Impact of a two-stage ditch on channel water quality

A two-stage ditch involves modifications of a conventional, trapezoidal drainage ditch to better replicate the features of a natural stream through the addition of adjacent floodplains or benches. Previous research in Indiana and Ohio has shown that two-stage ditches offer the potential to reduce sediment load and extend the interaction time between water, bench vegetation, and bench soil allowing larger uptake of nutrients by the vegetation and increasing the denitrification rates. A two-stage ditch was constructed that drains an area of approximately 267 ha of farmland used for corn and soybean production. Discharge, nitrate-N (NO3), total phosphorus (TP), soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) and total suspended sediment (TSS) were monitored in the two-stage ditch and a control reach immediately upstream. The two-stage ditch was found to significantly decrease TP, SRP and TSS concentrations and loads. Although the two-stage ditch decreased NO3 concentrations significantly, it did not have a significant impact on NO3 loads. More specifically, the two-stage ditch reduced the loads of TP by 40%, SRP by 11% and TSS by 22-40% depending on the stage of vegetation establishment on its floodplain benches, compared to an increase in load of 78%, 2% and 1%, respectively in the control reach.