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Nonfarming Practices 



Nonfarming methods control both the flow of fresh water into 

 the recharge area and the flow of saline water from the discharge area. 

 They include underground drainage, ponding, land grading, and phrea- 

 tophytes. (A phreatophyte is a plant capable of drawing its supply of 

 nnoisture from the groundwater reservoir or from the capillary fringe 

 above it. ) 



Land grading is probably the most feasible and effective 

 alternative. This involves contouring the land surface in recharge 

 areas to enhance runoff and eliminate short-term ponding on fallow 

 fields, thereby reducing the water contributing to seeps. Runoff could 

 be directed along grassed drainageways to reduce erosion potential. 



The conventional method of lowering water tables is artificial 

 drainage. But the impermeability and thickness of the till (it averages 

 about 25 feet), and the problem of what to do with the saline water, 

 make artificial drainage of the discharge areas infeasible. Most 

 affected areas would require a very extensive and expensive network 

 of tiles (16). 



In any event, the question remains--what is to become of 

 the excess saline water now flowing freely from the ground? Contamina- 

 tion of fresh surface waters is clearly a problem, and any purposeful 

 discharge through drainage and/or diversion of saline waters would 



