Soil and Water Conservation

A Merit Badge Teaching Aid

Created and compiled by

Ross Kinsler –NREM 405
2002
 What is Soil?
• soil - The

 
unconsolidated
mineral or organic
material on the
immediate surface of
the earth that serves                          
as
a natural medium for
the growth of land
plants.
Miami Soil
 How is soil formed?
•

                                                                                            

© Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

 Soil Ingredients
• Sand is the largest particle in the soil. When you rub it, it feels rough.
This is because it has sharp edges.
• Silt is a soil particle whose size is between sand and clay. Silt feels
smooth and powdery. When wet it feels smooth but not sticky.
• Clay is the smallest of particles. Clay is smooth when dry and sticky
when wet. Soils high in clay content are called heavy soils.
• Organic matter or Humus is the part of soil that comes from the
leaves, branches, animal wastes, and everything organic that falls on
the ground. As these are broken down by water, sun, and, small
creatures the organic substances in them are incorporated into the soil.
Humus increases the nutrient holding ability of the soil and improves
soil structure.
 Soil Types
• Sand, silt, and clay are • Sand
the basic types of soil. – Good drainage
Most soils are made – Poor nutrient retention
up of a combination of • Silt
the three. The relative – Good nutrient retention
amount of each
• Clay
determines the
– Best nutrient retention
characteristics of the
– Poor drainage
soil.
Soil in Indiana

Miami Soil
Fine-loamy, mixed, active,
mesic
Oxyaquic Hapudalfs
• Surface layer: brown silt
loam
Subsurface layer: brown silt
loam
Subsoil: dark yellowish
brown clay loam
Substratum: brown loam
 Primary Nutrients

• Nitrogen
– Proteins and amino
acids
• Phosphorus
– Nucleic acids, ATP,
Chlorophyll
• Potassium
– Catalyst, ion transport
 Nutrient Recharge
• Nitrogen Sources • Phosphorus Sources
– Ammonia Fertilizer – Phosphate Fertilizer
– Nitrogen Fixing Plants – Manure
• Alfalfa • Potassium Sources
• Legumes
– Potash
– Bone meal
 Erosion

• Erosion is a process
that removes soil
layers and carries them
away from farmer's
fields to bodies of
water or other land.
This results in loss of
nutrients and organic
matter.
 Examples of Erosion Control
Methods

                                                      

Straw mulch application

Terra farming
 What is a watershed?
• It's the area of
land that catches
rain and snow
and drains or
seeps into a
marsh, stream,
river, lake or
Diagram KJ

Includes parking lots, roofs

groundwater. fields, lawns
The Water Cycle
 How water moves
• percolation--(1) The movement of water through
the openings in rock or soil. (2) the entrance of a
portion of the streamflow into the channel materials
to contribute to ground water replenishment
• capillary action--the means by which liquid moves
through the porous spaces in a solid, such as soil,
plant roots, and the capillary blood vessels in our
bodies due to the forces of adhesion, cohesion, and
surface tension. Capillary action is essential in
carrying substances and nutrients from one place to
another in plants and animals.
 More water movement
• evaporation--the process of liquid water
becoming water vapor, including vaporization
from water surfaces, land surfaces, and snow
fields, but not from leaf surfaces.
• precipitation--rain, snow, hail, sleet, dew, and
frost
• transpiration--process by which water that is
absorbed by plants, usually through the roots, is
evaporated into the atmosphere from the plant
surface, such as leaf pores.
 Role of vegetation

• Vegetation holds soils

and slows surface
water movement.
– Slows erosion
– Improves infiltration
– Improves nutrient
holding
Copyright © 2002 Missouri Botanical Garden – Improves quality of
surface water
 Water Pollution

• Water pollution occurs when a body of water is

adversely affected due to the addition of large
amounts of materials to the water. These materials
could include: toxic substances, fertilizers, organic
matter, sediments, or animal wastes. Runoff
carries harmful chemicals great distances and
causes them to be concentrated in water ways and
lakes.
 Types of Pollution
• Non-point source • Point source
– occurs when there is
runoff of pollutants
into a waterway, for
instance when fertilizer
from a field is carried
into a stream by
surface runoff.
http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/
– occurs when the
polluting substance is
emitted directly into
the waterway. A pipe
spewing toxic
chemicals directly into
a river is an example.
Common Sources
• Industry
– Soil Erosion
– Toxic effluents
– Mine runoff
• Farming
– Fertilizer run-off
– Animal waste run-off
• Residential
– Lawn care fertilizer run-off
– Improper sewage treatment
Local Pollution Reduction Efforts

• Uses Federal grant money

to determine methods of
reducing non-point source
water pollution in a
community based effort
through the Soil and
Water Conservation
District of Delaware
County.
• http://www.co.delaware.in
.us/watershed/
 Water Treatment
• Primary
– removes
suspended solids
in settling tanks
• Secondary
– Removes organic
matter using
bacterial agents
Water Treatment
 Bibliography
• http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/dictionary.html
• http://mbgnet.mobot.org/fresh/cycle/
• http://www.epa.gov/water/
• http://ohioline.osu.edu/aex-fact/0768.html
• http://www.pirg.org/reports/enviro/poison/
• http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/gpe/case2/c2facts2.html
• http://www.co.delaware.in.us/watershed/
• http://soils.usda.gov/
• http://geoimages.berkeley.edu/GeoImages/BainCalif/calwestsubjects.
html
• http://www.angelfire.com/weird2/urbanexp/vuosaari.htm
• http://www.usscouts.org/usscouts/mb/mb106.html