Soil salinity modeling over shallow water tables. I: Validation of LEACHC

Soil salinity is a very common problem in today's irrigated agriculture. High salinity levels adversely impact crop yields and reduce overall soil quality. The presence of a saline shallow water table can be a major contributor to this problem. The LEACHC version of LEACHM is one of the few numerical models that considers independent movement of individual ions along with their detailed chemistry. This model has apparently not previously been tested under saline shallow water table conditions. LEACHC was evaluated using both lysimeter and field data from the literature. The model performed reasonably well in simulating solute transport above a saline shallow water table. For both data sets used in model validation, less reactive ions (sodium and chloride) were predicted well while calcium concentrations were underpredicted. For the field data, the model predicted soil electrical conductivity (EC) profiles better than most of the individual ions. The water content profiles associated with the field data were also predicted quite well. Based on these results, LEACHC was selected as a simulation tool for evaluating the effects of management practices on salinity transport in crop root zones above a saline shallow water table.