Wax-treated Soils for Harvesting Water

Abstract

Shortage of water for livestock often limits the carrying capacity of rangeland. Water harvesting can provide extra water. Paraffin wax was applied as granules or flakes on the surface of two experimental watershed plots and allowed to melt and spread in the hot desert sun to form a hydrophobic soil surface, which then readily shed water. The wax-treated plots yielded an average of 90% precipitation runoff, compared to only 30% runoff from two untreated plots and to 100% runoff from a butyl-covered plot.