Conservation Tillage — A New Strategy in Flood Control

Abstract

It may seem at first that there is no connection between tillage methods on arable land and flood disasters in a watershed. But flood disasters are frequently the consequence of extensive amounts of water originating from surface runoff from soils due to a lack of infiltration caused by soil sealing or crusting. The last has to be seen in context with soil erosion on arable land, which results from inhibited water infiltration through soil siltation. Soil sealing is caused by raindrops hitting the soil surface with a force great enough to destroy soil aggregates. Dispersed surface clods and aggregates form a thin sealing soil layer, which inhibits water infiltration in a very efficient way [1]. On sloped arable land, inhibited infiltration by soil sealing causes surface water runoff, which causes on- and off-site damages through soil erosion.