Water table management in the Eastern Coastal Plain

AGRICULTURAL enterprises in the Eastern Coastal Plain region of the United States historically have been influenced by high rainfall, occasional flooding, and seasonal drought. These factors contribute to the degradation of environmentally sensitive areas, such as wetlands and lowlands, and productive estuarine areas and marshes. Accommodation of all water needs will require more sophisticated agricultural water management techniques than traditional irrigation or drainage. Both population pressure and industrial development have affected agricultural and environmentally sensitive areas (10). With the municipal and industrial use of deep groundwater expanding rapidly in many areas, surface and shallow ground-water storage will become critically important for agricultural production (2). Water table management offers more possibilities for flood control, improved water conservation, and improved water quality than conventional drainage systems (22). Water table management systems can incorporate drainage, drainage restrictions (controlled drainage), and subirrigation in one sophisticated operation to optimize soil water conditions for crop growth and to improve water quality. Such management systems can be applied at both the field and watershed scale using various water control structures and operational procedures (4, 17). Water table management is especially suited to relatively large, flat land areas where high water tables persist for long periods during …