Water Infiltration Calculator

Estimate water infiltration improvements from regenerative practices like cover cropping, no-till, and organic matter building.

Field size (acres)

Baseline infiltration (in/hr)

Years of cover cropping

Years of no-till

SOM increase (%)

Design storm intensity (in/hr)

Annual rainfall (inches)

Tab to move between fields

Improved infiltration (in/hr)

0.3

Infiltration increase (%)0

Runoff reduction (%)0

Additional water retained (gal/yr)0

Additional retention (acre-ft/yr)0

SOM water capacity (gallons)0

How to Use This Calculator

Enter Field size (acres), Baseline infiltration (in/hr), and Years of cover cropping.
Set Years of no-till, SOM increase (%), and Design storm intensity (in/hr).
Adjust Annual rainfall (inches) as needed.
Review the Improved infiltration (in/hr) result.
Use Infiltration increase (%) and Runoff reduction (%) to inform your decision.

How the result changes with Baseline infiltration (in/hr)

Field size (acres): Total field acreage.
Baseline infiltration (in/hr): Current steady-state infiltration rate. Conventional cropland: 0.1-0.5 in/hr. Measure with a ring infiltrometer.
Years of cover cropping: Consecutive years of multi-species cover crop use.
Years of no-till: Consecutive years of no-till or strip-till management.
SOM increase (%): Soil organic matter percentage increase achieved or targeted.
Design storm intensity (in/hr): Rainfall intensity for runoff analysis. 1-year storm: ~1-2 in/hr, 10-year storm: ~2-4 in/hr.
Annual rainfall (inches): Average annual precipitation for your region.

Improved infiltration (in/hr): Estimated infiltration rate after regenerative practices.
Infiltration increase (%): Percentage improvement over baseline infiltration.
Runoff reduction (%): Estimated reduction in surface runoff during design storm events.
Additional water retained (gal/yr): Estimated additional water absorbed annually across the entire field.
Additional retention (acre-ft/yr): Additional water retained annually in acre-feet.
SOM water capacity (gallons): Additional water-holding capacity from organic matter increase (each 1% SOM holds ~20,000 gal/acre).

Identify Input Parameters
4 parameters
Field size (acres) = 100, Baseline infiltration (in/hr) = 0.3, Years of cover cropping = 0, Years of no-till = 0 = 7 input(s) provided
Calculate Improved infiltration
Improved infiltration = baselineInfiltration * coverCropFactor * noTillFactor * somFactor
0.3 = 0.3
Calculate Infiltration increase
Infiltration increase = ((improvedInfiltration - baselineInfiltration) / baselineInfiltration) * 100
0 = 0
Calculate Runoff reduction
Runoff reduction = Math
0 = 0