Watershed responses to conservation measures

In Doon Valley, India, when a natural forest watershed open to grazing is deforested and cultivated, volume and peak rates of runoff were higher by 15% and 72%, respectively. When the agricultural watershed is treated with soil and water conservation measures (construction of small field levees or bunds), the peak rate and volume of runoff are reduced by 86% and 62%, respectively, of the corresponding values when it was a natural forest watershed and the corresponding reduction in soil loss was 94%. When another comparable natural forest watershed is provided with brushwood check dams at appropriate locations, although no appreciable reduction in peak rate of runoff was observed, soil loss was reduced by 54%.