The Impact of Deforestation on the Quality of Drainage Water in the Zelezna Model Area

The article is focused on the changes in soil characteristics caused by the drainage of agricultural soils in the Czech Republic. The basis of the research was to compare current state with the state before drainage using available historical data. To resolve the subject of the research, two smaller study areas with different soil uses were chosen. The Haklovy Dvory area is an arable land that is intensively used. The other area is used mainly for grazing (extensively) and it is called ?elezná study area. In many cases, historical data regarding the quality of surface water and groundwater (well water) in the two areas is readily available;therefore, the same approach was taken for monitoring the current quality of drainage water. Several chemical indicators were measured in the water: pH, alkalinity-acidity, overall hardness, concentration of selected cations (magnesium, calcium, potassium, ammonia), concentration of bicarbonates, nitrates, nitrites, sulphates, phosphates, chlorides and the electrical conductivity of the water. During the entire course of the monitoring, no serious water pollution was found in ?elezná study area (with the exception of one sample point). In case of the intensively managed Haklovy Dvory study area, a significant pollution in all drainage water samples was confirmed. We can safely formulate a hypothesis that the drainage water quality is related to the type of agriculture procedure practiced on the land. Mainly the intensive type of agriculture, because of the use of fertilizers, has a negative impact on drainage water quality, and subsequently on the quality of surface watercourses.

Changes in Physical and Chemical Soil Characteristics as a Result of Subsurface Tile Drainage

This project defined changes in soil properties after construction of subsurface tile drainage. We compared the physical and chemical properties of soil samples taken before construction of drainage and new soil samples taken from identical sites at present. The research was made for Stagnic Cambisols (Dystric) and Haplic Stagnosols. The pH value and saturation of the topsoil sorption complex of both soil types statistically increased and simultaneously the cation exchange capacity (CEC) decreased. In the topsoil of Stagnosols, the effective cation exchange capacity and porosity also decreased, and at the same time the particle density and bulk density increased. Soil organic matter and minimum air capacity increased in the topsoil of Cambisols. Porosity and minimum air capacity increased in both soils in the subsoil. In the Cambisol subsoil, the CEC and bulk density decreased. We can assume that after drainage Stagnosols are susceptible to soil compaction, especially in topsoil.