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<br />001511 <br /> <br /> <br />information is available for most local areas. An example of the effect <br />of vegetation on infiltration rates is shown by Croft (1953) who reports <br />that surface runoff from aspen-herbaceous area amounts to only 0.01 <br />inch per year from summer rains. The runoff from a herbaceous cover <br />was about double this, and from a bare ar ea it was 60 times as much. <br /> <br />',' <br /> <br />- <br /> <br />/\~.;.; <br />.:{ <br />;~;.. '.-..;. ';', <br />'.'",'.- '., <br /> <br />Changes in the vegetation brought about by man and his animals <br />'may have marked effects on the runoff. For example, Dunford (1954) <br />found on small plots that grazing of a bunchgrass cover increased the <br />surface runoff from 1 inch under no grazing to 2 1/2 inches under moder- <br />ate grazing, and to 3.2 inches under heavy grazing. Erosion increased <br />only slightly with the change from no grazing to moderate grazing,but <br />doubled under heavy grazing. In the Badger Wash study in Colorado <br />(USGS, USFS, 1960), the runoff rat iofrom grazed compared to ungrazed <br />areas varied from 1. 1 to 2.0 with an average' of about L 2. In a pine <br />forest removal of the litter under the pine stand increased the surface <br />runoff by about 13 times (from O. 12 to 2.2 inches) the first year after <br />removal, but the effect decreased with time, vanishing to zero the eighth <br />or ninth year after removal,of the'litter.. Several investigators have <br />found an increase in runoff when brushlands are converted to gras s (Patrie, <br />1959, and Pillsbury, et aI, 1961). In appraising the supply of water for a <br />stock pond, the possibility of vegetative modification should be considered. <br /> <br />-.~u" .,. <br /> <br />.';, <br />".' ~.". .', <br />:~~:.~~;.:':....:~ <br /> <br />.. <br />r'O,: <br /> <br />~i:i:';;f;; <br /> <br />:-:~ -~~~~~"- ':~; <br />.. . . '~-"': <br /> <br />prainage channels <br /> <br />~i0~'}' <br />~~r!ii}\(j. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />il."",., <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />.t{~~fL1t2~~ <br />t,:0~~J;' <br /> <br />:~: ~:~. <br />'.......,..".,. <br />,:,.::>"., .'..'" <br />::;~:>t~~E;; <br /> <br />Drainage dens ity may be a direct clue to expected amount of, runoff <br />in local areas. Hadley and Schumm (1961) found a relation between the <br />annual runoff and the drainage density in the upper Cheyenne River Basin. <br />For example, a 5-acre watershed with 270 feet of drainage channel, had <br />about 3 times the runoff of a watershed of similar size, with only half as <br />much channel. Thus, in a local area the relative length of vis ible chan- <br />nels may be a helpful index to the expected J:unoff in areas of si'milar <br />watershed conditions. <br /> <br />Size of watershed <br /> <br />The effects of watershed size on the runoff can be quite important <br />in estimating the total yield of ephemeral streams. The ru noff in small <br />local storms tends to be absorbed in the channel and can cause a market <br />reduction in the unit runoff as larger areas are considered. In the upper <br />Cheyenne River Basin the average annual runoff from a 50-acre watershed <br />was approximately 3 acre-feet; however, runoff was only double this from <br />a 200-acre watershed (Hadley and Schumm, 1961). Kepple (1961) reports <br />losses of 25 acre-feet per mile of dry channel in Arizona and estimates <br />the maximum to be much higher. Merely increasing the drainage area <br />is therefore probably not the most efficient way of increasing the supply; <br /> <br />;~i<)<~.J <br />.~, "" " <br />-"..." <br />..... .: '. ,..~' <br />'::{~..>::~::~~: <br /> <br />20 <br /> <br />'.-'- <br /> <br />.... <br />p,' . .... <br /> <br />.'. <br /> <br />