Impact of deep plowing on groundwater recharge in a semiarid region: Case study, High Plains, Texas

Abstract

Groundwater recharge is critical in semiarid regions where aquifers are currently being mined for intensive irrigation. Land use management related to agriculture can be used to control partitioning of water near the land surface and to potentially manage water resources. The purpose of this study was to quantify impacts of deep plowing in rainfed (nonirrigated) agriculture in a semiarid region on groundwater recharge, which had not been previously evaluated. Deep (0.7 m) plowing was conducted once in 1971 to remove low‐permeability soil layers (0.15–0.70 m deep) in Pullman clay loam (20,000 km2 area) in a bench terrace system in the semiarid High Plains in Texas (USA). Deep plowing was followed by conventional tillage. Boreholes were drilled in deep plowed cropland (three boreholes) and also beneath conventionally tilled cropland (four) and natural ecosystems (three) to provide baseline controls. Soil samples were analyzed for water content, chloride concentrations, and matric potentials to quantify subsurface water movement. Bulges of chloride that accumulated beneath natural ecosystems during the past 9,000–14,000 years (Holocene period) provided a marker to quantify time‐integrated response of subsurface drainage to hydrologic forcing in deep‐plowed cropland. Displacement of chloride bulges to depths of 10.7, 12.3, and 13.7 m beneath deep‐plowed cropland indicate minimum drainage rates of 58, 60, and 81 mm/a, whereas drainage beneath conventionally tilled cropland ranged from 0 (nonterraced) to 9 and 14 mm/a (bench terraced). Deep plowing slightly increased crop yield during wet years by reducing waterlogging. If deep plowing were applied to 10% of the Pullman soils, it could increase regional volumetric recharge by 0.1 km3/a, which is similar to the current regional volumetric recharge. Low‐permeability soil layers are widespread in cropland areas globally, and deep plowing could greatly enhance groundwater recharge in such areas, which is critical in semiarid regions where recharge is negligible.