Improving the Efficiency of Roaded Catchments

This project, begun in 2006, aims to evaluate the effectiveness of chemical sealants applied to roaded catchments to increase runoff volume and improve the reliability of farm dams.

Catchment runoff thresholds vary from more than 50mm for natural catchments and 20-25mm for agricultural catchments to 10-12mm for roaded catchments. The application of chemical sealants to roaded catchments is expected to reduce the runoff threshold for 10-12 mm to 6-8mm. This will increase the volume of rainfall collected during the year and will either increase the reliability of existing water supplies or optimise the design reliability of new water supplies under a drying climate.

Activities

Research activities are taking place in Mt Barker and Merredin.

Conclusions

Preliminary results indicate that treated catchments appear to to respond more effectively to rainfall events with more runoff generated at lower thresholds than untreated control catchments.

Contact

Todd Stokes