TILE DRAINAGE BENEFITS, RISKS, AND DITCH MAINTENANCE ISSUES
2018
- Dept. of Biological Systems Engineering, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison
Project Media
Maintaining proper root zone soil moisture conditions optimizes yields and improves
field trafficability. When soil voids are free of drainable water, air flow can occur
that supports important chemical and biological processes needed for plant growth.
Other benefits include deeper plant rooting depth and a dry soil will warm up more
quickly in the spring than a wet soil. However, tiled soils have an increased risk of
manure, pesticide and pathogen losses to surface waters. Macropores (earth worm
burrows and shrinkage cracks) and tile surface inlets can act as direct conduits to
tiles and in turn surface waters. Replacing tile surface inlets with blind inlets can
help reduce this risk. Tile typically drain into surface drainage ditches. Maintenance
of tile outlet ditches is critical to the proper performance of the tile system. When
maintenance should occur is dictated by site specific conditions, particularly tile and
ditch grade along with what a landowner is willing to tolerate. Ditches should be
inspected annually and after major storm events to identify problems before they
become severe. Clearing of trees and debris will likely be required more frequently
than sediment removal. There are both private ditches and ditches that are part of the
public drainage system created under WI Chapter 88 of Wisconsin Statutes. This
law established the county drainage districts. Maintenance of and connecting to
private ditches are the responsibility of individual property owner(s), which can lead
to conflicts and disagreements. The public drainage system was developed to
coordinate and better address drainage ditch issues involving multiple landowners.
Any connections to or maintenance of public ditches must involve the County
Drainage Board. It is also important to keep in mind that drainage ditch maintenance
may require permits or review by government agencies such as the Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources, Natural Resources Conservation Service, the
Army Corps. of Engineers and your local County Planning and Zoning Office.
Additional information on tile drainage can be found on the UWEX tile drainage
web site at the following URL: fyi.uwex.edu/drainage/.
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