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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Columbia, Missouri » Cropping Systems and Water Quality Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #370520
Research Project: Long-term Management of Water Resources in the Central Mississippi River Basin

Location: Cropping Systems and Water Quality Research

Title: Assessing cultivated cropland inherent vulnerability to sediment and nutrient losses with the Soil Vulnerability Index

Author
item Baffaut, Claire
item THOMPSON, ALLEN - University Of Missouri
item DURIANCIK, LISA - Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, USDA)
item INGRAM, KEVIN - Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, USDA)
item NORFLEET, M. LEE - Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, USDA)

Submitted to: Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/10/2019
Publication Date: 1/1/2020
Citation: Baffaut, C., Thompson, A.L., Duriancik, L.F., Ingram, K.A., Norfleet, M. 2020. Assessing cultivated cropland inherent vulnerability to sediment and nutrient losses with the Soil Vulnerability Index. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 75(1):20A-22A. https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.75.1.20A.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.75.1.20A

Interpretive Summary: The Soil Vulnerability Index (SVI) utilizes soil properties and topographic slope to classify inherent vulnerability of cropland to loss of sediment and nutrients by runoff and leaching. Management is not taken into account in this classification, except for the presence of artificial drainage. In this introduction to a special issue focused on SVI evaluation, we present the goal and purpose of SVI, explain the history of its development, show examples of SVI uses, and introduce each of the papers in this special issue. The goal of this paper is to place the SVI evaluation across 13 Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) watersheds within the broader context of SVI development, testing, and evaluation, followed by improvement and further evaluation. This context will be useful to readers to interpret the findings of the SVI evaluation.

Technical Abstract: The Soil Vulnerability Index (SVI) utilizes soil properties and topographic slope to classify inherent vulnerability of cropland to loss of sediment and nutrients by runoff and leaching. Management is not taken into account in this classification, except for the presence of artificial drainage. In this introduction to a special issue focused on SVI evaluation, we present the goal and purpose of SVI, explain the history of its development, show examples of SVI uses, and introduce each of the papers in this special issue. The goal of this paper is to place the SVI evaluation across 13 Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) watersheds within the broader context of SVI development, testing, and evaluation, followed by improvement and further evaluation. This context will be useful to readers to interpret the findings of the SVI evaluation.