Infiltration and Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity of Benchmark Soils in the Southern High Plains of West Texas.

The Southern High Plains of West Texas receives much of its annual precipitation from high intensity rainfall events. Whether or not the precipitation makes it into the soil or becomes runoff depends on many physical soil properties. Infiltration and saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) are very important physical properties of soils in the Southern High Plains of West Texas. These properties are seldom reported, but are often measured. The purpose of this study is to look at the differences between these properties in benchmark soils of this region. Infiltration and saturated hydraulic conductivity measurements were taken using the double ring infiltrometer and constant head well permeameter methods. Soil analysis data contributed by the USDA-NRCS will also be used for comparisons. Results for each soil, show expected differences in both particle size distribution and hydraulic properties.