Infiltration and Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity of Benchmark Soils On the Southern High Plains.

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 often measured, but are seldom reported. Within the last decade, the Soil Survey Division has decided to use saturated hydraulic conductivity values to describe water movement within National Soil Survey Handbooks. The database for such values is limited across the Southern High Plains. The purpose of this study is to look at the differences between these properties in benchmark soils of this region, and report them. Infiltration and saturated hydraulic conductivity measurements will be 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 are expected to show differences in both physical and hydraulic properties.