ISU Extension and Outreach Offers Iowa Drainage School

July 31, 2013
ICM News

By Kapil Arora and Brent Pringnitz, ISU Extension and Outreach

Agricultural drainage is becoming increasingly important due to the critical role it plays for Iowa's emerging bio-economy. Drainage systems that are properly designed and operating are essential to achieving excellent agricultural production capability.

The Iowa Drainage School is being offered to address these issues on Aug. 20-22, 2013, at the Borlaug Learning Center on the Northeast Research and Demonstration Farm near Nashua, Iowa.

"People looking to install a new drainage system or retrofit an existing system will want to attend this school," said Matt Helmers, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach agricultural engineer. "The workshop will focus on drainage design, economics of drainage, water management and legal issues related to drainage."

The intent of the Iowa Drainage School is to provide training about agricultural drainage concepts; planning and laying out drainage systems including surveying a profile, calculating tile line sizes and spacing using actual field data; and making connections and setting up drainage control structures. Regulatory considerations and fixing common drainage system issues will also be discussed.

Drainage contractors, landowners, professional engineers and consultants, NRCS professionals, county administrators and others who are involved in making drainage design decisions are invited to attend.

The three-day school features a combination of hands-on training, lecture and discussion, and problem solving using examples. By attending this school, participants will be able to plan and layout subsurface drainage systems and work out project costs.

Registration fees for this three-day school are $325 per person if registered by midnight, Aug. 7. Late registration is $375 and must be received by midnight, Aug. 14. Class size is limited to 40 participants and pre-registration is required. Registration fees include meals indicated on the agenda, refreshments and notebook.

Additional information, a detailed agenda, and online registration are available at www.aep.iastate.edu/ids.

 

Kapil Arora is an agricultural engineering specialist. He can be reached at (515) 382-6551or pbtiger@iastate.edu. Brent Pringnitz is an ANR Program Services coordinator. He can be reached at (515) 294-6429 or bpring@iastate.edu.

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