Hydrological consequences of controlled drainage with subirrigation

“Sufficient freshwater is needed for several water dependent sectors. However, e.g. climate change, weather extremes, economic growth, urbanization and increased food production make it more complex to guarantee sufficient freshwater for all sectors, even in temperate climates like the Netherlands. The range of weather extremes from extremely dry to extremely wet is expected to increase and to occur more frequently. However, the current Dutch water management system is not designed to anticipate both weather extremes.
Controlled drainage with subirrigation could be a viable measure to i) discharge water only when needed, ii) retain water and iii) recharge water using an external source. This system thus has the potential to 1) improve growing conditions for crops at field scale, 2) reduce peak discharges at regional scale, and 3) increase groundwater recharge on regional scale. Consequently, this system could anticipate both dry and wet extremes. However, the implementation of controlled drainage with subirrigation could significantly alter different water balance components.”

(Citation: de Wit, J. A. (., van Huijgevoort, M. H. J. (., van Dam, J. C. (., van den Eertwegh, G. A. P. H. (., van Deijl, D. (., and Bartholomeus, R. P. (.: Hydrological consequences of controlled drainage with subirrigation , EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-1517, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-1517, 2023)