Soil Erosion in the Palouse River Basin: Indications of Improvement

Ebbert, J.C.; Roe, R. Dennis

doi:10.3133/fs06998

Cited by 16 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Concentrations of suspended sediment are usually highest during storms that produce large discharges, conditions which were more prevalent in 1962-1971 compared with 1993-1996 (figure 3). These historical data compared with more recent measurements, show that the average sediment concentration (horizontal bar in figure 3) in the Palouse River during 1993-1996 was one-half the average for the years 1962-1971, which further confirms that recent erosion rates are lower than in earlier years (Ebbert and Roe 1998).…”

Section: Journal Of Soil and Water Conservationsupporting

confidence: 62%

“…Findings were based on analyses of data sets of winter erosion obtained from monitoring sites within the Palouse River Basin during 1942 to 1982 and predictions with the Universal Soil Loss Equation (Ebbert and Roe 1998 RUSLE2 estimates of (a) average annual soil erosion rates, (b) Soil Conditioning Index (SCI), and (c) and Soil Tillage Intensity (STIR) and their weighted averages (horizontal bars) for typical farming systems during 1975, 1990, and 2005 in high, intermediate, and low precipitation zones. An erosion amount of 5 tn ac -1 yr -1 is considered tolerable for long-term sustainable farming.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This increased to 21% by 1994 (Ebbert and Roe 1998). Using the USLE, these practices were estimated to decrease erosion by about 1.5 million Mg y -1 (1.6 million tn yr -1 ), or by about 10% compared to the practices in the late 1970s.…”

Section: Journal Of Soil and Water Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Strip-cropping and divided slopes accounted for about 54% of the hectares under erosion control practices but only contributed to about 14% of the reduction in erosion. The 14% of the cropland in the USDA's Conservation Reserve Program contributed 16% of the reduction in erosion (Ebbert and Roe 1998).…”

Section: Journal Of Soil and Water Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

STEEP: Impact of long-term conservation farming research and education in Pacific Northwest wheatlands

Kok¹,

Papendick²,

Saxton³

2009

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Erosion took a serious toll of prime topsoil from wheat fields in the Pacific Northwest United States since farming began in the 1870s. By the mid-1900s, it had become a serious environmental and economic threat to the region that produces world-record rainfed grain yields and almost 13% of the US wheat crop. Of significance is that 80% of the nation's specialty soft white wheat is grown here for food grain, of which 90% is exported. To combat the severe erosion, wheat growers, the experiment stations, and the USDA in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington joined forces in 1975 to develop a multidisciplinary program named Solutions to Environmental and Economic Problems (STEEP). For more than 30 years, it has proved itself a national landmark in effective conservation farming research and education. The basic strategy was a systems approach that addressed all facets of farming from planting to harvesting in multi-year rotations. Its primary goal was to reduce soil erosion from the region's 3.3 × 10 6 ha (8.2 × 10 6 ac), consisting of highly productive but considerably steep cropland. Through the successful development and implementation of improved conservation technology and farming systems by the tri-state STEEP effort, regional soil loss rates averaging 45 Mg ha -1 y -1 (20 tn ac -1 yr -1 ) were reduced over the 30 years to a tolerable 11 Mg ha -1 y -1 (5 tn ac -1 yr -1 ) or less. In addition, financial returns to wheat growers using the conservation systems are equal or have increased, and long-term benefits to soil, water, and air quality have improved. A conservative estimate shows that the investment cost of saving soil and improving water quality was less than $0.50 ha -1 y -1 ($0.20 ac -1 yr -1) over the life of STEEP. Though STEEP can boast success, much more is needed to preserve and protect the Northwest environment, natural resources, and productivity to ensure that agriculture is fully sustainable for the future. Ongoing solutions are needed to resolve emerging issues relating to greenhouse gas emissions, carbon storage, energy costs, and other farm inputs that can affect agricultural health. Its proven success provides strong assurance that STEEP can deal with future challenges relating to changes in farm policy, economics, technology, and sociological issues. This paper documents the extent that program goals were achieved and qualitative estimates of return from money invested.

show abstract

Section: Journal Of Soil and Water Conservationsupporting

confidence: 62%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Journal Of Soil and Water Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Journal Of Soil and Water Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

STEEP: Impact of long-term conservation farming research and education in Pacific Northwest wheatlands

Kok¹,

Papendick²,

Saxton³

2009

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These high rates of erosion in 1982, about 16.6 t/ha/year, have been reduced but remain high at 11.5 t/ha/year as of 2007 in Iowa and surrounding areas because of the rolling topography and the mostly corn and soybean production, row crops where the soil surface between rows is left exposed to wind and rain [29,60,61]. Similarly, 40% of the rich soil of the Palouse region in the northwestern U.S. has been lost during more than 100 years of cultivation [62]. In both of these regions, intensive agriculture is employed and mono-cultural plantings are common.…”

Section: Us Croplandmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil Erosion Threatens Food Production

2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Since humans worldwide obtain more than 99.7% of their food (calories) from the land and less than 0.3% from the oceans and aquatic ecosystems, preserving cropland and maintaining soil fertility should be of the highest importance to human welfare. Soil erosion is one of the most serious threats facing world food production. Each year about 10 million ha of cropland are lost due to soil erosion, thus reducing the cropland available for world food production. The loss of cropland is a serious problem because the World Health Organization and the Food and Agricultural Organization report that two-thirds of the world population is malnourished. Overall, soil is being lost from agricultural areas 10 to 40 times faster than the rate of soil formation imperiling humanity's food security.

show abstract

Channel incision, evolution and potential recovery in the Walla Walla and Tucannon River basins, northwestern USA

Beechie

Pollock

Baker

2007

Earth Surf Processes Landf

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We evaluated controls on locations of channel incision, variation in channel evolution pathways and the time required to reconnect incised channels to their historical floodplains in the Walla Walla and Tucannon River basins, northwestern USA. Controls on incision locations are hierarchically nested. A first-order geological control defines locations of channels prone to incision, and a second-order control determines which of these channels are incised. Channels prone to incision are reaches with silt-dominated valley fills, which have sediment source areas dominated by loess deposits and channel slopes less than 0·1(area) − − − − − 0·45 . Among channels prone to incision, channels below a second slope-area threshold (slope = = = = = 0·15(area) − − − − − 0·8) did not incise. Once incised, channels follow two different evolution models. Small, deeply incised channels follow Model I, which is characterized by the absence of a significant widening phase following incision. Widening is limited by accumulation of bank failure deposits at the base of banks, which reduces lateral channel migration. Larger channels follow Model II, in which widening is followed by development of an inset floodplain and aggradation. In contrast to patterns observed elsewhere, we found the widest incised channels upstream of narrower reaches, which reflects a downstream decrease in bed load supply. Based on literature values of floodplain aggradation rates, we estimate recovery times for incised channels (the time required to reconnect to the historical floodplain) between 60 and 275 years. Restoration actions such as allowing modest beaver recolonization can decrease recovery time by 17-33 per cent.

show abstract

Soil Erosion in the Palouse River Basin: Indications of Improvement

Cited by 16 publications

References 0 publications

STEEP: Impact of long-term conservation farming research and education in Pacific Northwest wheatlands

STEEP: Impact of long-term conservation farming research and education in Pacific Northwest wheatlands

Soil Erosion Threatens Food Production

Channel incision, evolution and potential recovery in the Walla Walla and Tucannon River basins, northwestern USA

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About