Modeling the Potential Influence of Subsurface Tile Drainage Systems on Downstream Flooding in a Midwestern Agricultural Watershed

Abstract

Highlights Tile flow was simulated to study the impacts of tile drainage on watershed hydrology and downstream flood days. Three tile drainage scenarios with varied extents of drained land were compared with a baseline scenario. The depth of tile flow contributing to streamflow was found to increase as the area of drained land increased. Results suggest that drainage systems decrease flood days when compared to the baseline scenario. Abstract. Subsurface tile drainage systems are common in agricultural regions of the Midwestern United States. Drainage systems remove excess water from the surface and soil profile of agricultural fields, allowing crop production in previously unsuitable locations. However, these systems impact watershed hydrology and could influence flooding events. Therefore, this study aimed to determine whether tile drainage systems influence downstream flood days in a Midwestern agricultural watershed, specifically the Skunk Creek watershed. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was used to simulate the hydrologic processes of the Skunk Creek Watershed for an 18-year period (2004–2021). The model was calibrated and validated using observed daily streamflow data with the SWAT Calibration and Uncertainty Program (SWAT-CUP) software and through the manual modification of missed precipitation data. Three tile drainage scenarios—ranging from 15% to 75% tile-drained agricultural land—were individually incorporated into the model. Results indicated that with increased tile drainage, surface runoff, groundwater flow, deep aquifer recharge, and percolation decreased, whereas lateral soil flow, tile flow, evapotranspiration, and water yield increased. A comparison of tile drainage scenarios suggests that increasing the area of tile-drained agricultural land decreases total flood days. However, the impact of tile drainage systems on downstream peak flood flows varied by event, with large precipitation events initiating flood days across all scenarios. While tile flow decreased flood days on a daily time step, flash floods might have occurred on a sub-daily time step but were not captured in this study. Future studies can replicate the approach with a sub-daily time step for simulating hourly flood events with various tile drainage scenarios. Keywords: Midwestern United States, Streamflow, SWAT, Tile drainage, Watershed hydrology.