IMPACT OF ARTIFICIAL CHANNELS ON HYDROLOGIC PROCESSES IN THE COASTAL PLAIN OF NORTH CAROLINA: BLESSING AND CURSE?

Artificial channels (i.e., drainage ditches and canals) have improved agricultural drainage systems by lowering the shallow water table below crops’ root zones in low-lying areas of eastern North Carolina. Improved drainage systems have facilitated the growth of different types of crops that support the economies of many of the rural counties in the Albemarle Pamlico estuarine system. The goal of this study is to investigate the role that drainage systems play in facilitating the movement of saline water into the interior of the estuarine system. In this study, salinity in groundwater and surface-water at three different agricultural fields in Hyde County, Pasquotank County and Camden County were monitored to evaluate the role that artificial channels play in facilitating the movement of saline water into agricultural fields traversed by artificial channels. Using a series of water level loggers, groundwater and surface water levels were monitored in addition to water quality parameters to understand the hydrologic processes driving saline water intrusion in the agricultural fields. This talk will focus on presenting the results of the field experiments highlighting the positive and negative impacts of artificial channels on groundwater quantity and quality in low-lying coastal regions.