Soil drainage is the removal of excess water from the land by artificial or man‐made facilities (Fangmeir et al., 2006). Most natural drainage occurs because of land forms and elevation differences that result from geologic erosion. All natural drainage is by gravity flow, even artesian water that moves upward to the land surface. Runoff is a more common term for drainage over the land surface, and seepage or groundwater flow are terms often applied to drainage below the land surface Skaggs and van Schilfgaarde (1999).
Man has improved on nature's drainage systems in order to construct buildings, highways, and other facilities; to improve the growth of more desirable vegetation; and to improve the environment for man, animals, and other organisms. Agricultural soil drainage enhances plant growth by increasing soil aeration and by removing toxic materials such as salts, which impair plant growth. Toxic salts accumulate near the surface in the more arid regions, and when such land is...
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Gupta, R.K. et al. (2008). Soil drainage. In: Chesworth, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Soil Science. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-3995-9_537
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