Location: National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory
Project Number: 5020-12130-004-030-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Mar 1, 2026
End Date: Jul 30, 2028
Objective:
Determine how tile drainage networks alter subsurface transit time distributions.
Approach:
Downstream water quality benefits are not often realized for years to decades after conservation practice implementation due to lag times and legacy nutrient loss. In this objective, we plan to use nested monitoring of water, tracer concentrations, and P concentration from edge-of-field to large watershed (Maumee River) scale in conjunction with computer simulation models to quantify the transit time distributions of water and P. We will specifically examine how the transit times change with increasing subsurface tile drainage and how these changes influences lag times in P loss and transport from the field to watershed scale.