How To Rehydrate The Land

In the article ‘The hidden role of water on earth’ featured in the January edition of Stockfarm, we discussed the crucial but often ignored role that water plays in making earth habitable. This article, the second in the series, provides a brief overview of the steps that can be taken to ensure that enough water is available in the right places to have a stabilising effect on the climate, which will also make the land more drought-proof.

- Fanie Vorster

Water is the most precious substance on earth, a fact which has been undisputed throughout history. Water has unique properties that are required for life. This article focuses on the essential components required for ensuring that enough water is available to stabilise the climate at local and regional level.

An interrelationship exists between the climate, water availability, vegetation, and land use. Large areas are drained of water through deforestation, agricultural activities, and cities. This drainage leads to decreased evaporation from that area, resulting in an increase in the transformation of incoming solar radiation into heat. This causes changes in the energy flows in the area, water circulation on land, and increases the incidence of extreme weather events.

However, by applying simple rainwater harvesting measures, it may just be possible to turn this dire situation around.

Vegetation: Keeping things cool

Vegetation plays a significant role in protecting the soil, water storage, and the controlled release of water into the atmosphere.

The amount of water present in a landscape influences how much of the incoming solar energy will be used for heating the area and how much will be used for water evaporation. If water is only available in small quantities, a greater part of the solar energy will be changed into sensible heat, thereby increasing the temperature of the environment dramatically.

Vegetation cools an area by providing shade and through the transpiration of water.

Dehydration of the land