Land Management Controls on Hydraulic Conductivity of an Urban Farm in Atlanta, GA

Urban Farm DB summary

A study in the Proctor Creek watershed in Atlanta, Georgia, measured field saturated hydraulic conductivity (Kfs) in soils under compaction, urban agricultural use, and lawn maintenance. Urban farming significantly increased soil Kfs (mean 2.2E-4 cm/s) compared to compaction (9.1E-7 cm/s) and lawn maintenance (9.0E-6 cm/s), limiting overland flow. Grain-size distributions showed no significant difference, indicating Kfs was controlled by land-management practices, not soil texture.