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{{Short description|Small to moderate trench created to channel water}}
{{Other uses}}
[[File:Sloot.JPG|150px|right|thumb|A ditch in the Netherlands]]
[[File:Ouse Ditches.JPG|thumb|right|150px|Ditches at the [[Ouse Washes]] [[nature reserve]].]]
[[File:Waterplanten sloot alphen aan den rijn.JPG|thumb|150px|Waterplants growing in a ditch in the Netherlands, showing ''[[Sagittaria sagittifolia]]'' to the right.]]
[[File:1. Canos de Sueca i Séquia Major (País Valencià).jpg|thumb|Major ditch of [[Sueca, Valencia|Sueca]], [[Valencian Community]]]]
A '''ditch''' is a small-to-moderate size trench created to channel [[water]]. A ditch can be used for [[drainage]], to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside [[Road|roadways]] or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant [[irrigation]]. Ditches are commonly seen around [[Farmland (farming)|farmland]], especially in areas that have required drainage, such as [[The Fens]] in eastern [[England]] and much of the [[Netherlands]].

Roadside ditches may provide a hazard to [[motorist]]s and [[cyclist]]s, whose vehicles may crash into them and get damaged, flipped over, or stuck and cause major injury, especially in poor [[weather]] conditions and [[rural]] areas.

== Etymology ==
In [[Old English language|Anglo-Saxon]], the word ''dïc'' already existed and was pronounced {{IPA|ang|diːk|}} ("deek") in northern England and {{IPA|ang|diːtʃ|}} ("deetch") in the south. The origins of the word lie in digging a [[trench]] and forming the upcast soil into a bank alongside it. This practice has meant that the name ''dïc'' was given to either the excavation or the bank, and evolved to both the words [[dike (construction)|"dike"/"dyke"]] and "ditch".{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

Thus [[Offa's Dyke]] is a combined structure and [[Car Dyke]] is a trench, though it once had raised banks as well. In the English [[Midlands]] and [[East Anglia]], a dyke is what a ditch is in the south of England, a property-boundary marker or drainage channel. Where it carries a stream, it may be called a running dike as in ''Rippingale Running Dike'', which leads water from the [[catchwater drain]], Car Dyke, to the South Forty Foot Drain in [[Lincolnshire]] (TF1427). The Weir Dike is a [[soak dike]] in [[Bourne, Lincolnshire|Bourne North Fen]], near [[Twenty, Lincolnshire|Twenty]] and alongside the [[River Glen, Lincolnshire|River Glen]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

==Sustainability of drainage ditches==
Drainage ditches play major roles in [[agriculture]] throughout the [[world]]. Improper drainage systems accelerate [[water contamination]], excessively desiccate soils during seasonal [[drought]], and become a financial burden to maintain. Industrial earth-moving equipment facilitates maintenance of straight drainage trenches, but [[trench|entrenchment]] results in increasing environmental and eventually profound economic costs over time.<ref>See also [[Hypoxia (environmental)|hypoxia]], [[dead zone (ecology)|dead zone]], [[nonpoint source pollution]], [[desertification]], and [[urban heat island]]</ref>

Sustainable channel design can result in ditches that are largely self-maintaining due to natural [[geomorphological]] equilibrium. Slowed net [[siltation]] and [[erosion]] result in net reduction in [[sediment transport]]. Encouraging development of a natural [[stream]] [[sinuosity]] and a multi-terraced channel cross section appear to be key to maintain both peak ditch drainage capacity, and minimum net [[pollution]] and [[nutrient]] transport.<ref>''Geomorphic Characteristics of Drainage Ditches in Southern [[Minnesota]], and the concept of a Two-Stage Ditch Design'' (Brad Hansen, Bruce Wilson, Joe Magner, and John Nieber)
{{cite web
|url=http://d-outlet.coafes.umn.edu/presentations/DrainForum06/J.%20Nieber-2-stage%20ditch%20design.pdf
|title=Archived copy
|access-date=2007-10-14
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070801020857/http://d-outlet.coafes.umn.edu/presentations/DrainForum06/J.%20Nieber-2-stage%20ditch%20design.pdf
|archive-date=2007-08-01
}}</ref>

[[Flooding]] can be a major cause of recurring crop loss—particularly in heavy soils—and can severely disrupt [[urban area|urban]] economies as well. Subsurface drainage to ditches offers a way to remove excess water from agricultural fields, or vital urban spaces, without the erosion rates and pollution transport that results from direct [[surface runoff]]. However, excess drainage results in recurring drought induced [[crop yield]] losses and more severe [[urban heat island]] or [[desiccation]] issues.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

[[Controlled subsurface drainage]] from sensitive areas to vegetated drainage ditches makes possible a better balance between water drainage and water retention needs. The initial investment allows a community to draw down local [[water table]]s when and where necessary without exacerbating drought problems at other times.<ref>Drainage Water Management Updates (G. Sands) http://d-outlet.coafes.umn.edu/presentations/DrainForum06/G.%20Sands-WTM%20Updates.pdf{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==Water diversion ditches==
Particularly in [[Colorado]], the term ditch is also applied to open [[Aqueduct (water supply)|aqueduct]]s that traverse hillsides as part of [[transbasin diversion]] projects.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

Examples include the [[Grand Ditch]] over [[La Poudre Pass]], the [[Berthoud Pass]] Ditch, and the [[Boreas Pass]] Ditch.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

{{anchor|Herbicide}}

==Herbicides==
[[Herbicide]]s may be used to maintain a ditch. Primarily this is done to deny refuge to [[weed]]s that would progress into the adjacent field, but may instead involve only [[broadleaf herbicide]]s specifically to produce forage and/or hay.<ref name="U-Minn-Ext" /><ref name="Az-herbicide">{{cite web | title=Ditch Bank Weed Control | website=[[University of Arizona]] | date=Oct 18, 2017 | url=http://acis.cals.arizona.edu/agricultural-ipm/vegetables/vipm-archive/vipm-weeds-view/ditch-bank-weed-control | access-date=2021-06-06}}</ref><ref name="PNW-Pest-Man-HB">{{cite web | title=Emergent Weeds along Drainage Ditches | website=Pacific Northwest Pest Management Handbooks | date=2015-11-23 | url=http://pnwhandbooks.org/weed/aquatic/emergent-weeds-along-drainage-ditches | access-date=2021-06-06}}</ref>

{{anchor|Forage|Hay}}

==For forage and hay==
Ditches can provide [[forage]] or be harvested for [[hay]]. If herbicides are used, however, the resulting [[manure]] cannot necessarily be used in crop fields, because in some cases herbicides will pass through and produce crop injury.<ref name="U-Minn-Ext">{{cite web | title=Managing herbicides in ditch forages | website=[[University of Minnesota Extension]] | url=http://extension.umn.edu/horse-nutrition/managing-herbicides-ditch-forages | access-date=2021-06-06}}</ref>

==See also==
{{div col}}
* [[Acequia]]
* [[Canal]]
* [[Culvert]]
* [[Drainage system (agriculture)]]
* [[Irrigation]]
* [[Nullah]]
* [[Rhyne]]
* [[Trench]]
* [[Watertable control]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{cite web|last=Barbagallo|first=Tricia|url=http://www.archives.nysed.gov/apt/magazine/MagSummer05FeatureArticle_000.pdf|format=PDF|title=Black Beach: The Mucklands of Canastota, New York|date=June 1, 2005|access-date=2008-06-04|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625012111/http://www.archives.nysed.gov/apt/magazine/MagSummer05FeatureArticle_000.pdf|archive-date=June 25, 2008}}

[[Category:Aqueducts]]
[[Category:Drainage]]
[[Category:Irrigation]]

Ditch - Revision history

imported>Ottawajin: Added wikilink