Stabilizing Disturbed Soils with Hydroseeding, Compost and Polyacrylamide.

Of the two billion tons of topsoil lost each year in the United States, approximately 10% of this loss is attributed to construction sites where a lack of vegetative cover causes sediments and nutrients to pollute nearby watersheds. In the Shenandoah Valley, sediment and nutrients pose serious threats as a source of non-point pollution to the Chesapeake Bay. However, Virginia has Erosion and Sediment Control Legislation that mandates best management practices, such as revegetation, to reduce these effects. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of three treatments; 1) standard hydroseeding of fescue, 2) fescue-impregnated compost and 3) polyacrylamide with fescue. Losses of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment under simulated rainfall, soil properties, ground cover and species diversity were measured for three replicates of these three treatments on a disturbed field site in the Shenandoah Valley. All data presented will be based upon the first year’s results of a two year study and will encourage the use of compost as a best management practice for reestablishing vegetation on disturbed lands with minimal soil and nutrient loss.