The estimated total losses were much lower than commonly perceived for the ‘environmentally threatened’ Middle Hills of the Himalaya. This in part probably reflects the relatively weak character of the monsoons monitored, and the fact that ‘typical’ rather than extreme (steep and fine-textured) examples of terraces in the Likhu Khola basin were chosen for study. Moreover, the riser ditches in the Likhu catchment act as important traps and stores for eroded soil, which is merely redistributed by the farmer onto the adjacent terrace. However, most of the runoff from bari land is lost rapidly from the hillslope system. Over 80% of the bari terraces in the study area were drained by riser ditches directly into side tributaries or ravines. Most of the terraces are designed to aid drainage by sloping both outwards and sideways. It must also be stressed that a significant proportion of the water that drains into the side tributaries is then taken off, lower down the slope, to irrigate the khet land. Thus, not all the water and sediment from the bari terraces reaches the main river systems. This has significance if overall denudation rates are calculated. Sediment delivery rates need to be carefully estimated.