Quantifying the role of traditional rice terraces in regulating water resources: implications for management and conservation efforts
2018
Soriano, Mario A. | Herath, Srikantha
Agricultural terraces are the most evident landscape imprints of traditional knowledge on soil conservation and water management globally. This article focuses on the Ifugao Rice Terraces (IRT) of the Philippines, a sustainable agroecosystem built on the harmonious relationship between indigenous people and their local environment. We elucidate how the rice terraces influence the hydrologic response at a small catchment scale through detailed field monitoring and physically based mathematical modeling. We also explore the consequences of socioeconomic pressures manifested through land-use change. Our results quantitatively reaffirm the effectiveness of well-maintained agricultural terraces in regulating water resources by enhancing groundwater recharge. Meanwhile land-cover change induced by terrace abandonment was shown to lead to an overall decrease in water resource availability.
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