Water erosion hazard

Product Information

Water erosion causes losses of soil that far exceed the rates of soil development and the on-site consequences affect agriculture by:

• decreasing soil volume available for the plant root to exploit
• selectively removing nutrients and organic matter
• breaking up paddocks into physically smaller units.

Off-site effects relate to the sedimentation of creeks, rivers, estuaries and reservoirs, increased flooding, eutrophication, and the general decline of aquatic environments.

The purpose of monitoring is to determine water erosion hazard and how this changes. Knowing the reason for change is important in directing management responses and policy direction.