Hydrologic Response of Watersheds to Land Use Management

Some potentials for influencing streamflow by land used management on three ARS research watersheds at Coshocton, OH; Hastings, NE; and Riesel, TX, were explored through applications of USDAHL-70 Model of Watershed Hydrology. Three hypothetical levels of land use management were considered: (1) exploitive land use, farming of all lands which could be reasonably put into row crops; (2) conservative land use, farming row crops in rotation and conformance with recommended soil protection and water management practices; and (3) converting the watersheds entirely to grass. The interactions of soil characteristics, stratigraphy, vegetation, tillage practices and rainfall patterns cause different responses at each location. The rationale for the model and the different effects of land use are presented and analyzed.