Water erosion and characteristics of sediment load in the Kopaninský stream basin

Abstract

Abstract:In May 2005, a major part of the Czech Republic was hit by an extreme rainstorm resulting in both soil erosion and flood events. We surveyed the erosion rills and soil material deposits produced by this rainstorm in the most damaged field of the experimental catchment Kopaninsky stream in the Bohemo-Moravian Highland. We measured the volume of the deposited sediment, its texture, bulk density, and other properties. The sediment consisted of two layers with a fuzzy boundary between them. The lower layer contained more fine particles, while the upper layer was mainly formed by a coarser material. The sediment generally contained lower amounts of C ox and available nutrients than the original soil from which it was eroded. The results of the measurements were put into a broader context by using an event-based erosion prediction model ERCN, based on the curve-number method and on the Universal Soil Loss Equation. It was demonstrated that a 75 m wide riparian grassland strip in the study area was able to detain about 70% of the soil material eroded from the uphill ploughed land during the extreme rainfall-runoff event of 23 rd May 2005. It was confirmed that grassland and other vegetation strips along water courses are highly efficient in reducing the surface water pollution during extreme erosion events.

Integration of soil and water conservation measures in an intensively cultivated watershed – a case study of Jihlava river basin (Czech Republic)

“…Soil erosion by water results in selective loss of fine soil particles that play a key role in the soil fertility, its characteristics, and binding of nutrients. Intensive or repeated rainfall-runoff events may lead to the loss of the entire surface humus horizon (Uhlířová, Kaplická & Kvítek 2009). Therefore soil erosion by water results in degradation of physical, chemical and biological soil properties (Janeček et al 2012).…”

“…Particularly intensive transport of soil particles by surface runoff is observed in long sloping blocks of arable land with low resistance to erosion effects (Uhlířová, Kaplická & Kvítek 2009). The erosion risk in the catchment was determined in individual arable land blocks using the updated universal equation USLE (Janeček et al 2012), with erosive effective rainfall factor R = 40 MJ.ha -1 .cm.h -1…”

Priority Areas for Initiating Land Consolidations Related to Erosion and Water Retention in the Landscape, Czech Republic

“…The risk of water erosion is a frequent and current topic of debate in CR. A number of studies and research activities are related to the issue of soil degradation by water erosion and its subsequent sedimentation in the river beds and water bodies (Krása et al 2013, Uhlířová et al, 2009). Novák, Batysta and Havelková (2013) refer to the extreme threat of water erosion in some regions in CR.…”

Severe soil erosion during a 3-day exceptional rainfall event: combining modelling and field data for a fallow cereal field

“…Very few studies performed at field scale can be cited, but some examples are the research carried out by Uhlířová et al . () in the Czech Republic with the event‐based runoff curve number (ERCN v2.0) model, by Dabney et al . () in cotton fields in the USA with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model and by Takken et al .…”