Understanding Soil Health & Watershed Function: A Teacher's Manual

Author

Didi Pershouse; A joint project of: The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, The USDA Southern Plains Climate Hub, The Soil Carbon Coalition, Redlands Community College, The Dixon Water Foundation

Publication

This is the September 29, 2017 edition of this manual. To check for the most recent version, and for more resources, visit https://soilcarboncoalition.org/pages/learn/.

Excerpt

Since 2007, I have been writing about parallels between medicine and agriculture, looking at them as two forms of care for complex systems. The emerging understanding of the importance of microbial communities as the basis of human health and soil health has been fundamental to my understanding of both systems.

In 2011, a storm swept through the rural area where I live. It swelled the rivers and streams and tore up 500 miles of roads and 250 bridges. Entire farm fields ended up downriver and sewage overflowed into gardens and ponds. Everywhere I drove, I stopped to look at the way a few inches of heavy rain had cut through hillsides, moved rocks, trees, even houses. Many people lost jobs after businesses flooded. Over the next few months, I watched as workers rebuilt roads, and piled up rocks along river banks, and I wondered: Are they treating the root cause or just the symptoms?

I had learned over 22 years as a health-care provider that treating symptoms without addressing the root causes of an illness often led to worse problems later. On the other hand, if a patient and I could work together using basic principles of health to address the roots of their illness, we could bring about a new state of health, making it possible for that person’s whole system to function at a higher level.

As I explored the damaged landscape around me, I started to wonder what a fully functioning and healthy landscape would look like, and what principles might be involved in restoring the function of a landscape and its watershed.

I was fueled in particular by my fascination with water...