Resources
Documents & Websites
NRCS Conservation Drainage
The NRCS Conservation Drainage webpage provides an overview of several conservation drainage practices, research, and additional resources.
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Woodchip Bioreactors: A Science-based Option to Reduce Nitrate Loss
This fact sheet answers some of the most common questions about woodchip bioreactors using a recent survey of all published bioreactor research.
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Smart Wetlands
Smart Wetlands, an initiative of The Wetlands Initiative, specifically sites, designs, and constructs tile-treatment wetlands to improve water quality in Illinois. Their website includes several resources for better understanding the impact of constructed wetlands on nutrient reduction.
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National Wildlife Federation: Conservation Champions Network
National Wildlife Federation’s Conservation Champions program – formerly Cover Crop Champions – offers grants up to $15,000 for farmers and outreach partners to learn and develop creative outreach strategies that target new farmer audiences and increase the rate of soil health practice adoption in the Midwest.
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Iowa Learning Farms: Constructed Wetland
In this webinar, “Tile Flows, Backhoes and Microbes: Constructed Wetlands for Subsurface Drainage Treatment,” Jill Kostel, Ph.D., senior environmental engineer at The Wetlands Initiative, discusses the siting, design and implementation of constructed tile-treatment wetlands that use the naturally occurring wetland functions and processes to capture and remove nutrients from tile flow.
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Journal of Soil and Water Conservation: Constructed Wetlands
This research paper analyzes the ability of restored wetlands to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations in agricultural drainage water.
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NRCS Controlled Drainage Video
This NRCS video reviews the effect of drainage water management, which allows farmers to actively manage the water on their fields, both in times of surplus and deficit.
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NRCS Constructed Wetlands Video
Join Illinois Natural Resources Conservation Service and our conservation partners as we demonstrate how to design and build a Constructed Wetland. This new conservation practice helps farmers and private landowners improve water quality.
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Illinois EPA Bureau of Water: Water Quality
The Illinois Bureau of Water is committed to ensuring that every Illinois public water system provides water that is superior quality, meets all regulatory requirements, and that Illinois’ groundwater resources are protected for designated drinking water and other beneficial uses.
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Transforming Drainage: Controlled Drainage
The Transforming Drainage project brings together research from experimental sites across the U.S. Midwest being managed under controlled drainage to explore driving factors and evaluate the potential for increased practice adoption.
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