The use of check dams in watershed management projects: Examples from around the world

Abbasi, Naseer Ahmed; Xu, Xiangzhou; Lucas‐Borja, Manuel Esteban; Dang, Weiqin; Liu, Bin

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.04.249

Cited by 118 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…One technique that has a long history of being used both locally and globally to retain soil and water is installation of erosion control structures (ECS). 5,6 They have been used in watershed and riparian restoration, in agriculture for soil conservation, and after wildfires to stabilize slopes and capture sediments in stream channels. [6][7][8][9][10][11] They also have been shown to store SOM and OC 12,13 and have the potential to store pyrogenic carbon (PyC) from wildfires.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preliminary Assessment of Carbon and Nitrogen Sequestration Potential of Wildfire-Derived Sediments Stored by Erosion Control Structures in Forest Ecosystems, Southwest USA

Callegary

Norman

Eastoe

et al. 2021

Air, Soil and Water Research

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The role of pyrogenic carbon (PyC) in the global carbon cycle is still incompletely characterized. Much work has been done to characterize PyC on landforms and in soils where it originates or in “terminal” reservoirs such as marine sediments. Less is known about intermediate reservoirs such as streams and rivers, and few studies have characterized hillslope and in-stream erosion control structures (ECS) designed to capture soils and sediments destabilized by wildfire. In this preliminary study, organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (N), and stable isotope parameters, δ13C and δ15N, were compared to assess opportunities for carbon and nitrogen sequestration in postwildfire sediments (fluvents) deposited upgradient of ECS in ephemeral- and intermittent-stream channels. The variability of OC, N, δ13C, and δ15N were analyzed in conjunction with fire history, age of captured sediments, topographic position, and land cover. Comparison of samples in 2 watersheds indicates higher OC and N in ECS with more recently captured sediments located downstream of areas with higher burn severity. This is likely a consequence of (1) higher burn severity causing greater runoff, erosion, and transport of OC (organic matter) to ECS and (2) greater cumulative loss of OC and N in older sediments stored behind older ECS. In addition, C/N, δ13C, and δ15N results suggest that organic matter in sediments stored at older ECS are enriched in microbially processed biomass relative to those at newer ECS. We conservatively estimated the potential mean annual capture of OC by ECS, using values from the watershed with lower levels of OC, to be 3 to 4 metric tons, with a total potential storage of 293 to 368 metric tons in a watershed of 7.7 km2 and total area of 2000 ECS estimated at 2.6 ha (203-255 metric tons/ha). We extrapolated the OC results to the regional level (southwest USA) to estimate the potential for carbon sequestration using these practices. We estimated a potential of 0.01 Pg, which is significant in terms of ecosystem services and regional efforts to promote carbon storage.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preliminary Assessment of Carbon and Nitrogen Sequestration Potential of Wildfire-Derived Sediments Stored by Erosion Control Structures in Forest Ecosystems, Southwest USA

Callegary

Norman

Eastoe

et al. 2021

Air, Soil and Water Research

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“…As one of the most effective flood prevention measures, check dams play a vital role in flood control (Yazdi et al 2018;Abbasi et al 2019). In the study area, a large number of check dams had been constructed in a concentrated fashion around the drainage networks.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of check dams’ role in flood hazard mapping in a semi-arid environment

Sepehri

Ildoromi

Malekinezhad

et al. 2019

Geomatics, Natural Hazards and Risk

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This study aimed to examine flood hazard zoning and assess the role of check dams as effective hydraulic structures in reducing flood hazards. To this end, factors associated with topographic, hydrologic and human characteristics were used to develop indices for flood mapping and assessment. These indices and their components were weighed for flood hazard zoning using two methods: (i) a multi-criterion decision-making model in fuzzy logic and (ii) entropy weight. After preparing the flood hazard map by using the above indices and methods, the characteristics of the change-point were used to assess the role of the check dams in reducing flood risk. The method was used in the Ilanlu catchment, located in the northwest of Hamadan province, Iran, where it is prone to frequent flood events. The results showed that the area of 'very low', 'low' and 'moderate' flood hazard zones increased from about 2.2% to 7.3%, 8.6% to 19.6% and 22.7% to 31.2% after the construction of check dams, respectively. Moreover, the area of 'high' and 'very high' flood hazard zones decreased from 39.8% to 29.6%, and 26.7% to 12.2%, respectively.

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“…Therefore, efforts to mitigate risk can be highly targeted. Efforts to reduce sediment loads from debris flow may include channel structures to prevent sediment from entering the reservoir (e.g., check dams: Abbasi et al., 2019) or hillslope treatments that trap hillslope sediment, modify the hydrology, and reduce the probability of a debris flow initiating (Robichaud et al., 2013). The initiation of debris flows in postfire settings is highly sensitive to peak runoff (Kean et al., 2011), so any successful attempts to reduce runoff has the potential to substantially reduce the likelihood of a debris flow.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Probability and Consequence of Postfire Erosion for Treatability of Water in an Unfiltered Supply System

Nyman

Yeates²,

Langhans

et al. 2021

Water Resources Research

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The use of check dams in watershed management projects: Examples from around the world

Cited by 118 publications

References 50 publications

Preliminary Assessment of Carbon and Nitrogen Sequestration Potential of Wildfire-Derived Sediments Stored by Erosion Control Structures in Forest Ecosystems, Southwest USA

Preliminary Assessment of Carbon and Nitrogen Sequestration Potential of Wildfire-Derived Sediments Stored by Erosion Control Structures in Forest Ecosystems, Southwest USA

Assessment of check dams’ role in flood hazard mapping in a semi-arid environment

Probability and Consequence of Postfire Erosion for Treatability of Water in an Unfiltered Supply System

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