Drainage in Finland Helena Äijö Field Drainage Association 17.5.2012, Tartu
Drainage in Finland
Helena Äijö
Field Drainage Association
17.5.2012, Tartu
Drainage
• In Finnish climate conditions drainage is essential requirement
for functional agriculture.
• Effective drainage enables full exploitation of the growing period
and affects positively on productiveness.
• Functional drainage concerns also forestry, infrastructure and
populated areas.
• New challenges related to drainage: climate change, changes in
legislation, changes in administrative resources and distribution
of work and responsibilities between different actors (for
example authority and private sector).
Drainage
• Basic drainage
dredging, embankment, pumping
• Field drainage
ditching and subsurface drainage
• Flood prevention
dredging, embankment, retention
Needs for drainage
Finland has:
• compact soils
• flat surface
• wet hydrological conditions
precipitation > evoporation, during spring and autumn
Kuva: Laura Alakukku
Hydrological Conditions
Basic Drainage
• Effective basic drainage is a necessary requirement for farm-
level drainage.
• In Finland, on going projects concern mainly restoration and
renovation of old drainage projects.
• In general, drainage plans are prepared by consultants.
• In certain cases (e.g. ditching procedure), the regional Centre for
Economic Development, Transport and the Environment may
prepare the drainage plan. This service is a liable to charge.
• During the drainage procedure water protection, fishery and
landscape needs should be taken into account.
Number and total area of basic drainage
projects during 1990-2009
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
ha No.
Number of projects
Total area of basic drainage, ha
Subsidies granted to
basic drainage during 1998-2011
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
k€ No.
Number of projects
Total amount of aid, 1000 €
Responsibilities in State support
• Regional Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment:
– grants subsidies
– supervises implementation, maintenance and fulfillment of financial terms
– evaluates environmental perspective of the project (including fishery, landscape and water quality aspects)
• Finnish Agency for Rural Affairs:
– administers subsidies and subsidy payments
• Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry:
– definition of policies, general management
• Changes in financial practices:
– state loans are no longer granted
– state acts no longer in operational role of the projects
Subsidies to Basic Drainage
•Max 50 % of accepted costs
•Additional 20 % (max), if
- Water protection measures or structural solutions are exeptionally
expensive
- Majority on costs are from silting of flooding due to measures taken
in upper catchment area
• On discretionary environmental procedures subsidy can be 100 %
Separate subsidies for reallocation of land
Field Drainage
Amount of Field Drainage 1900-2010
Field Drainage by Area in Finland
New and Additional Subsurface Drainage
Actors within Drainage 1/2 Farmers
Payer/ Organizer
Funding
Farmers
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
ELY-centers (regional Centre for Economic Development,
Transport and the Environment)
Banks
Planning
ProAgria Advisory Centres, ca15 pers.
Maveplan Oy, ca 15 pers.
Privat Planners, ca 15 pers.
Contractors
ca. 80 companies
Actors within Drainage 2/2
Material
Pipes
Jita
KWH
Meltex
Uponor
Plastic equipment
Muotek
Plastweld
AS-Muovi
Gravel- and concreteproducts
Local companies
Training, Research and Developing
Field Drainage Association
Universities
Sedu, Ilmajoki
MTT
Finnish Plastics Industries Federation
SFS
FINCID
RIL - Finnish Association of Civil Engineers
Construction
Ditch depth 1,0 – 1,2 m
Ditch spacing 10 – 20 m
Envelope: gravel 5-10m3/100 m
Pipematerials
Subsidies to Subsurface Drainage
Max 20 % of accepted costs
Interest subsidy max 20 %
Human-Induced Phosphorus and
Nitrogen Load into Waters, Finland
PHOSPHRUS
Agriculture, 69 %
NITROGEN
Agriculture, 57 %
SYKE 2012
Field drainage affects via various means to soil structure and root
depth and therefore into soil carrying capacity.
This affects directly to the farmers income and also nutrient leaching.
Surface and subsurface
runoff vary remarkably
from year to year
Runoff
Principles for
Subsurface Drainage,
Controlled Drainage
and Subsurface Irrigation
Controlled Drainage
Principles for
Subsurface Drainage,
Controlled Drainage
and Subsurface Irrigation
Requirements of controlled drainage
and subirrigation
• Relatively high natural (before drainage) water table in the field need of subsurface drainage
• Topography
- slope < 0.5% (max. 1-2 %)
- uniform field surface
number of control structures (costs), uniform soil moisture,
limitation of horizontal seepage
• Soil
- a good hydraulic conductivity (> 0.5 m d-1)
a good response to control measures - impermeable bottom (< 3 m from the soil surface) limitation of percolation losses
• External water supply for subirrigation
- capacity for plant requirements (ET) and seepage losses
Thank you for your attention!