Runoff, soil, and nutrient losses from rangeland and dry-farmed cropland in the southern high plains

O. R. Jones; H. V. Eck; S. J. Smith; G. A. Coleman; V. L. Hauser

ABSTRACT:

Large, intense storms have the potential to cause severe erosion on cropland and to contribute to nonpoint-source pollution in the Southern High Plains. However, with conservation tillage on the contour and graded terraces, erosion was less than the soil loss tolerance (T) during all years of the study. Even in 1978, with more than 51 mm (2.0 inches) of runoff from a single storm and with total annual runoff of 152 mm (6.0 inches), soil loss was only 6.5 t/ha (2.9 tons/acre), well under the T value of 11.2 t/ha (5 tons/acre). Runoff was from three to five times greater from cultivated watersheds than from range watersheds. Nutrient contents of runoff were very low and did not pose a non-point-source pollution threat.

Footnotes

O. R. Jones and H. V. Eck are soil scientists with the Conservation and Production Research Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Bushland. Texas 79012; S. J. Smith is a soil scientist and G. A. Coleman is a hydraulic engineer. Water Quality and Watershed Research Laboratory, ARS-USDA. Durant, Oklahoma 74701; and V. L. Hauser is an agricultural engineer. Grassland. Soil and Water Research Laboratory, Temple. Texas 76501. This article is a contribution from USDA-ARS. P.O. Drawer 10. Bushland. Texas 79012.
Copyright 1985 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society

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