Erosion on roads is an important source of fine‐grained sediment in streams draining logged basins of the Pacific Northwest. Runoff rates and sediment concentrations from 10 road segments subject to a variety of traffic levels were monitored to produce sediment rating curves and unit hydrographs for different use levels and types of surfaces. These relationships are combined with a continuous rainfall record to calculate mean annual sediment yields from road segments of each use level. A heavily used road segment in the field area contributes 130 times as much sediment as an abandoned road. A paved road segment, along which cut slopes and ditches are the only sources of sediment, yields less than 1% as much sediment as a heavily used road with a gravel surface.

Knowledge of long-term average rates of erosion is necessary if factors affecting sediment yields from catchments are to be understood. Without such information, it is not possible to assess the potential influence of extreme storms, and, therefore, to evaluate the relative importance of various components of a sediment budget. A study of the sediment budget for the Waipaoa catchment, North Island, New Zealand, included evaluation of long-term rates of landsliding for six landslide-prone land systems in the catchment. The number of landslides per unit area generated by each of several storms was counted on sequential aerial photographs and correlated with the magnitude of the corresponding storm. The resulting relationships were combined with magnitude -frequency relationships derived for storms from 70-to 100-year rainfall records in the area to estimate a longterm magnitude -frequency relationship for landsliding for each land system. The long-term average values of the areal landslide frequency (number of slides per unit area per unit time) were then calculated from these relationships. The volumes of a sample of landslide scars were measured in the field, and the proportion of slides that deliver sediment to channels was determined from aerial photographs. These measurements then allowed calculation of the long-term average rate of sediment production to streams from landslides for different land systems and types of vegetation. Results suggest that shallow landslides currently contribute about 15F5% of the suspended sediment load in the Waipaoa River above the Kanakanaia gauging station, and that 75% of the sediment production from the landslides occurs during storms with recurrence intervals of less than 27 years. Reforestation of 6.3% (93 km 2 ) of the slide-prone lands in the catchment between 1990 and 1995 resulted in a calculated decrease in slide-derived sediment of 10%. Calculations suggest that reforestation of an additional 3% (66 km 2 ) of the catchment in areas with the most sensitive combinations of land system and storm regime could decrease the total sediment inputs from landsliding by about 20%. D

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