Irrigation Insights 2 - Subsurface Drainage Design and Management Practices in Irrigated Areas of Australia

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It is widely understood that irrigation development results in deep percolation past the rootzone, which recharges the groundwater. With flood irrigation, watertables often rise at around 0.5 m a year until a new equilibrium is established where the watertable fluctuates from the soil surface to around 3 m deep. A significant part of all irrigation areas in Australia are currently in this condition or approaching such equilibrium. Irrigation areas in southeastern Australia, particularly in the Murray Darling Basin (MDB), have 75% or more of their areas in this shallow watertable regime.