Estimating Additional Water Yield From Changes in Management of National Forests in the North Platte Basin

• Description: An Independent Report Prepared for the Platte River EIS Office U.S. Department of the Interior Related to Platte River Endangered Species Partnership ‎(aka Platte River Recovery Implementation Program or PRRIP)‎,
• State: CO
• State: NE
• State: WY
• Basin: North Platte
• Water Division: 6
• Date: 5/12/2000
• Author: Charles A. Troendle, Matcom Corporation & James M. Nankervis, Blue Mountain Consultants
• Title: Estimating Additional Water Yield from Changes in Management of Ntional Forests in the North Platte Bains, Final Report
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

3) Based on existing data and documents provided by the Forest Service, in
concert with consultation with other Forest Service staff, determine the
range of potential changes in water yield that could be obtained through
prudent management of National Forest Lands on the North Platte River
Basin. Any proposed silviculture prescriptions will reflect the laws,
regulations, and policies that empower, direct, and constrain vegetation
management by the U.S. Forest Service. The objective of the exercise
will be to optimize timber production, maintain sustainability of forest
ecosystem, and augment water yield.
A subset of objective 3 includes the simulation of the effect on water yield
of an extensive beetle infestation to the spruce fir type and the occurrence of
fire in lodgepole and ponderosa pine.
THE EFFECTS OF TIMBER HARVEST ON WATER YIELD;
OR SUMMARY OF OUR KNOWLEDGE
More than 80 years of watershed research throughout the United States,
much of which is specifically oriented toward the West, has demonstrated
timber harvest, or vegetation removal, reduces net evapotranspiration (ET)
and results in increased stream flow (Troendle and Leaf 1980; Bosch and
Hewlett 1982; Callaham 1990; Stednick 1996). In the snow zone of the
Rocky Mountains such increases have been documented following forest
removal on experimental watersheds at Wagon Wheel Gap (Bates and Henry
1928; Van Haveren 1988) and at Fool Creek (Hoover and Leaf 1967;
Troendle 1983; Troendle and King 1985) and Deadhorse Creek (Troendle
and King 1987; Troendle and Olsen 1994) on the Fraser Experimental Forest
in central Colorado. Other studies have shown similar responses in stream
flow occur following deforestation due to insect epidemics (Love 1955) and
fire (Troendle and Bevenger 1996). The magnitude of the-observed changes
;
in flow in the snow zone is similar in nature to those observed elsewhere in
forested environments for similar levels of impact; although the distribution,
or timing, of the flow change is more reflective of the dependence on snow
melt (Troendle and Leaf 1980; Troendle and Kaufinann 1987; Troendle, et
al. 1998). The sub alpine environment is also unique both in terms of the
time of year when the flow change occurs, and in the persistence, or
longevity, of the treatment effect (Troendle and Leaf 1980; Troendle and
King 1985; Troendle and Kaufmann 1987).
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