Florida is famously the flattest, lowest elevation state in the country. It’s probably for the best, though—our highly erodible soil combined with frequent rains means most hillsides start washing out as soon as the opportunity arises. Several years ago, we took a Master Naturalist class to visit Florida’s highest point, Britton Hill, which reaches a whopping 345 feet. It’s a bit underwhelming, although there is a nice little park surrounding it.
In north Santa Rosa County, you can experience an abrupt change in elevation right here in Florida. Amid acres of peanut fields in Jay, a back road leads to Sandy Hollow Gully, the largest gully in the state. The hillside slopes almost 250 feet down to a mini-canyon that winds for five miles to the Escambia River. If you look up from the bottom, you can see roots of trees on the ridge as the soil slowly washes out from under them.
Beyond the loss of farmland and forest, one of the primary issues with this heavy erosion is the sediment washing into the Escambia River. Annually, an estimated 20,000 tons of red clay washes down and fills the river bottom. This sediment can bury the bottom-dwelling organisms that form the base of the river’s food web. The eroding banks and falling trees contribute to logjams, which complicate use of the river by commercial barges, fishermen, and paddlers.
The Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) has been working in this area for over 30 years to contain the erosion. Projects like this are the heart of the NRCS mission, as the agency was formed during the 1930’s Dust Bowl years to help farmers prevent heavy erosion and retain their valuable land.
The first project at Sandy Hollow entailed building a large swale to contain and slow down runoff from the surrounding fields before it headed down a steep existing slope. A culvert then directs water to a large bowl-shaped holding area full of rocks to absorb the water’s energy. At the bottom of the slope is the gully, which is a sandy path carved by flowing water, winding through the steep banks. Efforts are underway to stabilize these shifting sands, and funding has been secured to complete the project. Generally, projects like this entail reducing the sheer vertical walls to a gentler slope, and planting vegetation whose roots can stabilize soil. Completion of the work will likely take 5-10 more years.
9
