Check Dams (gully rehabilitation and reclamation)

Soil erosion is a challenge throughout the world. Soil erosion results in the loss of soil and loss of usable land. If left unmanaged erosion will result in gullies. It is important to manage erosion in order to prevent the loss of valuable soil and to maintain the area of usable land. One technique for managing soil erosion and gullies is the construction of check dams. The check dams trap the sediment behind the check dam and slowly reclaim the land. This also helps to prevent downstream impacts. Eventually the land can be reused. There are different types of check dams depending on the severity of the gully and the rate of flow of the water e.g. simple vegetation barriers, to more hardy stone based check dams. This video demonstrates how to construct check dams in erosion channels or for gully reclamation.