Historically, subsurface drainage in agriculture began with the excavation of relatively shallow open trenches that received surface runoff water as well as groundwater discharge. The drains worked for surface drainage and underground drainage both.

At the end of the century and the beginning of the century ditches were perceived as inconvenient in mechanized agricultural operations and ditches were replaced by buried lines of ceramic (baked clay) tubes, each tube about 30 cm long.

Since 1960, flexible plastic tubes (Polyethylene, PE, or polyvinyl chloride, PVC), corrugated, perforated, with unlimited lengths, were used, which could be installed in a single trip by draining machines. The pipe can be pre-wrapped with filter materials such as synthetic fiber and geotextile that prevent soil particles from entering the drains.

In this way drainage developed into a powerful industry. At the same time, agriculture was moving towards maximizing productivity, which led to the implementation of large-scale drainage systems.

As a consequence of the enormous developments, many modern drainage projects were over-designed,[7]​ while negative environmental impacts were not contemplated. Among environmentally concerned people, the implementation of agricultural drainage acquired a bad reputation, sometimes justifiably and sometimes not, especially when agricultural drainage was confused with the broader activity of wetland reclamation.

Nowadays, in some countries, the development of industrial style has been reversed. In addition, the controlled drainage system was introduced as illustrated in figure 5.

The design of drainage systems in terms of location, depth and spacing of drains is done with drainage equations "Drainage (equation)") using parameters such as the depth of the water table, the depth and hydraulic conductivity of the soil, and the discharge. The discharge is determined from a water balance.

The calculations can be done using a computer program such as EnDrain.[8]​.

Underground drainage can also be carried out through pumped wells. This system is called vertical drainage in contrast to horizontal drainage using ditches and pipes.

Drainage wells have been widely used in the Indus River Valley of Pakistan.[9] Although the results were not very successful, the feasibility of this technique in areas with deep and permeable aquifers cannot be ruled out. The spacings between deep wells can be so wide (more than 1000 m) that the installation of vertical drainage systems could be relatively cheap compared to a horizontal drainage system having spacings of 10 to 100 m and mostly between 20 and 50 m.

For the design of the system with wells, the computer program WellDrain[10]​ can be useful.

Historically, subsurface drainage in agriculture began with the excavation of relatively shallow open trenches that received surface runoff water as well as groundwater discharge. The drains worked for surface drainage and underground drainage both.

At the end of the century and the beginning of the century ditches were perceived as inconvenient in mechanized agricultural operations and ditches were replaced by buried lines of ceramic (baked clay) tubes, each tube about 30 cm long.

Since 1960, flexible plastic tubes (Polyethylene, PE, or polyvinyl chloride, PVC), corrugated, perforated, with unlimited lengths, were used, which could be installed in a single trip by draining machines. The pipe can be pre-wrapped with filter materials such as synthetic fiber and geotextile that prevent soil particles from entering the drains.

In this way drainage developed into a powerful industry. At the same time, agriculture was moving towards maximizing productivity, which led to the implementation of large-scale drainage systems.

As a consequence of the enormous developments, many modern drainage projects were over-designed,[7]​ while negative environmental impacts were not contemplated. Among environmentally concerned people, the implementation of agricultural drainage acquired a bad reputation, sometimes justifiably and sometimes not, especially when agricultural drainage was confused with the broader activity of wetland reclamation.

Nowadays, in some countries, the development of industrial style has been reversed. In addition, the controlled drainage system was introduced as illustrated in figure 5.

The design of drainage systems in terms of location, depth and spacing of drains is done with drainage equations "Drainage (equation)") using parameters such as the depth of the water table, the depth and hydraulic conductivity of the soil, and the discharge. The discharge is determined from a water balance.

The calculations can be done using a computer program such as EnDrain.[8]​.

Underground drainage can also be carried out through pumped wells. This system is called vertical drainage in contrast to horizontal drainage using ditches and pipes.

Drainage wells have been widely used in the Indus River Valley of Pakistan.[9] Although the results were not very successful, the feasibility of this technique in areas with deep and permeable aquifers cannot be ruled out. The spacings between deep wells can be so wide (more than 1000 m) that the installation of vertical drainage systems could be relatively cheap compared to a horizontal drainage system having spacings of 10 to 100 m and mostly between 20 and 50 m.

For the design of the system with wells, the computer program WellDrain[10]​ can be useful.