Seasonal evolution of runoff generation on agricultural land in the Belgian loess belt and implications for muddy flood triggering

Muddy floods due to agricultural runoff are a widespread and frequent phenomenon in the European loess belt, and particularly in central Belgium. These floods are triggered when high quantities of runoff are generated on cropland and cause severe erosion. Three soil surface characteristics are relevant to determine the runoff potential of cultivated soils: soil cover by crops and residues, soil surface crusting and roughness. These characteristics have been observed on 65 cultivated fields throughout 2005. A heavy rainfall event representative for events triggering muddy floods in the region (60 mm h−1 during 30 minutes) has been simulated using a 0·5 m2 simulator on fields with the 17 most observed combinations of soil surface characteristics in central Belgium. Runoff is not observed in the case of (ploughed) bare uncrusted soils, nor in the case of soils covered by crops showing a transitional crust and a moderate roughness (1–2 cm). In the cases where runoff has been observed, mean runoff coefficients ranged from 13% (wheat in July) to 58% (sugar beet or maize in May and June). Grassed buffer strips (GBSs) and grassed waterways (GWWs) show a higher runoff coefficient (62% for GBSs and 73% for GWWs) than most cultivated soils (13–58%). Furthermore, it is demonstrated that small plot measurements can be used to estimate runoff generation at the field scale. A classification of runoff generation risk based on the surveys of soil surface characteristics has been applied to common crops of central Belgium. February as well as the period between May and September are the most critical for runoff at the field scale. However, it appears from monitoring of a 16 ha catchment that the highest runoff volumes and peak discharges are recorded between May and August after heavy rainfall, explaining why 85% of muddy floods are recorded during this period in central Belgium. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.