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<br />. . <br /> <br />OU28;J! <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Colonel Chittenden examined the evidence for these statements and <br /> <br /> <br />concluded that no material influence upon streamflow could be attributed to <br /> <br /> <br />forests. This added fuel to a controversy between engineers and conser- <br /> <br /> <br />vationists which culminated about 25 years ago and has not completely <br /> <br />disappeared. It is easy to see now why Colonel Chittenden objected to <br />some of the claims but not why he rejected all of them. Here is how these <br />claims would be viewed today. <br />Storage.--We have learned that it is the soils and underlying rock that <br />must store the waters from rain and melting snow. This discounts the role <br /> <br />of the "bed of humus" but not the role of the forest. The organic layers, <br /> <br /> <br />the growth and decay of tree roots along with the accompanying activities <br /> <br /> <br />of fungi and animals increase infiltration, soil permeability and storage <br /> <br /> <br />capacity. <br />Forest soils do absorb water more rapidly and in greater amounts than <br /> <br />comparable non-forest soils. These effects are not necessarily related to <br /> <br />board feet per acre or the number of logs per tree and should be judged by <br />examining the soil instead of the trees. Thus the claim that forested <br />land stores waters from rain and melting Snow preventing their rapid rush <br />to the streams have been substantiated. However, this effect is limited by <br />the total storage capacity of the watershed, and forest cover is only one of <br /> <br />the influencing factors. <br /> <br /> <br />The implication that all the stored water is released to sustain low <br /> <br /> <br />flows has not been justified. What does happen to low water streamflow depends <br /> <br /> <br />on how and where water is stored on the watershed. In some instances, deeply <br /> <br />- 2 - <br /> <br />