News
Drainage design and water management focus of Overholt Drainage School

Feb. 11, 2014, Columbus, OH – Preparations are underway for Ohio State University’s Overholt Drainage School, which will take place March 10 to 14 in Fulton County at the Fulton Soil and Water Conservation District office.

“This comprehensive training program provides continuing education for farmers, land improvement contractors, soil and water conservation technicians, engineers, consultants, sanitarians, and others interested in learning more about the purpose, design, layout, construction and management of soil and water conservation systems,” according to Larry Brown, OSU Extension Agricultural Engineer, who has been organizing the school for 26 of its more than 60-year history. 

The conference topics include:

• Session 1: Agricultural Subsurface Drainage Design, Layout and Installation, March 10-12.
• Session 2: Drainage Water Management: Controlled Subsurface Drainage Design, Layout and Installation, March 12-13.
• Session 3: Water Table Management with Sub-irrigation, March 13-14.

Instructors include land-grant university experts, engineers and technicians with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS), the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) and Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD), engineers and scientists with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) Soil Drainage Research Unit and experienced Ohio Land Improvement Contractors of America (OLICA) contractors and drainage industry associates. This year, Dr. Bud Belcher will lead the session on water table management with subirrigation. 

The full schedule and registration information can be found here. Participants should mail the registration form by March 6 to Brown at OSU Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, 590 Woody Hayes Drive, Columbus, Ohio, 43210. Registration for the full conference is $640, or $500 for session 1, $250 for session 2 and $325 for session 3.
Registration includes tuition, lunches, evening meals, refreshments, materials, supplies, manuals, guides, design notebooks, engineers’ scale, and certificate of completion. Participants should bring a calculator and pencils. A field trip may be offered, so participants may want to consider bringing warm clothes and work boots.