Soil Health
Soils have the capability to store more water or less water according to farming and ranching management practices. A 2019 Healthy Soils Act promotes and supports better soil management practices to increase agricultural production as well as water retention.
Posts - Any technical papers, data, opinions, announcements, etc. that relate to this Soil Health issue appear just below.
We welcome postings on this or other water-related issues from interested parties. Please email your posts, preferably in Word format, to the Editorial Board at Info@MRGWaterAdvocates.org
Description of the Issue
Soil health is a continuum, ranging from poor to excellent! As soil health improves, the ability to absorb (infiltration) and retain water increases significantly. This occurs as soils get covered with cooling vegetation which serves to build soil organic matter and modifies evaporation. Management of land will dictate the health of the soil, so human decision-making will affect water quantity and quality. The exciting part of all of this is that as the soil becomes healthier and retains more water for groundwater recharge and vegetative growth, species diversity, productivity and profitability can increase.
The Water Advocates played a supporting role in causing passage of the 2019 Healthy Soil Act. That act promotes and supports farming and ranching systems and other forms of land management that increase soil organic matter, aggregate stability, microbiology and water retention to improve the health, yield and profitability of the soils of the state. The Advocates continue to work toward effective implementation.
Relevant Articles
