Subsurface drip irrigation is a variation of traditional drip irrigation where the tubing and emitters are buried beneath the soil surface, rather than laid on the ground or suspended from wires. The products being used today in subsurface drip irrigation come in three basic configurations: hard hose, drip tape, and porous tubing.Placing water beneath the soil surface via buried lines is slowly becoming the "preferred choice" of many vineyard irrigators. The reasons are many, including the absence of surface evaporation, as well as reduced weed growth, herbicide washout, maintenance, injury, and vandalism found with using conventional water application systems. The advantages of subsurface drip add to reduced cost for water usage, labor, chemicals, and liability for property owners.Additionally, critical timing of surface or sprinkler irrigation practices is eliminated because fields areas can be entered by foot or vehicle during or immediately after an irrigation event. It no longer requires letting the field dry or turning the system off during special or planned activities.The problem of burying drip irrigation lines is not new. Root intrusion and other problems have caused this approach to be limited in its application or abandoned all together in the past. However, new strategies currently available seem to have overcome this obstacle, making subsurface drip irrigation a viable alternative.The use of subsurface drip irrigation technology may well be the future of irrigation in the coming years and decades. It begins to treat large scale irrigation projects as hydroponics environments. It holds the promise of reducing mold in grapes, weed growth, chemical use, and optimizing water use. It touches on such issues as groundwater contaminates, drainage problems, water resource management, agricultural chemical use, etc.

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