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Soil and Groundwater Salinity Along Drainage Ditches in Eastern North Dakota¹

ABSTRACT

The most severely affected saline soils in the Red River Valley of North Dakota are normally observed in linear patterns along shallow roadside drainage ditches. Although the affected areas tend to be small, taken as a group they represent a considerable loss of productivity. Research was conducted to study the relationship between soil salinity and groundwater hydrology adjacent to roadside drains. Data for groundwater depth, electrical conductivity, and chemistry indicated that significant seepage occurs from the ditches. During recharge periods, both depth and salinity of groundwater tended to increase with distance from the drain. Ratios of Ca²⁺ to Mg²⁺ and Na⁺ tended to decrease over the same distance. Maximum salinity of the soil surface was observed where groundwater was of intermediate depth and salinity for a given site. Soils near the drain were most saline at the surface, whereas soils beyond the influence of the ditch exhibited increasing salinity with depth. Seepage rates calculated from soil and groundwater parameters did not correlate with observed values of soil salinity for a given site. The degree of salinization appears more closely related to the frequency that surface water ponds in the drains. Pond permanence was inferred by wetland classification of the drains according to the plant species present.

Key Words: seepage • recharge • salt distribution • wetland classification • groundwater hydrology

¹ Contribution from Dep. of Soil Sci., North Dakota State Univ., Fargo, ND 58105. Published with the approval of the Director of the North Dakota Agric. Exp. Stn. as Journal Paper no. 1459.

² Research Associate and Associate Professors, Dep. of Soil Sci., and Associate Professor, Dep. of Botany, North Dakota State Univ., P.O. Box 5638, Fargo, ND 58105.

Received for publication February 14, 1986.

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