Abstract
Water scarcity has always been one of the most important obstacles in the process of agricultural development in arid and low-rainfall climates. In farming, the water quality also plays an important role; as the poor quality of water can be one of the limiting factors in this sector that in addition to the agricultural problems has also caused soil problems. In this paper, we introduce and study an indigenous method of water conservation and soil protection in the east of Iran termed as “water-colouring” and the role of geomorphologic features of marl hills in one of the rivers located in the southern slopes of the Joghtay Mountain (Kalateh-Sadat Watershed). In this study, field observation, sampling and analysis of water and sediment, physicochemical experiments, SPSS software for statistical analysis and satellite images have been used to produce digital models. Finally, the effects of muddy water and clear water have been compared in terms of chemical quality and productivity of agricultural land. The results show that the method of water-colouring is the best indigenous-economical method for moisture retention and regeneration of the agricultural land soil. Given the statistical reasons and studying the other researches in this field, water-colouring causes change texture and soil composition, fertility of agricultural land and reduce the losses due to evaporation and infiltration.
Highlights
Water scarcity and drought, especially in the hot and low-rainfall seasons, are one of the inevitable phenomena in Iran
Since Kalateh-Sadat village is located on fans and its downstream lands are located on the floodplain, its specific geomorphologic features can be effective on agricultural activities, especially its irrigation
Strong winds affect the downstream lands and take away fine and soft soil with, the sand remains in place; this leads to soil erosion and degradation of soil texture, especially in the agricultural lands, and moisture is kept in the soil and quickly penetrates in coarse-aggregate soil
Summary
Especially in the hot and low-rainfall seasons, are one of the inevitable phenomena in Iran. The appropriate management of soil and water resources in arid and semi-arid regions is one of the most important measures to preserve and rehabilitate the fragile environmental conditions of the desert regions that today much attention is paid to it, because by implementing proper managerial measures we can create the background of sustainable development, prosperity and economic development in these areas [5]. The results of researches have shown that with continuation of wind erosion, all lands with different usages go ahead toward siltation and the adhesion rate of soils is reduced more by passing of time that this fact, in addition to the changing of most of soil properties, causes the soil fertility and increases the rate of erosion and with continuation of drought and wind erosion, the problems in arid and semi-arid areas are worsened [8]. The use of effective ways for decreasing the speed of this process, reducing energy consumption, and lowering of the water erosion and the wind erosion seems favourable
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