Soil Erosion Assessment of Redwood Creek Watershed

Using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) to assess runoff potential into sensitive species habitat in Marin County, CA
Soil erosion poses a great risk to stream ecosystems and wildlife that thrive in them. Soil erosion is exacerbated by multiple factors including, climate change, impervious surfaces, land use, and loss of riparian buffers. Increased sediment loading in waterways reduces the overall health and water quality of the stream. Threatened salmonid species are particularly sensitive to increased sediment loading to stream systems, as they have specific habitat requirements to thrive and spawn successfully.
Redwood Creek, within Redwood Creek Watershed of Marin County, is the southernmost natural salmon run left on the Pacific Coast. The Redwood Creek Watershed is affected by sediment runoff from agricultural and urban development, which not only deposits sediment from on-land, but increases erosion rates to stream banks. Additionally, the soil loss potential is also determined by the soil type, amount of precipitation received, current vegetation cover, and slope length and steepness of the watershed. All of these factors combined contribute to the soil erosivity within Redwood Creek Watershed.
However, if more restoration efforts and best management practices are conducted, it will help decrease and control soil erosion to Redwood Creek and other small tributaries. By using several spatial imagery datasets the soil erosion potential within Redwood Creek Watershed can be analyzed. Soil erosion potential is calculated by adding these datasets to the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). Pairing GIS and RUSLE is one method to identify the soil erosion risk of a watershed and areas to focus erosion control efforts.