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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Reno, Nevada » Great Basin Rangelands Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #298360

Title: Rangeland hydrologic processes and salinity transport: uplands to river systems

Author
item Gagnon, Stuart
item Sears, John
item Makuch, Joseph
item ROSSI, COLLEEN - Bureau Of Land Management
item NOUWAKPO, S - University Of Nevada
item Weltz, Mark

Submitted to: Government Publication/Report
Publication Type: Government Publication
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/25/2014
Publication Date: 12/3/2014
Citation: Gagnon, S.R., Sears, J.R.L., Makuch, J.R., Rossi, C.G., Nouwakpo, S.K., Weltz, M.A., and Frasier, G. Salinity Mobilization and TransportL Hydrologic and Aeolian Processes and Remediation Techniques for Rangelands. A Selected Biblography. Special Regerence Briefs Series NO. SRB 2014-1. Water Quality Information Center, National Agricultural Library, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. 364 p. 2014.

Interpretive Summary: This bibliography is a guide to the scientific literature covering salinity sources, mobilization, and transport from rangelands to river systems, with particular emphasis on the Colorado River basin. It will also serve as the basis for a literature synthesis on what is known about salinity transport from rangelands and how conservation and management practices may alter dissolved salt transport. Salinity issues related to irrigated agriculture, roads, and dry land farming are beyond the scope of this bibliography. The bibliography was compiled by the Water Quality Information Center (WQIC) at the National Agricultural Library in cooperation with researchers from the ARS Great Basin Rangelands Research Unit, the Bureau of Land Management and other collaborators. HTML, PDF, and dynamic versions are available on the WQIC Web site http://wqic.nal.usda.gov/.

Technical Abstract: The purpose of the salinity project is to improve the understanding of sources and transport mechanisms in rangeland catchments that deliver dissolved solids (salts) to streams of the Upper Colorado River Basin. Relevant research conducted outside the U.S. is also included. In addition to documenting the physical, chemical, and biological processes involved in salt mobilization and transport, an important goal is to gain knowledge about how certain land management practices or land conditions may be affecting dissolved-solids yields to streams, such that changes in the land and water management could be made to reduce dissolved-solids yields and enhance the health and sustainability of rangeland plant communities. Management practices searched for in the literature include soil property control (e.g., planting, stabilization, reclamation), vegetation control (e.g., aeration, disking, prescribed grazing, prescribed burning), hydraulic structures and hydrogeomorphic controls (e.g., constructed wetlands, riparian buffers, bank stabilization), and access control (e.g., fencing, offroad vehicles, heavy use). There is minimal peer reviewed literature that directly documents the reductions in salt mobilization and transport from rangelands as a result of implementing rangeland management practices in the Colorado River Basin. Therefore, we expanded the literature search to include published literature that addressed fundamental hydrologic and erosion processes. This information will allow inferences to be made on reductions in salt loading to the Colorado River Basin if surface runoff and upland soil erosion processes are controlled through management actions.