Using Banded Tree-Agriculture Systems to meet surface water management targets: a design framework

This report describes a preliminary study undertaken over an eighteen month period to investigate the potential for designing banded agricultural systems, comprising multiple vegetation types (annual, perennial, shallow rooted, deep rooted), to managed surface water interception and flow. A conceptual model was developed and evaluated using data from previous studies of surface water movement in naturally banded vegetation. Five case studies based on real farms were run to simulate arrangement of crops and trees and to examine the effect on average annual runoff from hillslopes. The design framework presented, with its constituent water modelling, is intended to assist managers rapidly identify vegetation designs that are worthy of further investigation.