DEFINITION

Soil erosion and sedimentation are natural phenomena, responsible for the
formation of the landscape.
In the last decades, soil erosion has been accelerated by human intervention,
through deforestation,
overgrazing and poor farming practices. Soil erosion is a widespread problem
causing soil and organic
matter losses and hence loss of fertility and reduction in crop yields. In addition
to these on-site
problems, it also produces important off-site effects, like downstream sediment
deposition in fields,
floodplains and water bodies, water pollution, eutrophication and reservoir
siltation. It is, therefore,
important to assemble quantitative data on the extent, magnitude and actual
rates of
erosion/sedimentation as well as on their economic and environmental
consequences. As erosion and
sedimentation are related problems, there are advantages in studying them
simultaneously.
Land degradation can be defined as the temporary or permanent lowering of the
productive capacity of
land. This is brought about through soil erosion (by water and wind); chemical
and physical
deterioration, primarily compaction with loss of structure and pore space; and,
linked with many of
these adverse changes, loss of soil organic matter and the beneficial activities of
soil biota.
Soil and water conservation measures are the heart of afforestation work in arid
and semi-arid areas.
These will vary from site to site and therefore each site should include in its
treatment plan carefully
designed soil and water conservation measures. Decisions regarding the
specifications of work items
and their quantities must be made carefully.
Causes of Soil Erosion
The main causes of soil erosion are:
i- Cutting of Forest(Deforestation)
ii- Fire
iii- Over Grazing
iv- Torrential Rain
v- Mine Dumping
vi- Faulty Agricultural Land Use
Forest Fire: A good servant but bad master Fire induces certain synergistic
effects. It raises the
temperature of the soil, the best consumes organic matter and breaks down soil
aggregates increasing
bulk density of soil and decreasing its permeability. This change reduces
infiltration of water into soil,
increases surface runoff and promotes erosion and soil slippage on sleep slopes.
It eliminates
interception of rainwater by the thick foliage of large trees thus helping to
increase the moisture

content of the soil. Fire arrests the course of succession and modifies the edaphic
environment very
much. Fire causes sublimination of chlorine, sulphur and to some extent
phosphorus. Thus some
elements are permanently lost from the soil. Calcium, potassium, phosphorus left
in the ash are
changed to soluble forms and exposed to leaching and run-off.

Grazing: grazing has certain other ecological effects, reduction of the mulch
cover of the soil occur,
microclimate becomes more dry and severe and is readily invaded by xerophytic
plants. Due to
absence of humus cover mineral soil surface is heavily trampled when wet and
produces puddling of
the surface layers. This in turn reduces the infiltration of water into the soil and
accelerates its runoff
producing drought. The grazing and browsing adversely affect the aeration of soil
and make it
compact and hard and finally render the soil unfit for the growth of trees and
shrubs. Forests open to
grazing are changed first into shrubby vegetation and finally into grassland. Due
to grazing shoot or
root growth retards and expose land surface to erosion. Once soil is saturated
excess water begin to
rundown the slope and the clay and humus are splashed up and settle on the top.

Types of erosion
There are two types of erosion, geologic and accelerated. Geologic erosion is a
normal process,
representing erosion of land in its natural environment without the influence of
man. Geologic erosion

has been going on since the time continents emerged from the sea. It is caused
mainly by the action of
water, wind temperature variations, gravity and glaciers. Geologic erosion
includes soil forming as
well as eroding processes. The rate of this erosion, combined with the complex
processes of soil
formation largely determines the kind of soil that has developed and its
distribution on the earth
surface.

Figure 2-6 Steep slopes should not be denuded as it hastens the

process of soil erosion due to
velocity of water run off.

Measurement of Surface Erosion

Surface erosion on small watersheds can be measured or estimated by the use
of plots, stakes, or natural landscape features such as soil pedestals (Satterlund
and Adams 1992, Morgan 1995, Brooks et al. 2013). Surface erosion over larger
drainages basin can be measured by repeated reservoir sur- veys of designated
transects or through the use of tracers.
3.1.Erosion Plots
A widely used method of quantifying surface erosion is to measure the amount
of soil that washes from bounded plots. In installing these plots, collecting
troughs are sunk along the width of the bottom of the plots with walls of
plastic, sheet metal, plywood, or concrete are inserted into the soil surface to
form the boundaries of the plot (Mutchler et al. 1994, Morgan 1995, Brooks et
al.2013). The collecting trough empties into a tank or other container in which
both the entrained soil particles and surface runoff are collected. These
containers are sometimes designed with recording instruments so that the rates
of f low can be measured. The total volume of soil particles and water is
measured after a rainstorm has occurred in other cases.
Plots vary in size from micro-plots of 1 to 2 square meters to the standard plot
of approximately 2 meters by 22 meters used in applying the universal soil loss

equation (see below). Micro-plots are less expensive and more practical than
the use of rainfall simulators for multiple comparisons of vegetation, soils, and
land-use activities. However, larger plots can provide more realistic estimates
of erosion because they better represent the cumulative effect of increasing
volume and velocity of surface runoff downslope. Plots larger than the standard
plot for the universal soil loss equation can yield large volumes of surface runoff
and soil particles that are difficult to store. Devices that split or sample a
portion of total water and sediment f low are preferred in these cases.
3.2.
Erosion Pins or
Stakes
The insertion of pins or stakes into the soil can be used to estimate soil losses
and deposition that occur along the hillslopes of a watershed. Commonly, a pin
consisting of a long metal nail with a washer welded to the top of the nail is
inserted into the soil and the distance between the head of the nail and the
washer is measured. Soil erosion is measured by the distance from the cap of
the pin to the soil surface while deposition is measured by the accumulation of
soil on the top of the pin. The pins are re-set to be f lush with the soil surface
after the measurements are taken to facilitate subse- quent measurements. A
benchmark should be established in close proximity to the stakes as a point of
reference and stakes should be clearly marked so that original stakes can be
accurately relocated on subsequent surveys.
Erosion stakes are located in a grid pattern along hillslopes with repeated
measurements taken over time in which the changes in soil surface are related
to soil loss and deposition. This method is inexpensive compared with the plot
method but presents more difficulty in converting observations into actual soil
losses.
3.3. Ntural Landscape Features
Surface erosion can sometimes be estimated from natural landscape features
such as soil ped- estals that form beneath clumps of grass, dense shrubs,
stones, or other areas that are protected from rainfall. The distance between
the pedestal top and bottom increases as erosion removes soil particles from
around the pedestals. Repeated measurements of the height of residual soil
pedestals provide estimates as described for stakes or pins. The key to this
method is to relate measurements to a com- mon point of reference or
benchmark.
Land-use activities and management practices can inf luence the magnitude of
surface erosion. As a result, hydrologists and watershed managers frequently often
want to predict the amount of soil loss by surface erosion. Several models are
available for predicting erosion caused by the action of water including the
universal soil loss equation (USLE), the modified universal soil loss equation
(MSLE), the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE), and the water erosion
prediction project (WEPP) model.
4.1.

Universal Soil Loss Equation

The need for a widely applicable erosion prediction technique led to the
development of the universal soil loss equation (USLE) by the Agricultural
Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The original USLE was

based on the analysis of 10,000 plot-years of data collected mostly on

agricultural plots under natural rainfall conditions. Subsequently, surface
erosion research has been conducted with simulated rainfall. Rainfall-simulator
measurements are used to describe the inherent soil erodibility and provide
values for conservation tillage and construction practices for controlling soil
erosion.
The term universal differentiates the USLE from earlier erosion prediction
equations that applied only to specific sites and regions. The USLE was applied
on agricultural lands throughout the United States by 1978 and also to nonagricultural situations such as forests and grasslands and construction sites. A
sub-factor method was developed to estimate values for the C factor because
extensive baseline data were not available for all of these applications. This
sub-factor method is dis- cussed later as the modified universal soil loss
equation.
The English units employed in its original development are used in the
following description of the USLE rather than corresponding often cumbersome
metric units. The USLE (Wischmeier and Smith 1965, 1978) is:

where A = computed soil loss expressed in tons per acre for the time
period selected for R (usu- ally 1 year);
R = a rainfall erosivity factor for a specific area expressed in terms of
average erosion index (EI) units;
K = a soil-erodibility factor for a specific soil horizon expressed in tons per
acre;
LS
= topographic factor, a combined dimensionless factor for slope length and
slope gradient, where L is the ratio of soil loss from a given field slope length to
soil loss from a 72.6 foot length under the same conditions, while S is the slope
gradient factor expressed as the ratio of soil loss from a given slope steepness
to soil loss from a 9% slope under the same conditions; C = a dimensionless
cropping-man- agement factor expressed as a ratio of soil loss from the
condition of interest to soil loss from tilled continuous fallow (the condition
under which K is determined); and P = an erosion control practice factor
expressed as a ratio of the soil loss with the practices (contouring, stripcropping, or terracing) to soil loss with farming up and down the slope.

Equation 2.1 provides an estimate of sheet and rill erosion from rainfall
events on upland ar- eas. It does not include erosion from stream banks,
snowmelt runoff, or wind and it does not include eroded soil deposited at the
base of slopes and at other reduced-f low locations before surface runoff
reaches a stream channel.

A description of the factors comprising the USLE and their respective

formulations is presented below.

4.2. Modification of the Universal Soil Loss Equation

The USLE has been modified for use in forest and grassland environments
(Wischmeier 1975,
Environmental Protection Agency 1980). The cropping management (C) and the
erosion control practice
(P) factors in the USLE have been replaced by a vegetation management (VM)
factor in forming
the modified universal soil loss equation (MUSLE) represented by the following
formula:
A = RL(LS)(VM)
where VM = the vegetation management factor expressed as the ratio of soil loss
from watersheds
managed under specified conditions of vegetative cover to that from the fallow
condition on
which the K factor is evaluated; and R, L, and (LS) = as described in the USLE.
Vegetative cover and soil surface conditions of natural ecosystems are accounted
for with the
VM factor. Canopy height and cover, ground cover, and bare ground with fine
plant roots are considered
as sub-factors in forests. These three sub-factors are multiplied together to
obtain the VM value.
VM factors for sites without a forest canopy such as a pasture or grassland sites
are presented in Clyde
et al. (1976).
More studies have determined values for C factors for the USLE than VM
factors for MUSLE. Therefore, there are more published values for C factors
than for VM factors. However, values of C can be used as approximations for
VM values if they represent the similar site conditions. The Soil Conservation
Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (now the Natural Resources
Conserva- tion Service) has published C values for pastures, grassland sites,
and idle lands (Soil Conservation Service 1977). Wischmeier and Meyers
(1973) provide C values for construction sites.
The MUSLE procedure can be used as a guide for quantifying the potential
erosion on wildland watersheds if the principal interactions on which the
equation is based are known. Both the USLE and the MUSLE require an
estimate of the R factor. Estimates of the R factor can be obtained from
publications by the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture
Long-term rainfall-intensity records must be analyzed to calculate R factors for
locations where the R
factor has not been determined.

The USLE and MUSLE require an estimate for the R factor. General
estimates for the United States are obtained in publications by the Soil
Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agri- culture. Long-term
rainfall-intensity records must be analyzed to estimate a value for the R factor
that is applicable to specific regions of the United States and other parts of the
world.

4.3.

Soil Loss and Conservation Planning

The soil loss tolerance needs to be established for conservation planning. Soil loss
tolerance, also called the permissible soil loss, is the maximum rate of soil erosion that
will permit a high level of crop productivity to be economically and ecologically
e
sustained. Soil loss tolerance (T ) values of
2.5 to 12.5 tons per hectare per year are often used. Ae
single value is usually assigned to each soil
series. However, a
value can also be assigned to soils where erosion has reduced
e
second
the thickness of the effective rooting depth to where the potential of the soil to produce biomass
is diminished.
Criteria commonly used in
Value to a soil series are:
e
determining a T

An adequate rooting depth must be maintained in the soil for plant growth.

Soils that exhibit reductions in plant growth when the surface layer has
been removed by
erosion are assignede values than for soils where erosion has had little
lower T
impacts.

Little soil loss is tolerated for shallow soils overlying

restrictive layers. Therefore, the Te value should be less on
shallow soils than for deep soils or soils with underlying soil
mate- rials that can be improved through management.

After establishing the soil loss tolerance, the USLE or MUSLE

can be written as:

A value for the combined effect of C and P or VM that fits the

equation can be established by selecting the most appropriate
cropping management system and conservation practices.

4.4.

Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation

The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) predicts long-term

average-annual soil erosion for a range of farming practices,
conservation measures, mining, construction sites, and other sites
where the mineral soil has been exposed to raindrop impacts and
surface runoff. The Agri- culture Research Service of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture and their cooperators developed the
RUSLE to account for the temporal changes in soil erodibility and
plant factors that were not originally considered in the formulations
of the USLE (Renard et al. 1997, Weltz et al. 1998). RUSLE has a
snowmelt-erosion component and, furthermore, the equation can be
applied to single events. Improvements were also made to the
rainfall, slope length, and management practice factors in the
original USLE model.
The RUSLE technology is computer-based and, therefore, replaces
the tables, nomographs, and USLE calculations with a keyboard
entry. Other improvements of the RUSLE over the USLE (Renard et
al. 1997) include

More data from different locations, for different crops and

cropping systems, and for ero- sion in forest and grassland
ecosystems are incorporated into the RUSLE.

Corrections of errors in the USLE analysis of soil erosion

have been made and gaps in the original data filled.

The increased f lexibility of the RUSLE allows for

predicting soil erosion for a greater di- versity of
ecosystems and watershed management alternatives.

RUSLE has undergone revisions since its original formulation

with the current version, called RUSLE2, a computer program that
provides estimates of soil loss, sediment characteristics from rill
and sheet erosion, and sediment yield. It also uses a graphical-user
interface in its application instead of the text-based interface of
earlier versions of the program.

4.5.

Water Erosion Prediction Project Model

The Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model is a newer

technology for predicting soil erosion by water that has been
developed by the Agriculture Research Service of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture and their cooperators. The WEPP model
estimates soil erosion from single events, long-term soil loss from
hillslopes, and soil detachment and deposition in small stream
channels and impoundments within a watershed (Weltz et al. 1998).
WEPP is a process-oriented model or family of models that are
conceptually superior to the lumped RUSLE model and more
versatile as to the conditions that can be evaluated.

The WEPP model operates on a daily time step, allowing the

incorporation of temporal changes in soil erodibility, management
practices, above- and below-ground plant biomass, litter biomass,
plant height, canopy cover, and ground cover into the prediction of
soil erosion on agricultural and grassland watersheds. Linear and
nonlinear slope segments and multiple soil series and plant communities on a hillslope are also represented. The WEPP technology
is intended to apply to all situ- ations where erosion occurs including
that resulting from rainfall, snowmelt runoff, irrigation, and
ephemeral gully formation.

CONTROL DE LA EROSION
Vegetative (bionomic) Measures:
The Vegetative or bionomic measure refers to the use of vegetation to
provide the soil with protectivecover to minimise or prevent

acceleration of erosion. The objective of the procedure is to reduce

the kinetic energy of the raindrops splash and the velocity of the
overland flow which contribute to decrease the soil erosion. The
vegetative measures are used for protection against soil erosion by
using species like grasses, herbs, trees etc.

Figure 2-7 Pioneers organisms

The first organisms to become established in an ecosystem

undergoing succession are known as
pioneers. It is the primary succession in the process of species
colonization and replacement in which the environment is initially
virtually free of life. The sere involved in primary succession is called
preserve. Barren areas, such as rock outcrops, sand dunes, mine
dumps or disturbed areas, abandoned cultivated fields or road banks
are natural biological vacuum eventually to be filled by living
organisms. Plants that colonize such sites comprise the pioneer
species. Pioneers help to reduce soil erosion in due course.

Figure 2-8 Planting seedlings

As undergrowth in erosion prone areas is an ideal measure to arrest
soil erosion. It favors the under growth and increase the area of
interception of rain water by the thick foliage thus helping to reduce
soil erosion and also increasing the soil moisture.
Mechanical measures:

Medidas mecnicas son las obras de tierra, que incluyen terrazas,

contorno surcos, o contornomedidas delimitadores y estructurales,
tales como la construccin de diques de contencin, gaviones de
escollera o mampostera presas. Estructuras mecnicas se utilizan
generalmente en los lugares donde la vegetacin no puede ser
inmediatamente establecidos y barrancos, canales o ros y
terraplenes de caminos que tienen que ser estabilizados y protegidos.

Las medidas estructurales son elegidos para el siguiente propsito:

Para controlar y / o desviarlo donde se puede disponer de manera
segura.
Para reducir la velocidad de la escorrenta y evitar la socavacin de
la tierra.
Para proporcionar una barrera o tamiz eficaz para la tierra mudanza y
promover la recuperacin de la zona erosionada por
vegetacin crezca.