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Reducing Erosion from Unpaved Roads

By our most recent estimate, Lake Wister is losing about 475 acre-feet of capacity each year as sediment slowly fills the lake. Since Wister’s capacity is roughly 50,000 acre-feet, this means the lake is losing almost 1% of its capacity each year. That adds up. If this trend continues, in 20 years, we will have lost 20% of the lake capacity. There are many sources of sediment entering the lake. One of those is erosion from unpaved roads and ditches in the watershed.

Best management practices that can help reduce soil erosion from unpaved roads have the added benefit that, even if they cost a little extra up front, in the long run they save money for cash-strapped road maintenance departments by reducing on-going maintenance costs.

workshop in the fieldTo help jump start the implementation of these improved practices in southeastern Oklahoma, PVIA is partnering with the Choctaw Nation and The Nature Conservancy of Oklahoma to sponsor a workshop on February 28, 2013 at Lake Wister. The workshop will consist of presentation and discussion in the morning and a visit to an installation demonstration of several of techniques in the afternoon.

For more information, check out the workshop agenda here.