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The Ranger Mine in the Northern Territory of Australia is to be rehabilitated by 2026. The rehabilitated landform will require some form of erosion control, or surface amelioration to reduce water and sediment leaving the landform. One method of surface amelioration is the construction of rip lines. Rip lines have been used in both mining and agricultural environments to reduce surface water velocity, trap fine sediment and nutrients, and reduce erosion from the landform. However, there is little quantitative information on the extent to which rip lines influence erosion. In a desktop study using the CAESAR‐Lisflood landform evolution model, we assessed the effectiveness of rip lines by simulating the evolution of both ripped and nonripped surfaces on a range of slopes from 2% to 12% for simulated periods of up to 50 years. We found that rip lines are most effective at controlling erosion on slopes of up to 4%. However, this study also demonstrated that as slope increases, rip lines become less effective over time. These results, in the context of the proposed rehabilitated landform for Ranger Mine, on which the majority of slopes will be between 2% and 4%, indicate that rip lines would be an effective way of mitigating soil loss and sediment transport. Furthermore, model simulations of ripped surfaces show that the structure of the rip lines break down over time, with the rip line depressions infilling and the peaks being eroded, lowered, or reduced in height. This finding is important because it demonstrates that rip lines will not exist in perpetuity in the landscape and long‐term erosion control plans cannot be based on their existence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]