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Wind-blown fugitive dust is a widespread problem in the arid west resulting from land disturbance or abandonment and increasingly limited water supplies. Soil-derived particles obstruct visibility, cause property damage and contribute to violations of health-based air quality standards for fine particles (PM-10). These dry lands are often difficult to revegetate, yet they may require immediate stabilization. We evaluated the effectiveness of three types of mechanical wind barriers, which can be Installed more rapidly and more reliably than revegetation, in suppressing dust emissions. Wind fences, furrows and scattered roughness elements, such as plastic cones, are shown to reduce fugitive dust emissions in areas of the Mojave Desert that resisted revegetation.

Surface disturbance in arid regions — whether it results from abandoned agriculture, overgrazing or recreational activities — often sets the stage for windblown fugitive dust. Revegetation provides the most sustainable soil stabilization but is difficult to achieve in any given year. Widely varying environmental conditions and soil factors make direct seeding unreliable, and transplanting of nursery-grown shrubs does not assure plant establishment, even with supplemental irrigation. In occasional years plants can be successfully established, particularly Atriplex canescens, in the western Mojave Desert. Once vegetation becomes established, it successfully stabilizes the soil surface and reduces blowing dust. However, because successful establishment is infrequent, reliable mitigation of fugitive dust requires that other techniques be used as well.