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The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes produced in the chemical, acid-base and structural properties of soil amended (biosolids) and humic acids HAs incubated at different times.In the current work the amendments were conducted with biosolids at different doses (30, 90 and 180 t ha -1 ) on Colina (CLN) soil for 1, 2, 4 and 6 months.The acid-base characterization of extracted humic acids (HAs) showed a slight impact on Atotal (total acidity, mEq g -1 ), at 30 and 90 t ha -1 while at 180 t ha -1 the greatest increase was observed from 10.5±1.61 (control) to 17.9±0.30 (6 months of incubation). without evolution over the incubation time. The Aphenolic (phenolic acidity, mEq g -1 ) acidity behaves similarly while Acarboxylic (carboxylic acidity mEq g -1 )) remains constant over time and applied doses. The application of 13 C solid state NMR technique revealed higher abundance of aromatic C (CLN 43.5%) over alkyl C (21.4%) compounds. Aromatic C presents a decrease at high biosolid doses, which occurs simultaneously with alkyl C increase when using the same surveyed doses. Therefore, it might be considered that through the addition of biosolids, components such as fatty acids, amino acids or paraffinic structures are incorporated. As a result of biosolids addition, carboxylic C content remains steady, which agrees with the Accarboxylic behavior previously determined.

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<p>The pressure plate method has been widely used for describing the soil water retention curve (SWRC). However, the simplified evaporation method (SEM) appears as an alternative because of its high resolution and automatization. On the other hand, the unimodal and bimodal van Genuchten models (VGM) have been used for describing the SWRC by computing the shape parameters. However, parametric pedotransfer functions (PTFs) have been developed based on the pressure plates method, focusing on the unimodal VGM. Therefore, the objectives of this study were: (1) to measure the SWRC with the simplified evaporation method (SEM) coupled to the dewpoint potentiometer (DP) in soils with different land use and soil texture, (2) to adjust and compare the VG unimodal and bimodal parameters, and (3) to estimate the VG unimodal and bimodal parameters through regression techniques including a linear approach and random forest. Thirty topsoils (disturbed and undisturbed cores) were sampled across a climate gradient and measured by duplicated. Preliminary results showed that the high resolution of the SWRC data obtained with the SEM + DP leads to a better fit when using the bimodal VGM.</p>

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As blue water resources become increasingly scarce with more frequent droughts and overuse, irrigated agriculture faces significant challenges to reduce its water footprint while maintaining high levels of crop production. Building soil health has been touted as an important means of enhancing the resilience of agroecosystems to drought, mainly with a focus in rainfed systems reliant on green water through increases in infiltration and soil water storage. Yet, green water often contributes only a small fraction of the total crop water budget in irrigated agricultural regions. To scope the potential for how soil health management could impact water resources in irrigated systems, we review how soil health affects soil water flows, plant–soil–microbe interactions, and plant water capture and productive use. We assess how these effects could interact with irrigation management to help make green and blue water use more sustainable. We show how soil health management could (1) optimize green water availability (e.g., by increasing infiltration and soil water storage), (2) maximize productive water flows (e.g., by reducing evaporation and supporting crop growth), and (3) reduce blue water withdrawals (e.g., by minimizing the impacts of water stress on crop productivity). Quantifying the potential of soil health to improve water resource management will require research that focuses on outcomes for green and blue water provisioning and crop production under different irrigation and crop management strategies. Such information could be used to improve and parameterize finer scale crop, soil, and hydraulic models, which in turn must be linked with larger scale hydrologic models to address critical water-resources management questions at watershed or regional scales. While integrated soil health-water management strategies have considerable potential to conserve water—especially compared to irrigation technologies that enhance field-level water use efficiency but often increase regional water use—transitions to these strategies will depend on more than technical understanding and must include addressing interrelated structural and institutional barriers. By scoping a range of ways enhancing soil health could improve resilience to water limitations and identifying key research directions, we inform research and policy priorities aimed at adapting irrigated agriculture to an increasingly challenging future.

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