously for Sands to serve as the 2025-2026 Vice-Chair and the 2026-2027 Chair of NCERA-217. Lastly, the group voted to have the annual CDN and NCERA-217 meetings in Michigan in 2026 and Iowa in 2027.

Accomplishments

Accomplishments: <h2>Short-term outcomes</h2> Members of NCERA-217 continue to lead the Conservation Drainage Network (CDN) in 2024. The CDN’s focus is to advance tile drainage practices and enhancements while ensuring that environmental impacts are minimized. The partners that make CDN come from around the nation and have the following accomplishments:   Annual Meeting:  With the help of partners from federal, state, and local agencies, the drainage industry, NGOs, and other private sector individuals focused on drainage, the members of NCERA-217 planned and held the 2025 Conservation Drainage Network Meeting (<a href="https://conservationdrainage.net/meetings-and-events/2025-cdn-annual-meeting/">https://conservationdrainage.net/meetings-and-events/2025-cdn-annual-meeting/</a>). The 2025 meeting had a total of 97 in-person and 27 virtual participants. This event consisted of panel discussions, presentations, time for brainstorming and thinking critically about the future of conservation drainage, and also in-person training for drainage practitioners. Topics covered included state and federal support for conservation drainage practices, scaling successful practice implementation, identifying key benefits of conservation drainage beyond yield and water quality, state-wide drainage reports from NCERA-217 participants, current research projects on drainage water recycling, saturated buffers, bioreactors, and controlled drainage, and state nutrient reduction strategies updates. The final day of the Conservation Drainage Network Meeting included a field trip to tour some of the drainage research sites at the University of Illinois to promote the exchange of information as well as brainstorm potential future collaborations.   Leading the Conservation Drainage Network: NCERA-217 members have recently been the leading members of the Conservation Drainage Network Organizing Committee. This committee consists of 11 members from industry, non-profits, state agencies, and committee chairs. In addition, there are four federal agency advisors. Further, NCERA-217 members maintain the CDN website (<a href="https://conservationdrainage.net/">https://conservationdrainage.net/</a>), the mailing list, and lead many of the CDN internal committees (Annual Meeting, Education and Extension, and Research Summary Committees). Through these committees, NCERA-217 members help advance conservation drainage by conducting and summarizing research, sharing information about industry innovations, advising conservation practice standard development, informing policy making, coordinating education and outreach activities, and driving implementation. The continued success of the Conservation Drainage network is an outcome and a huge accomplishment for the NCERA-217 group.   <h2>Outputs</h2> NCERA-217 members authored 34 peer-reviewed journal articles and 5 peer-reviewed Extension publications on topics related to agricultural drainage and its impacts on crop yield, water quality, and related research. These are listed in the separate Publications document. Ehsan Ghane and Mohamed Youssef developed a saturated buffer design and evaluation tool, funded by a USDA-NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant. This new tool supports both the design of a new system and evaluation of an existing system. An in-person workshop held at the Conservation Drainage Workshop Annual Meeting in Illinois trained 23 participants. Based on the post-workshop survey, 17 out of 18 respondents (94%) said that they plan on using the tool at their workplace, and 94% also stated that their knowledge increased moderately or a great deal. One workshop participant wrote, "The tool is very fascinating! I believe the application will greatly benefit the industry as whole. I look for to it going live for public use."              The research of NCERA-217 members was highlighted during two sessions at the 2024 ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas. Stephen Hall delivered an invited presentation at the ASA Environmental Quality Section Megaposium on the ongoing work by NCERA-217 members (Steven Hall, Laura Christianson, Jane Frankenberger, Tyler Groh, and Morgan Davis) to summarize the potential for conservation drainage practices to contribute to climate change mitigation. NCERA-217 members Lindsay Pease and Laura Christianson shared research outcomes of the NRCS-funded project

Publications

Peer Reviewed Research Publications Askar, M.A., E. Ghane, M.A. Youssef, V.S. Shedekar, K.W. King, R. Bhattarai. 2024. Feasibility of predicting subsurface drainage discharge with DRAINMOD parameterized by uncalibrated SURRGO soil properties and ROSETTA3. Journal of Natural Resources and Agricultural Ecosystems. 22, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.13031/jnrae.15735  Baird, A., Frankenberger, J., Bowling, L. and Kladivko, E., 2024. Impact of controlled drainage on crop yield including within-field variability. Journal of the ASABE, Vol. 67(3): 717-727. https://doi.org/10.13031/ja.15520.  Bailon, APSB, Margenot, A., Cooke, RAC., and Chirstianson, LE. 2024. Denitrifying bioreactors and dissolved phosphorus: Net source or sink? Journal of Environmental Quality. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20568  Baum M.E., Sawyer J.E., Nafziger E.D., Castellano M.J., Mcdaniel M.D., Licht M.A., Hayes D.J., Helmers M.J., Archontoulis S.V. (2025) The optimum nitrogen fertilizer rate for maize in the US Midwest is increasing. Nature Communications 16. DOI: ARTN 404 10.1038/s41467-024-55314-7.  Book, RS, J Frankenberger, LE Christianson, LR Prasad, Y Yuan. 2024. Effectiveness Overview of Agricultural Conservation Practices for Water Quality Improvement Part II. Journal of Natural Resources and Agricultural Systems. 2(3): 129-137.  https://doi.org/10.13031/jnrae.15804.   Brunton, AM., Zilles, JL., Cooke, RA., and Christianson, LE. 2024. Nitrous oxide and methane production and consumption at five full-size denitrifying bioreactors treating subsurface drainage water. Science of the Total Environment, 919 (2024) 170956. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170956  Diaz-Garcia, C., and Christianson, LE. 2024. Batch-mode denitrifying woodchip bioreactors for expanded treatment flexibility. Water. 16 (2) 206. doi:  <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/w16020206">https://doi.org/10.3390/w16020206</a> Drury C.F., Agomoh I.V., Yang X.M., Phillips L.A., Reynolds W.D., Helmers M.J., Calder W., Hedge T. (2024) Stacking nitrogen management practices: Combining double-slot fertilizer injection with urease and nitrification inhibitors improves yields and reduces ammonia and nitrous oxide emissions. Soil Science Society of America Journal. DOI: 10.1002/saj2.20677.  Frankenberger, J., McMillan, S.K., Williams, M.R., Mazer, K., Ross, J. and Sohngen, B., 2024. Drainage water management: A review of nutrient load reductions and cost effectiveness. Journal of the ASABE. 67(4): 1077-1092. https://doi.org/10.13031/ja.15549  Hartfiel, LM., Diaz-Garcia, C., Christianson, LE., and Soupir, ML. 2024. Scenario-based techno-economic analysis of pumped denitrification bioreactors. Water Rsources and Economics, 46 (2024) 100238. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wre.2024.100238    Kaur, H., G. Singh, K.A. Nelson, and G. Kaur. 2024. Landscape position and cover crops affect soil properties in a no-till terrace-tile field. Catena 239:10784. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2024.107874.  Kaur, H., G. Singh, K. Williard, J. Schoonover, K.A. Nelson, and G. Kaur.  2024.  Tillage and cover cropping influence phosphorus dynamics in soil and water pools.  Agrosyst. Geosci. & Environ. 7:e20570. doi: 10.1002/agg2.20570.  Kaur, H., K.A. Nelson, G. Singh, G. Kaur, and M.P. Davis. 2024. Spring applied phosphorus loss with cover crops in no-till terraced field. Journal of Environmental Management. 335:120431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.120431.   Kaur, H., K.A. Nelson, C.K. Wikle, R. Ferguson, and G. Singh. 2024. Nitrogen fertilizer and pronitridine rates for corn production in the Midwest U.S. Field Crops Research. 306:109200.  doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2023.109200.  Kaur, H., K.A. Nelson, G. Singh, and R.P. Udawatta. 2024.  Cover crop impacts water quality in a tile-terraced no-till field with corn-soybean rotation. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. 360:108794. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2023.108794. Kaur, H., K.A. Nelson, R. Udawatta, and G. Kaur.  2024.  Subsurface drainage and nitrogen management affects soil properties in upstate Missouri U.S. Geoderma Regional. 39:e00888. doi:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geodrs.2024.e00888.  Kaur, H., and K.A. Nelson. 2024.  Subsurface drainage and nitrogen fertilizer management affect fertilizer fate in claypan soils. Sustainability, 16:6477. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su16156477.  Lacroix, E.M., A. Gomes, G. Barratt Heitmann, D. Schuler, A. Dekas, D. Liptzin, E. Aberle, D. Watts, K.A. Nelson, S. Culman, and S. Fendorf. 2024. Microbial proxies for anoxic microsites vary with management and partially explain soil carbon concentration. Environmental Science & Technol. 58, 11459−11469. doi: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.4c01882.  Lawrence N, Hall SJ. 2024. Mechanisms underlying episodic nitrogen and phosphorus leaching from poorly drained agricultural soils. Journal of Environmental Quality 53: 643-656. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20597  Licht M.A., Comito J., Helmers M.J., Ripley E., Staudt A. (2025) Iowa learning farms: Utilizing research to develop and deliver extension outreach programs across multiple constituencies. Journal of Environmental Quality 54:747-761. DOI: 10.1002/jeq2.70008.  Liebman M., Helmers M.J. (2024) Multiyear productivity and nitrate-nitrogen loss from corn and prairie bioenergy cropping systems. Agronomy Journal 116:3053-3069. DOI: 10.1002/agj2.21713.  Loper H., Tenesaca C., Pederson C., Helmers M.J., Crumpton W.G., Lemke D., Hall S.J. (2024) Insights on agricultural nitrate leaching from soil block mesocosms. Journal of Environmental Quality. DOI: 10.1002/jeq2.20586.  Lyons S.E., Arnall D.B., Ashford-Kornburger D., Brouder S.M., Christian E., Dobermann A., Haefele S.M., Haegele J., Helmers M.J., Jin V.L., Margenot A.J., Mcgrath J.M., Morgan K.T., Murrell T.S., Osmond D.L., Pelster D.E., Slaton N.A., Vadas P.A., Venterea R.T., Volenec J.J., Wagner-Riddle C. (2025) Field trial guidelines for evaluating enhanced efficiency fertilizers. Soil Science Society of America Journal 89. DOI: ARTN e20787 10.1002/saj2.20787.  Maxwell, BM., Christianson, RD., Arch, R., Johnson, S., Book, R., and Christianson, LE. 2024. Applied denitrifying bioreactor cost efficiencies based on empirical construction costs and nitrate removal. Journal of Environmental Management, 352 (2024) 120054. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.120054  Mitchell M.E., Anteau M.J., Pearse A.T., Newcomer-Johnson T., Christensen J., Crumpton W., Dyson B., Canfield T.J., Helmers M., Green D., Forshay K.J. (2025) Modeling Wetland Resources for Spring Migratory Waterbirds Under Different Agricultural Management Scenarios in the Iowa Portion of the Prairie Pothole Region, USA. Wetlands 45. DOI: ARTN 48 10.1007/s13157-025-01930-y.  Nelson, E.P., Scherer, T.F., and Jia, X. 2024. Flow rate and volume estimates from variable frequency drive operated drainage sump pumps. Applied Engineering in Agriculture 40 (1) 51-67. doi:   <a href="https://doi.org/10.13031/aea.15790">https://doi.org/10.13031/aea.15790</a> Niaghi, Ali R , Axel Garcia y Garcia, Jeffrey S. Strock. 2024. Supplemental Irrigation with Recycled Drainage Water: Outcomes for Corn and Soybean in a Fine-Textured Soil. Agronomy, 14, 1948. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14091948  Osterholz, W., Simpson, Z., Williams, M., Shedekar, V., Penn, C., King, K. 2024. New phosphorus losses via tile drainage depend on fertilizer form, placement, and timing. Journal of Environmental Quality 53 (2) 241-252. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20549  Rudko, N., McMillan, S.K., Frankenberger, J., Lay, D.W. and Limiac, A., 2024. Water quality sampling provides insight into nutrient sources and pathways in an agricultural watershed in the Midwestern USA. Journal of Natural Resources and Agricultural Ecosystems, 2(4), pp.153-165.  Rui, Y., B. Goller, and E.J. Kladivko. 2024.   Long-term crop yield benefits of subsurface drainage on poorly drained soils Agron. J.  https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.21621   Russell, D., G. Singh, N. Quintana-Ashwell, G. Kaur, D. Gholson, J. Krutz, and K.A. Nelson. 2024. Cover crops and irrigation impacts on corn production and economic returns. Agric. Water Manage. 295:08739. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2024.108739.  Singh, G., M.P. Davis, K.A. Nelson, and G. Kaur. 2024.  Drainage water management, woodchip bioreactor, and saturated riparian buffer as stacked conservation practices for improving crop yields and water quality.  Environ. Technol. & Innovation, 36:103779. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eti.2024.103779.  Wang, H., J. Strock, A. Ranaivoson, and S. Ishii. 2024. Bioremediation of Nitrate in Agricultural Drainage Ditches: Impacts of Low-Grade Weirs on Microbiomes and Nitrogen Cycle Gene Abundance. Science of the Total Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.177070  Waring E.R.*, Pederson C., Lagzdins A., Clifford C., Helmers M.J. (2024) Water and soil quality respond to no-tillage and cover crops differently through 10 years of implementation. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment 360. DOI: ARTN 108791 10.1016/j.agee.2023.108791.    Extension Publications <table width="863"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="56"> Author(s) </td> <td width="36"> Year </td> <td width="76"> Title </td> <td width="71"> Publication Name (Website or Place Stored etc) </td> <td width="91"> State/Region </td> <td width="80"> Practice/Topic </td> <td width="47"> Size (pages, time length, etc.) </td> <td width="51"> Type </td> <td width="45"> Resource Category </td> <td width="309"> Access link </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="56"> E. Ghane </td> <td width="36"> 2024 </td> <td width="76"> Mole Drains </td> <td width="71"> MSU Extension Bulletin E3452 </td> <td width="91"> National </td> <td width="80"> Conventional Drainage </td> <td width="47"> 8 </td> <td width="51"> PDF </td> <td width="45"> Fact Sheet </td> <td width="309"> <a href="https://www.canr.msu.edu/resources/mole-drains">https://www.canr.msu.edu/resources/mole-drains</a> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="56"> E. Ghane </td> <td width="36"> 2024 </td> <td width="76"> Iron Ochre </td> <td width="71"> MSU Extension Bulletin E3453 </td> <td width="91"> National </td> <td width="80"> Conventional Drainage </td> <td width="47"> 8 </td> <td width="51"> PDF </td> <td width="45"> Fact Sheet </td> <td width="309"> <a href="https://www.canr.msu.edu/resources/iron-ochre">https://www.canr.msu.edu/resources/iron-ochre</a> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="56"> E. Ghane </td> <td width="36"> 2024 </td> <td width="76"> A Guide for Monitoring Phosphorus. </td> <td width="71"> MSU Extension Bulletin E3484 </td> <td width="91"> National </td> <td width="80"> Monitoring of tile drainage </td> <td width="47"> 4 </td> <td width="51"> PDF </td> <td width="45"> Fact Sheet </td> <td width="309"> <a href="https://www.canr.msu.edu/resources/a-guide-for-monitoring-phosphorus">https://www.canr.msu.edu/resources/a-guide-for-monitoring-phosphorus</a> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="56"> Easton, Z.M. </td> <td width="36"> 2024 </td> <td width="76"> Denitrification Management </td> <td width="71"> VCE Extension Fact Sheet BSE-54P </td> <td width="91"> National </td> <td width="80"> Managing the N cycle </td> <td width="47"> 5 </td> <td width="51"> PDF </td> <td width="45"> Fact Sheet </td> <td width="309"> <a href="https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/pubs_ext_vt_edu/en/BSE/BSE-54/BSE-54.html#:~:text=Denitrification%20Management%20(PDF)">https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/pubs_ext_vt_edu/en/BSE/BSE-54/BSE-54.html#:~:text=Denitrification%20Management%20(PDF)</a> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="56"> T. Groh </td> <td width="36"> 2024 </td> <td width="76"> Constructed and Restored Wetlands in the Agricultural Landscape </td> <td width="71"> Pennsylvania Clean Water Academy </td> <td width="91"> Pennsylvania/Mid Atlantic Region </td> <td width="80"> Wetland </td> <td width="47"> 1.5 Hours </td> <td width="51"> Video </td> <td width="45"> Video </td> <td width="309"> <a href="https://pacleanwateracademy.remote-learner.net/course/view.php?id=1310">https://pacleanwateracademy.remote-learner.net/course/view.php?id=1310</a> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table>

Impact Statements

Impacts NCERA-217 members contributed to the 2025 revision of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) Soil and Water Terminology Standard S526.5 MAR2025ED.  This standard helps the engineering profession to use precise terms and definitions, which strengthens the quality of technical communication. Numerous terms in the standard that relate to drainage, including a new definition for “conservation drainage”, will be used in revising ASABE drainage-related standards to reflect updated practices. Research by NCERA-217 members contributed to a modification of the NRCS Conservation Practice Standard 605, “Saturated Buffer”. The “General Criteria Applicable to All Purposes” section was modified to allow nitrate removal optimization in vegetated buffer zone sizing and design flow capacity. The optimization of nitrate removal was added to allow NRCS to use the Saturated Buffer Tool (SBTool). NCERA-217 members delivered drainage workshops in Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, and Wisconsin. In these workshops, members taught drainage design and concepts to improve crop production and protect water quality. Total number of attendees included over 100 participants. Participants at these workshops represented 4 states and one province of Canada. Based on the Michigan one-year follow-up survey, respondents said that they earned an average $10/acre increased income because of the workshop they participated a year ago. Participants from the one-year follow-up survey from Michigan wrote, "As a landowner, it gave me the tools to improve my existing drainage system", and "We do smaller tile project and repairs. The course has enabled me to do a better job planning and getting those areas corrected".