Testing the hydrological performance of live pole drains (LPD) for mitigation of slope instability

Nature-based solutions (NbS) and soil bioengineering techniques have gained considerable attention due to their relevant hydrological functions and ability to mitigate slope instability. Live pole drains (LPD), a lesser-known NbS, have traditionally been deployed on slopes to drain the excess surface water and regulate the soil's water budget, making it a suitable technique for stormwater management and landslide prevention. However, neither the LPD performance as a plant-based drainage system nor its potential to regulate the soil-water budget through hydrological processes have been thoroughly studied. This paper presents a novel pilot, lab-based approach for testing the hydrological performance of LPD under different soil hydrological conditions. We built three different treatments and investigated their hydrological performance under multiple storm events. We explored how LPD regulate the soil-water budget by partitioning the water inputs (i.e., rainfall precipitation) into water outputs (i.e., surface runoff, subsurface flow, and percolation). The study revealed that LPD can effectively manage stormwater by draining excess runoff and buffering water in the soil, outperforming fallow soil. Subsurface flow and percolation were significantly higher under LPD treatments when compared to fallow ground, suggesting that the presence of an enhanced structure in the soil results in high soil hydrological performance. The presence of a secondary species with the LPD showed a more efficient hydrological performance than an LPD alone, which aligns with the current implementation of NbS fostering biodiversity. Antecedent soil moisture impacted the hydrological performance of LPD by altering the relative infiltration capacity of the soil and by potentially modifying the availability of channels for preferential flow. Our findings provide a sound basis for future research to improve our understanding of the hydrological performance of LPD for slope instability mitigation and encourage their reproduction and upscaling. • We present a new, pilot, lab-based approach to test LPD hydrological performance. • We tested LPD performance under different ground covers. • We investigated LPD soil-water budget and dynamics. • We observed a positive hydrological effect in the LPD with respect to fallow soil. • LPD can effectively drain slopes and mitigate slope instability.