Planning A Drainage System

[Jim Meade / Iowa City]

Here's a message I posted in Crop Talk.  

ISU is putting on a three-day drainage system planning course on 23-25 August at Nashua. It's put on by Dr. Matt Helmers and Greg Brenneman, among others. I know and respect these guys. If they tell you that water runs downhill, you'd better believe them. If they tell you that water runs uphill, I'd ask a question or two but not throw them out with a trial. They have years of experience.

The school costs $350 which is a lot of money except that it's well worth it.

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/article/isu-extension-and-outreach-offers-iowa-drainage-school

Designing the system is one thing - another question at the farm business farm management level is where does drainage fit in your scheme?  You know EPA and Corps of Engineers is hip-wader deep in trying to run your runoff life.  We all know that next to surface drainage, subsurface drainage investments are one of the best ways to promote long term yield increases.  The question is, are we going to come up with a deliberate plan - one that some day we may have to defend to EPA/COE or are we going to drain the draws and side hill seaps and not really have a clue as to whether we're making the best use of our money?

I recently had all the tile outlets into the two cricks (that's creeks to you high brows) that run through my farm fixed up with new outlet tubes and I marked them on my GPS so I can find them no matter the vegation or if they're under water..  I'm being sure to record all the new tile I'm running.  Sadly, there is a lot of tle hand dug 80 and 100 years ago that I only know by the outlet or when we dig one up.  

I'm as guilty as any of kind of running a tile where I think I need one when I think I can afford it.  It would be nice to start over with a clean slate (and more money).