An Analysis of Erosion and Sediment Routing at the Botanical Gardens

Alexis McFadden, Cody Eimen, Michael Smith, & Dr. Tom Owino
Small Watershed Hydrology and Sedimentology, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, 29631

Abstract Procedure Results and Engineering Calculations

Total Soil Loss (Ttotal):
In this project, a small watershed within the Botanical Gardens in The first step of this project was to select a small watershed. T = ARKLSVM (Equation 1)
Clemson, SC was selected and analyzed. The soil loss of the 13.3-acre This area of the Botanical Gardens was selected because it has one Tcecil = (12.5)(300)(3.52)(0.24)(0.35) = 1108.8 tonnes/year
area was calculated to be 1185.4 tonnes/year, while the sediment yield was outlet, and the entire plot of land is sloped downward in roughly the Tpacolet = (0.8)(300)(4.56)(0.20)(0.35) = 76.6 tonnes/year
calculated to be 1115.6 tonnes/year. A 100 ac-ft reservoir added at the same direction, as shown in the topographical map in Figure 4. Ttotal = Tcecil + Tpacolet = 1185.4 tonnes/year
outlet of this watershed would trap roughly 95% of the sediment that
leaves the watershed. Web Soil Survey was then used to find the specific plot of land being
Sediment Delivery Ratio (SDR):
analyzed along with the soil properties of this area. After gathering
Area of watershed = 13.3 acres = 0.02078 mi2
this information, a calculation using Equation 1 was performed to
log10SDR = 1.8768 - 0.14191[log10(a)] (Equation 2)
Background find the total yearly soil loss of the selected area.
log10SDR = 1.8768 - 0.14191[log10(0.02078)]
SDR = 94.11% = 0.9411
A small watershed within the SC Botanical Gardens was chosen. This The next step was to solve for the Sediment Delivery Ratio of the
selected area using Equation 2. This allowed us to calculate the Soil Yield = SDR Total * Ttotal (Equation 3)
watershed drains to one creek that cuts through the Botanical
yearly soil yield of the plot of land using Equation 3. (0.9411)(1185.4) = 1115.6 tonnes/year
Gardens, which is located on the right side of the area of interest (Figure
1). This watershed is 13.3 acres and is composed of 2 different soil types,
Lastly, the trapping efficiency of a hypothetical reservoir that could Trapping Efficiency of a Reservoir:
which are Cecil sandy loam and Pacolet fine sandy loam (Figure 2).
be installed at the outlet of our watershed was found. The reservoir ρCecil = 1.41 g/cm3 = 1,410 kg/m3
capacity was 100 ac-ft. The standard curve in Figure 3 was used to ρpacolet = 1.36 g/cm3 = 1,360 kg/m3
determine the percentage of sediment that would be trapped by the ρWeighted = 0.937* 1410 + 0.063* 1360 = 1407 kg/m3
reservoir. Inflow (I) = 1115.6 tonnes/yr * 1 m3/1.407 tonnes = 793 m3/yr = 0.63 ac-ft
Capacity (C ) = 100 ac-ft
C/I = 158.7 → 95% trapping efficiency assumed
Trapped = 0.95*1115.6 tonnes/yr = 1059.8 tonnes/yr
Sediment that escapes reservoir = 0.05*1115.6 tonnes/yr = 55.8 tonnes/yr

Conclusions
Figure 1: Watershed area of interest in the Botanical Gardens Figure 2: Soil composition in area of interest Overall, this area of land is experiencing a moderate level of erosion. The
increase in erosion from the extreme slope of the land is offset by the
decrease in erosion from the well rooted grass that covers this area. Using

Site Information
resources available to us, we were able to solve for the predicted soil loss in
this watershed, as well as the soil yield. Due to the large volume of the
Total watershed area: 13.3 acres, draining to one creek located on right side reservoir compared to the relatively small watershed, the trapping efficiency
Figure 3: Standard curve for trapping efficiency of the reservoir was assumed to be 95%.
of Area of Interest (AOI).
Location of watershed: Pickens County, SC Rainfall Factor: 300
Soil Composition:
• Cecil Sandy Loam: 6-10% slope, 12.5 ac (93.7% of total area)
• Length of flow path: approximately 600 ft
References
1. Owino T. (2021) Module 3. Unpublished Notes, BE 3220, Clemson University.
• Average slope of flow path: 8% 2. Soil Survey Staff, Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of
• Pacolet Fine Sandy Loam: 0.8 ac (6.3% of total area) Agriculture. Web Soil Survey. Available online at the following link:
http://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/. Accessed [04/13/2021].
• Length of flow path: approximately 200 ft 3. U.S. Geological Survey, 2019, USGS National Map, accessed April 13, 2021 at URL
• Average slope of flow path: 16% https://apps.nationalmap.gov/downloader/#/
Table 1: Soil Loss Variables for each Soil Type 4. Ward, Andy D, and Stanley W Trimble. “Soil Conservation and Sediment Budgets.”
Rainfall Soil Length- Vegetative Area [acres] Environmental Hydrology, Lewis Publishers, 2015, pp. 408–413.
Factor (R) Erodibility Slope Factor (LS) Mulching Factor (A)
Factor (K) (VM)
Cecil Soil
Pacolet
300 0.24 3.52 0.35 12.5
Acknowledgements
300 0.20 4.56 0.35 0.8 We would like to thank our professor, Dr. Tom Owino, as well as Clemson University’s
Soil
Figure 4: Topographic map of AOI Department of Biosystems Engineering for making this project possible.