Managing subsurface drainage water to optimize crop productivity, nutrient use, and water availability under current and future climatic conditions

Description

The purpose of the project was to assess the benefits of controlled farm drainage under current and future climatic conditions to meet the water needs of field crops and rural communities while reducing nitrogen and phosphorus flows into watercourses. This project was conducted simultaneously in Ontario and Québec using both hydrological monitoring and modeling at the field and micro-watershed levels as well as in the Thames River watershed in Ontario and the Yamaska River watershed in Québec.

Objective(s)

• Develop, calibrate, and validate hydrological modeling tools that can be used to predict the effects of controlled drainage on watershed hydrology, the water requirements of crops, and nutrient flows into surface water under current and future (2040‒2070) climatic conditions based on different soil properties.