Side-gully control : using trees, hand labor, rock and other materials.

              Forestry Note:
SIDE-GULLY CONTROL
Using Trees, Hand Labor, Rock and Other Materials
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Introduction
This Forestry Note describes low-cost structures
and practices for controlling side-gullies and
headcuts in large gully systems. Forestry
Services applied and tested these practices on
large gully systems in Tillman and McClain
counties in Oklahoma.
On large gully systems in deep sandy soils
(Figures 1 and 2), lateral or side headcuts or
overfalls frequently develop where small side
drainages flow over the rim of the main gully.
Where considerable runoff occurs, side gullies
soon develop from these headcuts or overfalls. In
such cases, control of the upper side gully as well
as the headcut is needed.
Figure 1. Large gully near Grandfield in Tillman County. This
gully system is about 2 miles long, 70 feet wide and 18 feet
deep at this location.
Because they are deep, these side gullies will
continue to grow by sloughing and by headcut
erosion (Figure 3), resulting in loss of soil and
damage to streams and water quality. The main
factor affecting growth is the size of the drainage
area. Drainage areas for the side headcuts on the
two gully systems vary from less than one to
about 15 acres.
Figure 2. Large gully in McClain County caused by advance
of a deep headcut in Stinson Creek channel
Figure 3. Side gully with sloughing sides and deep headcut
on the Tillman County gully. This gully drains about three
acres of the field in the background.
Side gullies with small drainage areas and
shallow headcuts can be controlled by a number
of practices or practice combinations, including
tree planting, livestock exclusion, diversion of
runoff water, shaping and applying fiber mat and
single cattle panel structures (Figures 4 and 5).
(For information on these practices, see the video
entitled Gully Control Using Fiber Mat and Trees
and Forestry Notes on these techniques.)