Climate Resilience
Soils for Nature-based Solutions
Soil Health in the Nashua River Watershed
Considerations for Siting, Design, and Implementation of Nature-based Solutions
Soil health is a soil’s capacity to function as a living ecosystem. Three soil attributes underlie a healthy soil: moderate to high soil organic matter content; permeable and stable soil structure; and sufficient water and nutrient holding capacity.
Healthy soils come about:
- In wildlands, as a result of natural processes allowed to evolve on their own, or
- On human-altered landscapes, through careful stewardship by people.
When communities foster initiatives to promote soil resilience, such as implementation of Nature-based Solutions (NbS), people benefit. Healthy soils can provide nutritious locally-available food. Healthy soils are biologically high-functioning, supporting a biodiversity of plants, microorganisms, insects, and wildlife. They store and filter water to mitigate both flooding and drought; capture and store carbon to help mitigate climate change; and they store and make available nutrients for plant growth. Healthy soils are much more resilient to the impacts of climatic extremes such as flooding or drought than degraded soils.
Practices that build higher levels of soil organic matter (SOM) must focus on maintaining living roots in the soil. Leaving the soil bare of plants, or with thin plant cover such as turf (lawns) that have very shallow roots tend to produce soils that are low in SOM. Degraded landscapes, such as those where topsoil has been removed can be restored, but it takes care and intention. Some soil types are naturally limited as to what land uses they can support, for example soils that are shallow to bedrock, have shallow water tables, or that have become contaminated through past industrial use. It’s important to recognize these site limitations and propose appropriate restorative practices accordingly.
The Healthy Soils Report: Fitchburg-NRWA Watershed-Wide Nature-based Solutions Project prepared by Regenerative Design Group for the “Building Community Climate Resilience: Nashua River Watershed-wide Nature-based Solutions Plan”, delves into these considerations and provides specific information for the five focus municipalities, Fitchburg, Leominster, Ashburnham, Groton and Pepperell. Maps and charts in this Report, as well as those found in our Nashua River Watershed Map Atlas- link to come, illustrate where various soil types are on the landscape, what kind of land uses are present in various sections of each community, and where soils have greater or less resilience based on their soil characteristics. When considering the siting of various types of NbS, planners who are charged with addressing specific problems and risks should keep these soil and landscape characteristics in mind. So might homeowners or others hoping to tackle more modest projects.
Resources:
View NRWA video “Getting to Know the Soils of Massachusetts, and Why It Matters” with Ralph S. Baker, Ph.D. (1:24:00 min.)
View our Nashua River Watershed Map Atlas, with both watershed-wide, and community specific maps for the five MVP project communities.
Read the Healthy Soils Report: Fitchburg-NRWA Watershed-Wide Nature-based Solutions Project for a deeper understanding of this healthy soils topic.*
Read the MA Healthy Soils Action Plan (2022), a state-wide plan to protect, restore and better steward MA soils.
*The Nashua River Watershed Map Atlas and the Healthy Soils Report are products created by Regenerative Design Group, a consultant on this MVP project.