They simulated storm runoff events by injecting a liquid agri-chemical formulation into a drainage ditch in the Mississippi Delta. The MSEA project is a national effort by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to protect America's farmlands. It's designed to test and develop farming methods that will work with nature, instead of damaging water quality. They found that the ditch trapped 60 to 90 percent of the atrazine and a commonly used insecticide, Karate, carried in runoff water. The ARS researchers say ditches may give farmers a simple, low-tech and inexpensive solution to improving surface water quality.
Ditches can play an important trapping and processing role.
Through their vegetation and soil, ditches work like wetlands to sequester these storm runoff materials, thereby decreasing potential harm to downstream lakes, rivers and streams. Farmers and conservationists who want to reduce the amounts of chemicals, nutrients and sediment leaving agricultural fields may find that using and maintaining these ditches is vital as an alternative management practice. ARS is the chief research agency of the USDA .