Volunteer
If you spend time out in the desert, we need your help collecting data on gully erosion!
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Gully Busters is a community science project that uses the power of you to locate and measure gully erosion throughout the Verde watershed. What is a gully? A gully is a sharp, steep sided channel formed by the action of water rushing downhill. As gullies form and deepen, they cause many problems. Big gullies can even reduce the level of the water table! As a volunteer, you would use the Gully Busters app to share location and general information about gullies you find. Friends will share the information collected with land managers to help plan and implement erosion control projects throughout the watershed.
Commitment level: Flexible, independent
What is a gully
Gullies, also known as arroyos, are stream channels with steep sides. Gullies can move up the landscape and continue to deepen.
Why do we need to bust them?
As gullies grow and deepen they can influence the watershed’s response to rain events causing a stream to be more “flashy”. Instead of the water slowly flowing on the landscape to water local plants and recharge the groundwater, the water rushes downstream. As it rushes away it poses a potential flooding danger and it picks up sediment which can also lead to water quality issues downstream. By understanding where these gullies are expanding, we can identify areas where we need to implement restoration projects to slow the water.
This data will be used to answer questions such as:
A. Is the gully expanding?
B. Is the site suitable for erosion control structure installation?
C. If structures have been installed, are they slowing erosion?
D. Type of work needed, level of implementation?
What will you do?
Gully Busters will roam the desert in search of gullies. Once you find one you will follow a simple protocol to measure the depth and record the location and relevant data about the gully.
