Soil erosion tolerance and water runoff control: minimum environmental standards |
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Authors: | Paolo Bazzoffi |
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Institution: | (1) Agricultural Research Council, Agrobiology and Pedology Research Centre (CRA-ABP), P.za D’Azeglio, 30 50121 Florence, Italy |
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Abstract: | Council Regulations (EC) No 1257/1999 and the EU Soil Thematic Strategy give great importance to soil and land conservation
to develop knowledge driven governance for rural development. In the hilly areas of Italy cultivated intensively, and especially
in the ones devoted to viticulture, agricultural practices determine high loss of soil with consequent degradation of the
soil resource. In addition to it, offsite effects of soil erosion can be unsustainable, due to sediment transfer to the channel
network and infrastructures. In order to achieve a sustainable rural development there is a need for tools and instruments
to allow European regional administrations, to develop, implement, manage and monitor rural development plans. To counteract
the environmental threats intensified by agricultural activity, the environmental functions “soil erosion control” and “water
runoff control” were investigated in the Chianti area by using GIS. To determine the EMR (Environmental Minimum Requirements)
values for soil erosion the “regeneration” capability of soils was considered, and the value of estimated soil loss was compared
with the value of soil reformation. A scenario analysis was also performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the agroenvironmental
measure “grass cover” in reducing erosion. The concept of tolerable erosion based on soil productivity and soil reformation
rate only is reductive and off-site effects of soil erosion should be also taken into account. For this reason, it was proposed
to extend the concept of hydrogeological risk to soil erosion by implementing the notion of soil erosion tolerance (T) with the new concept of environmental risk of soil erosion (ERSE). The new ERSE index takes into account all the in- and
off-farm externalities of soil erosion. For this reason, it can be considered an aggregated environmental indicator that enables
policy makers to evaluate the impacts of soil erosion by following an holistic approach. |
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