Erosion control is the practice of preventing or controlling wind or water

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is d ...

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

, land development, coastal areas, river banks and

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and ...

. Effective erosion controls handle surface runoff and are important techniques in preventing

water pollution Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities, so that it negatively affects its uses. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. ...

, soil loss, wildlife

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

and human

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...

loss.

Usage

Erosion controls are used in natural areas, agricultural settings or urban environments. In urban areas erosion controls are often part of stormwater runoff management programs required by local governments. The controls often involve the creation of a physical barrier, such as vegetation or rock, to absorb some of the energy of the wind or water that is causing the erosion. They also involve building and maintaining storm drains. On construction sites they are often implemented in conjunction with

sediment control A sediment control is a practice or device designed to keep eroded soil on a construction site, so that it does not wash off and cause water pollution to a nearby stream, river, lake, or sea. Sediment controls are usually employed together with ...

s such as sediment basins and silt fences. Bank erosion is a natural process: without it, rivers would not meander and change course. However, land management patterns that change the hydrograph and/or vegetation cover can act to increase or decrease channel migration rates. In many places, whether or not the banks are unstable due to human activities, people try to keep a river in a single place. This can be done for environmental reclamation or to prevent a river from changing course into land that is being used by people. One way that this is done is by placing riprap or gabions along the bank.

Examples

Examples of erosion control methods include the following: * cellular confinement systems *

crop rotation Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of different types of crops in the same area across a sequence of growing seasons. It reduces reliance on one set of nutrients, pest and weed pressure, and the probability of developing resistant ...

conservation tillage Tillage is the agricultural preparation of soil by mechanical agitation of various types, such as digging, stirring, and overturning. Examples of human-powered tilling methods using hand tools include shoveling, picking, mattock work, hoeing, ...

contour bunding Contour bunding or contour farming or Contour ploughing is the farming practice of plowing and/or planting across a slope following its elevation contour lines. These contour lines create a water break which reduces the formation of rills and gu ...

* contour plowing * cover crops *

fiber roll A fiber roll is a temporary erosion control and sediment control device used on construction sites to protect water quality in nearby streams, rivers, lakes and seas from sediment erosion. It is made of straw, coconut fiber or similar mate ...

s (also called straw wattles) * gabions * hydroseeding *

level spreader A level spreader is an erosion control device designed to reduce water pollution by mitigating the impact of high-velocity stormwater surface runoff. It is used both on construction sites and for permanent applications such as drainage for ro ...

s * mulching * perennial crops * plasticulture *

polyacrylamide Polyacrylamide (abbreviated as PAM) is a polymer with the formula (-CH2CHCONH2-). It has a linear-chain structure. PAM is highly water-absorbent, forming a soft gel when hydrated. In 2008, an estimated 750,000,000 kg were produced, mainly fo ...

(as a coagulant) *

reforestation Reforestation (occasionally, reafforestation) is the natural or intentional restocking of existing forests and woodlands ( forestation) that have been depleted, usually through deforestation, but also after clearcutting. Management A de ...

* riparian buffer * riprap * strip farming *

sand fence A sand fence or sandbreak, similar to a snow fence, is a barrier used to force windblown, drifting sand to accumulate in a desired place. Sand fences are employed to control erosion, help sand dune stabilization, keep sand off roadways, and to r ...

* vegetated waterway (bioswale) * terracing * windbreaks

Mathematical modeling

Since the 1920s and 1930s scientists have been creating mathematical models for understanding the mechanisms of soil erosion and resulting sediment surface runoff, including an early paper by

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theor ...

applying Baer's law. These models have addressed both gully and sheet erosion. Earliest models were a simple set of linked equations which could be employed by manual calculation. By the 1970s the models had expanded to complex computer models addressing nonpoint source pollution with thousands of lines of computer code.C. Michael Hogan, Leda Patmore, Gary Latshaw, Harry Seidman et al. 1973 The more complex models were able to address nuances in micrometeorology, soil particle size distributions and micro-terrain variation.

Notes

References

* Albert Einstein. 1926. ''Die Ursache der Mäanderbildung der Flußläufe und des sogenannten Baerschen Gesetzes'', Die Naturwissenschaften, 11, S. 223–224 * C. Michael Hogan, Leda Patmore, Gary Latshaw, Harry Seidman et al. 1973. '' Computer modeling of pesticide transport in the soil for five instrumented watersheds'', U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Southeast Water laboratory, Athens, Ga. by

ESL Inc. ESL Incorporated, or Electromagnetic Systems Laboratory, was a subsidiary of TRW, a high technology firm in the United States that was engaged in software design, systems analysis and hardware development for the strategic reconnaissance marketp ...

, Sunnyvale, California * Robert E. Horton. 1933. ''The Horton Papers'' * U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Washington, DC.
"National Conservation Practice Standards."
National Handbook of Conservation Practices. Accessed 2009-03-28.

External links

"Saving Runaway Farm Land", November 1930, Popular Mechanics
One of the first articles on the problem of soil erosion control
Erosion Control Technology Council
- a trade organization that mission is to educate and standardize the erosion control industry
International Erosion Control Association
- Professional Association, Publications, Training
WatchYourDirt.com
- Erosion Control Educational Video Resource

- Erosion Control subsection of a website on Riparian Habitat Restoration {{DEFAULTSORT:Erosion Control Construction Soil erosion Earthworks (engineering) Riparian zone Sustainable design Water pollution

Usage

Examples

Mathematical modeling

See also

Notes

References

External links