An Economic Analysis on Agricultural Soil Loss in the Holland Marsh, Ontario
Background
The Drainage Investment Group wanted to investigate the impact of soil erosion on agricultural crop revenue in the Holland Marsh. As part of the Brock University Geography department, a GIS project was conducted to assess the matter and final results were submitted to DIG.
The Holland River is causing agricultural soil to erode off the edges of the riverbanks. This affects the amount of space available for farmers to plant crops and therefore affects the maximum amount of revenue they can generate each year.
Goals
• Calculated how much soil was lost from 1995 - 2014 by digitizing the riverbank extents observed in aerial imagery from 1995, 2002, 2005, 2007, and 2014.
• Found the average amount of soil that was being lost each year, along with the average carrot, onion, and celery crop revenue lost each year.
• Calculated the total average revenue lost from 1995 - 2014 and the potential amount of additional revenue that could have been gained in 2014 if the erosion issue was addressed in 1995 and the eroded soil was retained.
• Found the average amount of soil that was being lost each year, along with the average carrot, onion, and celery crop revenue lost each year.
• Calculated the total average revenue lost from 1995 - 2014 and the potential amount of additional revenue that could have been gained in 2014 if the erosion issue was addressed in 1995 and the eroded soil was retained.