Soil Science Commons^™

Hillside Seepages, R A. Nulsen

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

'Hillside seepage' is a local, descriptive term applied to almost any wet patch occurring out of the valley bottom. Depending on their surface appearances, 'hillside seepages' are described as 'springs', 'soaks', 'wet patches', or seeps.

Whatever they are called, seeps can cause problems. The land in the seep is wet, unworkable and non-productive. If the seep is saline and the water flows downhill, further land is lost from production, bared and subject to erosion. Even small seeps, while not affecting much land, break up a paddock and complicate the working pattern for tillage and harvest.

Draining A Saline Seep, W J. Burdass

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Sub-surface drains have dried out a salty seep on farm land in the Katanning district. Capeweed and clovers are now growing on more than three-quarters of the land that was previously bare or carried only patchy sea barley grass.

The drains are still running water after five years. The salt content of the surface soil has been reduced markedly and the salt content of the effluent water is decreasing.

However, to complete the reclamation, further drains will be necessary. Both existing and any new drains will have to be flushed periodically because blockages of pipes cause problems.

Throughflow Troughs For The Measurement Of Shallow Seepage On Hillslopes, C J. Henschke, J A. Bessell-Browne

Resource management technical reports

Throughflow troughs were installed to assess their effectiveness in quantifying shallow sub-surface flows on hillslopes. The majority of flow was found to occur from decayed root channels in clay sub-soils below the lowest gutter. The conclusion at this site is that shallow throughflow troughs installed on a small scale are not capable of quantifying all of the seepage occurring on hillslopes.