Experimental investigation of runoff reduction and sediment removal by vegetated filter strips

The impact of vegetated filter strips (VFS) on sediment removal from runoff has been studied extensively in recent years. Vegetation is believed to increase water infiltration and decrease water turbulence thus enhancing sediment deposition within filter media. In the study reported here, field expe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hydrological processes 2004-08, Vol.18 (11), p.2029-2037
Main Authors: Abu-Zreig, Majed, Rudra, Ramesh P., Lalonde, Manon N., Whiteley, Hugh R., Kaushik, Narinder K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Biological and medical sciences
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Hydrology
Hydrology. Hydrogeology
sediment deposition
simulated runoff
Synecology
Terrestrial ecosystems
vegetated filter strips
vegetation cover
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Summary:The impact of vegetated filter strips (VFS) on sediment removal from runoff has been studied extensively in recent years. Vegetation is believed to increase water infiltration and decrease water turbulence thus enhancing sediment deposition within filter media. In the study reported here, field experiments have been conducted to examine the efficiency of vegetated filter strips for sediment removal from cropland runoff. Twenty filters with varying length, slope and vegetated cover were used under simulated runoff conditions with an average sediment concentration of 2700 mg/L. The filters were 2, 5, 10 and 15 m long with a slope of 2·3 and 5% and three types of vegetation. Three other strips with bare soil were used as a control. The experimental results showed that the average sediment trapping efficiency of all filters was 84% and ranging from 68% in a 2‐m filter to as high as 98% in a 15‐m long filter compared with only 25% for the control. The length of filter has been found to be the predominant factor affecting sediment deposition in VFS up to 10 m. Increasing filter length to 15 m did not improve sediment trapping efficiency under the present experimental conditions. The rate of incoming flow and vegetation cover percentage has a secondary effect on sediment deposition in VFS. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ISSN:0885-6087
1099-1085
DOI:10.1002/hyp.1400