Soil erosion is defined as the wearing away of soil by water and wind. Two agents of soil erosion are water and wind, with water erosion including sheet, rill and gully erosion which wear away soil through rainfall and surface water runoff. Wind erosion occurs when strong gusts blow loose soil particles away, damaging the topsoil. Two ways to conserve soil are minimizing disturbance of topsoil and planting vegetation to reduce the impact of raindrops and wind. Water conservation methods include using drip irrigation and collecting rainwater.