PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - M. Tiscareño-López AU - A.D. Báez-González AU - M. Veházquez Valle AU - K. N. Potter AU - J.J. Stone AU - M. Tapia Vargas AU - R. Claverán Alonso TI - Agricultural research for watershed restoration in central Mexico DP - 1999 Oct 01 TA - Journal of Soil and Water Conservation PG - 686--692 VI - 54 IP - 4 4099 - http://www.jswconline.org/content/54/4/686.short 4100 - http://www.jswconline.org/content/54/4/686.full AB - More than 60% of Mexico's soil and water resources has been identified as being in a moderately to severely degraded condition. The objective for this Mexico-United States project was to identify Best Management Practices that could restore agricultural soil in the steep of the Patzcuaro Watershed in central Mexico. The use of no-till equipment and preserving a moderate amount of crop residue (33% cover) on soils having 8% slope reduced soil loss 80%, and runoff 76%, compared to conventional tillage. Rainfall simulation studies indictlted that water infiltration is enhanced almost three-fold using no-till. Improvement of water infiltration and deep-water percolation would represent a significant modification of the local hydrologic regime for lake recharge and soil moisture retention for cropland areas. Using hydro-logical process-based modeling with satellite images and Geographical Information Systems allowed the extrapolation of point-based experimental data to the watershed scale. This technology will provide the decision-making elements needed to develop soil conservation plans and implement a national program for conservation tillage in Mexico.