Suitability for Non-Agricultural Uses

People use soils for many different purposes and each purpose has its own special needs. The ability of soil to support weight is important when a structure is built on it. Soil permeability is important where a septic tank absorption field is needed. Resistance to compaction is needed where vegetation must grow in spite of traffic across an area. These examples are only a sampling of factors that influence the suitability of land for various uses.

Economic, social, and political considerations enter into land-use planning, but the type of soil present should be a major factor. Usually, there are several potential uses for each area of land and several alternatives for locating each type of land use, but these alternatives are not all equal. Careful planning to locate each land use in a suitable place can limit problems and significantly reduce costs. Also, the benefits derived from land may be considerably enhanced where uses are chosen to be compatible with soil.

Matching land use with the soil requires an evaluation of various soil properties because these properties relate to particular uses. The degree of limitation or potential for each use should be evaluated in terms of specific soil properties. It should be recognized that some areas must be used for certain purposes in spite of soil limitations for those purposes.

There may not be soil properties in the area that would have limitations for an intended use, or there may be higher priority uses for the better land. Even so, the limitations must be recognized so that appropriate allowances can be made. The evaluation in the soil judging contest is made independently of whether any better land is available or not.

Contestants will rate each soil property in terms of whether the property will be a limiting factor for the uses described. The extent or severity of the limitation will not be judged, only whether the soil or landscape property has the potential to be a limiting factor in terms of the intended use. Some soil properties will be more limiting and will require greater design technique and engineering to overcome than will other soil properties.

Mark the appropriate limitation or do not answer on the scorecard for each use, even if the site is not likely to be used for some of the specified purposes.