Agriculture Commons^™

Assessment Of Concentrated Flow Through Riparian Buffers, Michael G. Dosskey, Matthew J. Helmers, Dean E. Eisenhauer, Thomas G. Franti, Kyle D. Hoagland

Matthew J. Helmers

Concentrated flow of surface runoff from agricultural fields may limit the capability of riparian buffers to remove pollutants. This study was conducted on four farms in southeastern Nebraska to develop a method for assessing the extent of concentrated flow in riparian buffers and for evaluating the impact that it has on sediment-trapping efficiency. Field methods consisted of mapping field runoff areas and their pathways to and through riparian buffers to streams. Mathematical relationships were developed from a model (VFSMOD) that estimates sediment-trapping efficiency from the ratio of buffer area to field runoff area. Among the farms surveyed, riparian buffers averaged …