Cnarter Water Logging & Reclamation of Saline Soils eee + Water logging is a phenomena in whiich productivity of land gets affected due to the high watertable leading to flooding of root zone of the plants and making the root zones of the plants ill-aerated. + The life ofa plant, depends upon the nutrients like nitrates, and the form in which the nitrates are consumed by the plants is produced by the bacteria, under a process called nitrification. ‘These bacteria needs oxygen for their survival. The supply of oxygen gets cutoff when tho land becomes ill aerated, resulting in the death of these bacteria, and fall in the production of plant's food (ie. nitrates) and consequent reduction in the plant growth Other problems created by water logging are (The normal cultivation operatious, (such as tilling, ploughing, etc.) cannot be easily carried out in wet soils. In extreme cases, the free water may rise above the surface of the land, making the cultivation operation impossible i) Water logging also leads to salinity If the watertable has risen up, or if the plant roots comes. within the capillary fringe, water is continuously evaporated by capillarity. Thus, a continuous upward flow of water from the watertable (o the land surface, gets established. With this upward flow, the salts which are present in the wate, alao rise towards the surface, resulting in Ue deposition of salts in the root zone of the crops. ‘The concentration of these alkali salts present in the root zone of the crops has a corroding effect ‘on the roots, which reduées the osmotic activity of the plants and checks the plant growth, and the plant ultimately fades away. Such soils are called saline soils. ‘Note : Whenever there is woter logging, there is salinity. (i) Over and Intensive Irrigation: When a policy of intensive irvigation is adopted, then the maximum irrigable area of a small region is irrigated. This fads to heavy invigation in, that region resulting in heavy percolation and subsequent vise of watertable, Hence, policy of extensive irrigation should be preferred.76 IRRIGATION ENGINEERING (ii) Seepage of water from the Adjoining High Lands: Water from the adjoining high lands ‘nay seep into the sub-soil of the affected land and may raise the watertable Gi) Seepage of Water through the Canals; Water may seep through the beds and sides of the adjoining canals, reservoirs, ete, situated at a higher level then the affected land. resulting in hugh watertable. This seepage is exceasive, when soil at the ste of canals, reservoirs, ete. is very pervious. iv) Impervious Obstruction: Waive seepage below the soil moves horizontally but may find an impervious obstruction causing the vise of watertable on the ul side ofthe obstruction. Similarly, din impervious stratum may occur below the top layers of pervious soils. In such cases, water seepage through the porvious sols will not be able to go deep, and hence, quickly resulting in high watertable (#) Inadequate Surface Drainage If proper drainage is not provided, the storm water falling over the land and the excess irrigation water will constantly percolate and will raise the level of the underground reservoir. (vi) Inadequate Natural Drainage : Soils having less permeable sub-stratum below the top layers of pervious soils, will not be able to drain the water deep into the ground. (vii) Heavy rains : Heavy rainfall may create temporary water logging, and in the absence of good drainage, it may lead to continued water logging. (viti) Submergence due to Flovds: If land continuously remains suhmerged by floods. grasses, ‘weeds, ete. may grow, and obstruct the natural surface drainage of the sol, this may Iead to water logging TB ucmnabeie ‘The various measures adopted for controlling water logging are as follow (i) Lining of Canals and Water Courses : There should be attempts for. reducing the seepage ‘of water from the canals and water courses. This can be achieved by lining them Reducing the Intensity of Irrigation: In area where there is a possibility of water logging, intensity of irrigation should be reduced. Only a small portion of irrigable land should receive canal water in one particular season. The remaining areas can receive water in the noxt season, by rotation. Gi) By Introducing Crop rotation: Certain crops require more water and others require less water, Ifa field is always sown with a crop requiring more water. the chances of water logging Ie more, In order to avoid this, a high water requiring crop should be followed by one requiring less water, and then by one requiring almost no water. (iv) By Optimum Use of Water : Only 2 certain fixed amount of irrigation water gives best productivity, The unaware cultivators should be made aware about this technicality. Moreover, the revenue should not be charged on the basis of irrigated area but should be charged on the basis of the quantity of water utilised () By Providing Intercepting Drainage : Intercepting drains along the canals should be constructed, wherever necessary. These drains can intercept and prevent the seeping canal water from reaching the area likely to be water logged (vi) By Provision of an Efficient Drainage System : Ao efficient drainage system should be provided in order to drain away the storm water and the excess ittigation waler A good drainage system consists of surface drains as well as sub surface drai (RTE HAATIFR ee Fe FaWATER LOGGING & RECLAMATION OF SALINE SOILS 7 TORO Me Ae EE eRe GTS + Land reclamation is a process by which an uncultivable land is made fit for cultivation, Saline and water logged lands give very less crop yields, and are therefore, almost unfit for cultivation, unless they are reclaimed. + Every agricultural soil contains certain mineral salts in it. Some of these salts are beneficial for plants as they provide the plant foods, while others prove injurious to plant growth, These injurious salts are called alkali salts and their common examples are Na,CO,, NaSO,, and NaCl. Na,CO, is the most harmful; and NaCl is the least harmful. These salts are soluble in water, + Ifthe watertable rises up, or if the plants roots happen to come within’ the capillary fringe, water from the watertable starts lowing upward. The soluble alkali salts also move up with water and get deposited in, the.soil within the plant roots as well as on the surface of the land. ‘This phenomenon of salts coming up in solition and forining' thin crust of the surface, after the evaporation of water, is called efflorescence. + Land affected by efflorescence is called saline soi. + The salt water surrounding the roots of the plants reduces the osmotic activity ofthe plants Pine water om oie + Since the plant roots act as semi permeable | tnera See png towards he saeco membranes, so we have almost pure water on one side ofthe membrane (ie.-the water already extracted by the roots) and highly concentrated salt solution on the other side. So, we can conclude that pure water from within the roots will start flowing out of the xoots by osmosis towards the salt solution, until the pressure on pure water side becomes equal to the osmotic pressure of the salt solution. Heneo, the plant will dig after roots has been dried up completely Such a salt affected soil is unproductive and is known as saline soil. + Ifthe salt eflorescence continues for a longer period, a base exchange reaction sets up, particularly if the soil is clayey, thus sodiumising the clay, making it impermeable and, therefore, ill aerated and highly unproductive, Such eoile aro ealled alkaline soils. Leaching + In this process, land is flooded with adequate depth of water. ‘The alkali salts present in the soil gete diseolved in thio water which percolate down tu juin the watertable. The process is repeated till the salts in the top layer of the land are reduced to such an extent that some salt resistant crop can be grown. This process is known as leaching + High salt resistant crops like fodder, bajra ete. are grown on this leached land for one or two seasons or till the salinity is reduced to such an extent that an ordinary erop like wheat, cotton, citrus garden crops, etc., can be grown. The Jand is then said to have been reclaimed. CWBTES MASTER Die Fi Fara ea Se OE]| 78 IRRIGATION ENGINEERING + When sodium carbonate (Na,CO,) is present in the saline soil, gypsum (CaSO,) is generally added to the soil before leaching and thoroughly mixed with water. Na,CO, reacts with CaSO, forming Na,SO,, which can be leached out as explained earlier, Leaching requirement (LR) of a soil + In order’to avoid further increase in salinity, of a given soil after the land has been reclaimed it is necessary to apply water to the soil in excess of the consumptive use. + This excess water will flow down beyond the root zone of the crop to the underground drainage system or to the underground reservoir, washing down the excess salts, which otherwise would have been deposited in the soil to further increase the salinity of the soil. + This excess water, which is required to meet the leaching needs, is generally expressed as the percentage of the total irrigation water applied to the soil (field) to meet the consumptive use as well as the leaching needs. De Depth of water drained out perunit area ER (Leaching Requirement) = 1p, = Depth of irvigation water applied per unit ofarea ~~ where, D, = Total irrigation water depth applied. = C,+D, where, ©, = Consumptive use + Drained out water depth - Gi) For salt equilibrium, the ratio D/D, ia found to,be.equal to. C/C, where C, ult content of irrigation water, and C, = salt content of drainage or leached water. Salt content is directly proportional to the Electrical conductivity (EC), G EC) EE will be onal to BGs ‘hore RC, is the electrical eonduotivity of irrigation water; EC, is the electrical conductivity of drained water (leached water or leaching water). Hence, equation (i) can be written as De Ey Pe Bw BRED = BG) EC of drainage water or leaching water, i.e., EC(d), may be assumed on the basis of permissible salt tolerance Limit of the grown crop, but is generally assumed to be twice the EC value of the saturation.soil extract i.e., EC(e). Gi) Hence, equation (iii) can also be written as: EC _ BC EC) ~ BC) Dy LR (iv) Za A properly designed drainage system is an effective means to prevent land from’getting waterlogged Before undertaking a drainage project few things should be kept in mind, (Investigations such as topographical, geological and soil surveys should be carried out Gi) The nature of soil from the point of view of permeability should be studied. Fe TESM STE SsWATER LOGGING & RECLAMATION OF SALINE SOILS 79 (ii) A knowledge of water table and its fluctuations and the quality of ground in the area proposed for irrigation, ‘Two types of drainage can be provided, ie, (i) Surface drainage, (ji) Sub-surface drainage. Surface Drainage or Open Drainage ‘+ Surface drainage is the rémoval of excess rain water falling on the fields or the excess irrigation water applied to the fields, by constructing open ditches, field drains etc. Land is sloped towards these ditches or drains s0 as to make the excess water flow into these drains, «In arid regions, drainage ditches become necessary to remove ‘water required for leaching windesitable salts from the soil, and to dispose off the-excess rainfall + The open drains, which are constructed to remove, the excess irrigation water collected in the depressions on the fields, as well as the storm water, are broad and shallow, and are called shallow surface drains. ‘rombroctee are + ‘These drains carry the runoff to the outlet drains, which are large enough to carry the flood water of tho catchment area from the shallow: surface drains, and are of sufficient depths to provide outlets even for the underground tile drains, if provided. ‘These outlet drains may be called deep surface drains, + Surface drains constructed for removing excess irrigation water applied to the farms and the storm water, should not be deep enough, as to interfere with the agricultural operations. They are, therefore, designed as shallow surface drains. + The shallow surface drain are trapezoidal in cross-section. They should be strictly designed to carry the normal storm water into the folds, pluo the excess irrigation, water ‘+ Manning's equation is, generally used for the design of shallow as well as deep surface drains. + Deep surface drains or outlet drains carry the storm water discharge from the shallow surface drains, and the seepage water coming from the underground tile drains + They are designed for the combined discharge of the shallow surface drains as well as that of the tile drains Surface Inlet + The surface water from the pot holes, depressions road ditches, etc, may be removed either by connecting them with the shallow surface drains, or by constructing an intake structure called an open inlet or surface inlet. + Avast iron pipe or manhole constructed of bricks can be used as surface inlets, + At the surface of the ground, a concrete collar extending around the intake is canstructer on the riser to prevent growth of vegetation and to hold it in place. On the top of the riser beehive grate or some other suitable grate is provided, 30 as to prevent trash from entering the tile. When the inlet constructed in a cultivated field. the area immediately around ‘Surface in ring be the intake should be kept in grass, ceatooe camino tan (a FREES MASTER Dike Rasa Sr80 IRRIGATION ENGINEERING French Drain + When the quantity of water to be removed from the pits or depressions is small, a blind inlet may be installed over the tile drain. The blind inlet is also called French drain. + These are constructed by back filling the trench of the tile drain with graded materials, such a8 gravel and coarse sand, +” Such inlets are not permanently effective, * The voids in the backfill ofthe blind inlet becsme filled up with the passage of time, thereby reducing its effectiveiieas, + They are economical to be installed and do not interfere with the farming operations Cross-section of ate drain in pervious sits ‘without any filer) Bedding + Ibis a method of surface drainage which makes use of dead furrows, + The area between the two adjacent furrows is known as a bed. + The depth of the bed depends on the soil characteristics and tillage practices, + In the bedded area, the direction of farming may be parallel or normal to the dead furrows, + Bedding is most practicable on flat slopes of less then 15%, UB-SURFACE DRAINAGE OR TILE DRAINAGE} * Sub surface drains are required for soils with poor internal drainage and a high watertabie: + Tile drains are usually pipe drains made up of porous earthenware and are circular in section ‘+ The diameters may vary from 10 to 30 em + The trenches in which they are, laid are back filled with sand and excavated material + The tile drains should not be placed below less pervious strata, + Hfno impervious layer occurs below the land and the watertable is low (lower than about 3 m from the ground), internal soil drainage may be sufficient and no'tile drains needed + For maximum productivity of most ofthe erops, both surface as well as sub surface drains may Sometimes however become, essential, particularly in areas of higher water tab Baie] aia TES MASTERWATER LOGGING & RECLAMATION OF SALINE SOILS 81 Advantage of Drains: (2) Removes the free gravity water that is not directly available to the plants (i Increases the volume of soil from which roots can obtain food. Gil) Tneveases air eireulation (Gv) Permit deep roots development by lowering the watertable especially during spring months (¥) Increases bacterial activity in the soil, thus improving soil structure and making the plant food more readily available, (vi) Lesser time and labour is requived for tilling and harvesting Envelope Filters + Enveloped filter are the graded gravel filters surrounding the tile drains when tile drains are placed in less pervious soils, + The envelope filter serves two functions (@ Prevents the inflow of the sol into the drain (G Increases the effective tile diameter, and thus increases the inflow rate. Cmca + The filter consists of different gradations, such Cate as gravel, coarse sand, bajra, ete, + Coarsest material is placed over the-tiley-sismie gradually reducnd towards the surface. + The minimum thickness of the filter is about 7.5 cm. Outlets for Tile Drains or Closed Drains ‘The water drained by the tile drains is discharged into some bigger drains, called deep surface drains. The water from a tile drain may be discharged into an outlet drain either by gravity or by pumping, (a) Gravity outlet : If the bed level and the full supply level (PSL) of the outlet drain is lower than the invert level of the tile drain, then the water can be discharged easily into the outlet drain by the mere action of gravity, (b) Pump outlet : When the bed level of the outlet drain is higher than that of the discharging tile drain: » pump outlet has to he installed. Tt consists of an automatic controlled pump with 4 small sump for storage. Pump outlets are costly and require technicality. Outlet Ditch he wou, vst Peer vie reba dh, =3 4m e Damwor Se wore ~ Proplier pum CHBTES MASTER Olice FS Rava Som ST82 IRRIGATION ENGINEERING Drawdown Curve or Movement of Water into the Tile Drains + In a fully saturated soil, water flows into the tile drain along the path as shown in fig, + Since the quantity of water moving between any-two flow lines is the same, the drawdown will bbe more near the tile than at the points farther away. : + After saturated soil has drained for a day, the resulting watertable will be as shown in fig + With series of tile drains, the sub soi! water level directly over the drains, is lower than the level midway between them as shows: in fig: GL. 7 Midway ——} Between Drains’ | Impervious Laver Drawidoven curve with a series of ile drains. Water Tables Afr Drainage (Cover Watt Table Ate more drainage + When a filter is provided around the tile drains to surround 'the drains with more pervious soil, then the overall drawdown will be more. + Rate of drop of watertable mainly depends upon the soil permeability and spacing of the drains. Depth and Spacing of the Tilé'Drains + The closed drains are generally spaced at such a distance as to be capable of lowering the watertable sufficiently below the root zone of the plants. + For most of the plants, the top point of the watertable must be at least 1.0 to 1.5 meters below the ground level + Tile drains may be placed at about 0.3 m below the desired highest level of the watertable. ET De ae aR ISCHARGE 1S UNKNO' 3m 4” Gen Soil Surface Dethot | (geen) the Tile Rovn Drain Impervious Stratum Spacing of tle drains fate (ES MASTER ice FEFWATER LOGGING & RECLAMATION OF SALINE SOILS 83 Let S be spacing between the drains, and a be the depth of impervious stratum from the centre of the drains, as shown in figure. Let the maximum height of the drained watertable above the impervious layer be b. At any distance x from the centre of a drain, let the height of the watertable above the impervious stratum be y. According to Darey’s Law, we have Q = KIA where, K = permeability coefficient in m/sec. Discharge per unit length of the drain passing the eection at y (q) is given as ay a Koy , ®) ‘Ascuming the inclination ofthe water surfae We small, such that the tangent| i.) can be 4 used in place of sine( *) for the hydraulic gradient, we get, y ® when and where, (ris total discharge per nit length caétied by the drain Gg enters the drain from either side). ‘Also assuming that q is linearly varying with the distance from the drain, we can write or Gi) Equating equation (j) and’(i), we get = =Ky gg S- = Kye Rearranging and integrating, we get S-(S-2x)dx'= fy dy SyggS- 2nd = fy dy Assuming the soil permeability to be constant, we get Gi) Substituting equation (iii) becomes fate LESMASTER Oia FRE Kass Sood Se NT TTT84 IRRIGATION ENGINEERING or _ Ksty*~a*) or a= “Gok Gv) Also, when x = S/2, y = b, equation (iv) then becomes KS(bt-a?) _ KS(b?—a?) are z (s 2 5s $ 2)2 4 or co) wa Equation (vi) can be used to predict the spacing (S) between the drains, if q is known. ‘Note ¢ wil depend on the infiltration discharge into the ground, which should be removed by the drains Sugar cane (root Zone depth 1.8m) is grown in a particular area where the ground water table is 2.0 m below ground: If the size of soil pores is 0.08 mm in diameter and surface tension, 0 =0.054 Nim,is the field waterlogged? If 00, determine the-vertical location of closed drains below ground spaced at 15 m. Take drainage coefficient as 0.116 cumecs/ km*, coefficient of permeability as 10* m/s and the impervious stratum to occur at 7.0 m below ground. Assume the capillary rise from ground water table not to interfere with the root zone of plant. Sol. Given data, Root zone depth (d) = 1.8 m ; Ground water table = 2 m below GL. Soil pores diameter = 0.08 mm ; Surface tension (o) = 0.054 Nim ; Spacing (S) = 15 m Drainage coefficient = 0.116 cumeckkm? ; Permeability (k) = 10" ° m/sec: We have to determine field ia water logged or not and Vertical location of drain Pictorial representation of given data ° 8 pe © ba 7 | ee erence cl Sen (a. TES MASTER Bilge sce iemrae ateemaserahoWATER LOGGING & RECLAMATION OF SALINE SOILS 85 Flow diagram If capillary rise (H.) <2 ~ 18 ie. unable to reach root level then water logging doos not cos where, ; = Gd Vertical distance of tile drain from impermeable stratum (a) > CBCB Given a= Be) ‘The height to which water rises by capillary action in a soil is given’ by doens8 ‘ tod where, @ = 0, for max. capillary height ; d = diameter of pores = 0.08 mm = 0.08 x10!m p= Unit weight of water = 9.81 x 10° Nim? ; 6 uurface tonsion = 0.054 N/m 40.054 xcoe0 9.81«10° <0.08%10" ‘Thus, the capillary saturated zone stands at 2 — 0.275 = 1.725 m below the ground, thereby causing slight water logging, since the roots extend upto 1.8 m below. the ground H, = 0.275 m Ah (52 — 92 Now, we know that a= “E@?-a") where q is total discharge per-unit length carried by the drain k= coefficient of permeability (in m/s) ; s = spacing between the drains (in m) a= depth of impervious stratum from the centre of the drains (in m) b = maximum height of the drained water table above the impervious layer (in m) 6 5.1 10" But, q = Drainage coefficient x $ x length of tile drain = [considering unit length of drain} 5 q = 174% 10 cumecs/m Given that k = 10 mls, «= 15m, — Stratum Ter ‘Dice F186 Ravana Nes DHE86 IRRIGATION ENGINEERING ‘water (able should be rough down to such a level that oven the Gapillar Water does mot each the root zero depth : SE b= 7-18 0275 = 4.925 m Gt - 1.74 x 104 L410 15, 4x10 a= 4529m Depth of tile drains = 7~ 4.529 = 2.471 m ‘Thus the tile drains should be laid at 2.471 m below the ground, NN Rees az cam ke ‘The rate at which the water is removed by a drain is called the drainage coefficient. It is expressed as depth of water in em or m, to be removed in 24 hours from the drainage area, + Depends upon the rainfall but varies with type of soil & crop degree of surface drainage etc ‘+ Its recommended value is 1% of thé average aiiial Paiffall'to Bé veinoved per day. + Values of 1 to 2.5 em/day for mineral soils and 1.25 to 10 em/day for organic soils for different Crops, have been suggested for humid regions Drainage Area.: The area actually drained by the tile drain system is called its drainage area, Sometimes, the surface water is also to be removed by the tiles, In that case, the watershed area will be the drainage area even though it may not be entirely tiled. Size of the Tile Drains : The tile drains are designed according the Manning's formula to carry a certain discharge decided by D.C. and drainage area. The drains are laid on a certain longitudinal slope varying from 0.05 to 3%. A desirable minimum working grade is 0.2%. 10 to 15 em tiles aro ‘minimum recommended sizes. Determine the size of a tile at the outlet of a 6 hectare drainage system, if the D.C. is 1 om and the tile grade is 0.3%. Assume the rugosity coefficient for the tile drain material as 0.011. Sol. Given data : Area = 6 ha, ; Drainage coefficient (DC) = 1 em. (Lem D.C. means that 1 em of water from an area of 6 hectares is entering the tiles per day). Tile grade (S) = 0.5% ; n = 0.011 Determine Size of tile (d) Flow diagram: Since here ‘n’ is given so it is a great hint that we should use Manning's formula a FH TES MASTER aWATER LOGGING & RECLAMATION OF SALINE SOILS a7 tLe ge aE ouseicatatamn Sitmf | fa Volume of water passing the drain in 1 day = (& lame of water passin in in 1 second = satis Volume of water passing the drain in 1 second a 1 tls a a8 Now, q= Larsi For a circular drain of diameter D, we have ’ A= pam, R= 1 : : 1. (ep or qa > oon (a ta - 1, 00ux4 _ DAD = ae ae (y” *Vaa38 : Oo1s4x2.52%1826 _ ,, : or comer mae or D = (0.00447) = 132 metre = 18.2 cm ‘The extract of a saturated solution from from the soil has an BC of 10 memhos/em and the EC of irrigation water is 1.5 m-mholem. What is the leaching requirement? If the consumptive use of crop is 6 em, what depth of water has to be applied? Work from the first principles. Dy _ EC given = = eo Sol. LR DEC given LR can be calculated D.+D, LR dD, R = (DC) given, (LR) calculated, => (D) can be calculated. ‘The water to be applied over and above the irrigation requirement to leach out the excess salts (to keop the salinity of the soil below a specific limit is termed as leaching requirement (L.R). For salt balance in an irrigation area, V,C, = VC salt concentration. | where, V= volume of water, C ‘Then (@, x1) G, = @, x NC, (considering unit area) | bad MAS Office Fite KarvanaSora Sex Tog88 IRRIGATION ENGINEERING Hence, -@) where, d+ dj @, = congumptive use) Using’ eqn. (i), d, = d+ LR-d, . of IR oe ~@ Inthe given problem, assuming EC of drainage water aé twice that of the soil extract. Then By 1s y LR By 7x10 = 0.075 (or 7.5%) ‘This means that 7.5% more water than the consumptive requirement is required fe is ee Henge 4° TaR = i007 8% and