Soil Water Infiltration Rate
Benchmark Value
Scoring Curve
This curve shows how a field measurement for this indicator would score across all available benchmark forms in this context.
Evidence & Context
On the grey cracking clay, the conventional tillage system exhibited a very low Ks of 12×33 mm/h. In contrast, the same soil under long-term conservation tillage demonstrated a remarkably high Ks in the range of 145×206 mm/h.
Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks), which is the standard measure of the rate at which water moves through saturated soil and serves as a direct proxy for the final, steady-state infiltration rate.
This benchmark represents the saturated hydraulic conductivity as a proxy for soil water infiltration rate under best-practice conservation tillage management in the Arid Inland Floodplains & Ephemeral River Systems biome with agricultural crop production land use.
This value range is selected as the primary benchmark for a high-health state. Its credibility is supported by the study's long-term nature, which allowed for significant soil structural regeneration, its direct comparison of management systems on the same soil type (controlling for other variables), and its publication by Australia's national science agency.
Sources (2)
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View SourceSoil Research - CSIRO PUBLISHING, accessed July 16, 2025
View SourceSupporting Sources (20)
Additional references from the underlying research that informed this benchmark.
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View SourceAustralian Soil: Definition, Classification, Types and Quality - Access EP
View SourceAustralian Soil: Definition, Classification, Types and Quality - Access EP, accessed July 16, 2025
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View SourceEcology | Environment, land and water | Queensland Government
View SourceThe relationships between land management practices and soil condition and the quality of ecosystem services delivered from agri - DAFF
View SourceSoil Health: Supporting Rural Industries in the Wet Tropics, accessed August 28, 2025,
View SourceSoil Health and Regenerative Agriculture - Southern Queensland Landscapes, accessed July 16, 2025
View SourceInfiltration - www.organicexchange.com.au, accessed July 16, 2025
View SourceMeasuring the infiltration rate of water into soil using the ring infiltrometer method - The Australian Wine Research Institute, accessed July 16, 2025
View SourceMethods to Quantify In-Field Nutrient Leaching - UF/IFAS EDIS, accessed July 16, 2025
View SourceNutrient Loss and Water Quality - Oklahoma State University Extension, accessed July 16, 2025
View SourcePatterns of water infiltration and soil degradation over a 120-yr chronosequence from forest to agriculture in western Kenya - HESS, accessed July 16, 2025
View Source
Infiltration - Oz Soils 4 - UNE, accessed July 16, 2025
View SourceThe relationships between land management practices and soil condition and the quality of ecosystem services delivered from agri - DAFF, accessed July 28, 2025,
View Source2021 sustainability focus - Soil health. Making soil health the driver of sustainable production and yield | CottonInfo, accessed July 16, 2025
View Source
Understanding the Impacts of Soil, Climate, and Farming Practices on Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration: A Simulation Study in Australia - Frontiers, accessed May 11, 2025,
View SourceQueensland Murray-Darling Freshwater Biogeographic Province ..., accessed July 21, 2025
View SourceA closer look at rainforests - Forestry Corporation
View SourceFlow Variability and Vegetation Dynamics in a Large Arid Floodplain, accessed July 16, 2025
View Source