WSP04775 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

matching basis in c.eration with Federal agencie.nd private operators. This is a measure of confidence in the Arizona Watershed Program that has evolved in a comparatively few years. THE WATERSHED PROGRAM The Arizona Watershed Program is aimed at recovering, conserving and using water with ever increasing efficiency. In support of other water man- agement practices, such as importing Colorado River Water, des a It i n g brackish and saline well water, recharging ground water aquifers, and puri- fying water for re-use; the objective of the watershed program is to recover a greater percentage of the precipitation falling on the State's watersheds. Toward this end, treatments are being tested for reducing evapo-transpiration losses. Treatments in vo I v e converting worthless vegetation types using large quantities of water to more valuable types of plant cover using smaller quantities of water. :- While aimed at increasing water yields, the Arizona Watershed Program is being directed to serve multiple-use objectives by also increasing production of high quality timber, increasing forage and browse for game and livestock, reducing erosion, reducing destructive wildfires and improving conditions for fishing and other forms of recreation. Patch CuttinQ: of HiQ:h Mountain Mixed Conifer Forests Clear cutting in patches appears to be the most promising method of harvest- ing wood products from mixed conifer types, the spruce-fir-aspen-pine for- ests of high elevations (Figure 1 & 2). Clear cutting in patches not only pro- duces wood products from a forest type so far unused in Arizona, but also provides openings for snow and rain to reach the ground and recharge springs and streams. Even though mixed conifer forests involve but a small area of the State, patch cutting shows promise of providing important increases in water yields. For example, after 15 years calibration, the Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station cleared 80 acres of mixed conifer from 248 acres of the Workman Creek Watershed at Sierra Ancha and planted the area to grass. This treatment has increased water yields for the past 4 years ranging from 10 additional acre feet in a low rainfall year to 40 acre feet in an above-average year. When clear cut patches are reseeded, they provide a n additional benefit, namely, more forage and browse for livestock and game. Figure 1. Dense mixed conifer forest and stream gaging station. Burro Creek, Apache National Forest. r Figure 2. Opening c rea t e d by patch logging. Apache National Forest. Burro Creek, - 8 -