TY - JOUR T1 - The unintentional secret JF - Journal of Soil and Water Conservation SP - 104A LP - 105A VL - 58 IS - 5 AU - Brian K. Richards AU - Natalia Peraginangin AU - Tammo S. Steenhuis AU - Larry D. Geohring Y1 - 2003/09/01 UR - http://www.jswconline.org/content/58/5/104A.abstract N2 - For us it was a routine test and demonstration of the preferential flow of water through soil: apply an inch or two of water containing blue food coloring to the soil in a large ring infiltrometer, and begin digging next to the ring with a backhoe as soon as the water had infiltrated. People in our research group had been doing this for over a decade, as had many other researchers elsewhere. However, for the environmental engineers from a state conservation department looking on, this was to be an eye-opening experience. Conventional wisdom would lead one to expect that the dyed water would have moved maybe 4 to 6 inches deep in the soil following application. However, we all soon saw that water traveling through preferential flowpaths had left a blue dye “calling card” at a depth of 6 feet in the 20 minutes it had taken the backhoe to dig that deep. The common reaction among the engineers was amazement-their training had not included this phenomenon-followed by the realization of the serious implications that preferential flow could have for their work trying to minimize pollutant transport. The experience made us realize that, despite numerous … ER -