Evaluating Checkdams and Compost for Best Management Practices On Military Training Lands.

Water erosion plays into multiple laws and regulations including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, etc. which all influence how Army training lands are managed for erosion.  Check-dams are one of the most cost-effective best management practice (BMP) for the conservation of soil and water on eroded lands.  An alternative BMP gaining interest is the application of compost as a blanket or check-dam.  These BMP's have not been largely quantified.  As a result there is little historical or current data on these systems for erosion control and impacts to military lands and training. 

 A suite of new materials in check-dam systems have become available over the last few years.  With all of the new technologies and materials entering the erosion control arena, land managers now have a suite of BMP's available to them both commercially and with in-house construction.  A side-by-side evaluation of several check-dam systems and compost blankets was conducted to determine cost-effectiveness, sedimentation loads, life-span and durability to military training.  This poster will outline lessons learned and the results of the comparative evaluation to provide land managers with data to help maximize the success, efficiency of these BMP's on military installations.