Conservation Drainage

Throughout Illinois and other parts of the Midwest, farmers are increasingly investing in tile drainage systems to improve productivity and trafficability of their fields. Conservation drainage practices such as bioreactors, controlled drainage systems, saturated buffers, and constructed wetlands, are designed to capture and treat drainage from tile outlets, providing effective and often long-term nutrient loss reduction benefits.

Woodchip Bioreactors

Saturated Buffers

Drainage Water Management

Constructed Wetlands

Bioreactor

Controlled Drainage

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Transforming Drainage: Controlled Drainage

Conservation 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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UIUC Constructed Wetlands for Nitrate Removal

Conservation Drainage | Constructed Wetlands

This fact sheet provides an overview of how constructed wetlands provide nitrate removal from tile drainage water, including information on siting, construction, and cost of implementation.

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