More than 50% of 870 000 ha irrigated lands in Khuzestan Province, Iran suffer from salinity and need to be drained. Inefficient agricultural water management practices in the sugarcane areas result in low irrigation efficiencies and a high saline return flow of the drainage effluent. These saline return flows are a major threat for the “Shadegan” a series of Ramsar wetlands (5377 sq.km). The subsurface drainage performance is often below standard due to clogging, siltation and root growth inside the drainage pipes. The challenge is to reduce the depth of the subsurface drains and at the same time avoid clogging, siltation and root growth inside the pipe. To tackle these problems a new pipe-envelope concept has recently been developed in Turkey.
In this study the drain performance of this new concept for typical soil types of sugarcane agro-industries in Khuzestan will be assessed both in the laboratory and in the field. Field data then will be used to assess the long-term effect of agricultural water management on soil salinization and quality and quantity of drainage effluent using SWAP model.