1 appendix; 8 figs Available from Technical Information Office, Water and Soil Division, Ministry of Works and Development, PO Box 12041, Wellington

The Ministry of Works has established a network of experimental basins to study the hydrological characteristics of important soil - vegetation complexes of New Zealand. The effect of cultural changes on these characteristics has also been studied. Research in the Adair Experimental Basin, South-west of Timaru in South Canterbury, was carried out to demonstrate soil conservation practices on the downlands of South Canterbury, and to investigate and measure the effect of land-management practices on run-off and soil loss from wet and dry slopes of the yellow-grey earths. Relationships are established between hydrological and basin characteristics, mathematical models are developed to find the effect of a change in land use and of a subsequent change in land management on the hydrological regimen, and techniques of observation and data analysis are improved