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Forest Watershed Management Course Objective: Understand the impact of forest management activities on water yield and quality. Become familiar with best management practices (BMP’s), the specific BMP programs of several states, and the role of foresters in BMP implementation and watershed management.

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Page 1: Forest Watershed Management

Forest Watershed Management

Course Objective:

Understand the impact of forest management activities on water yield and quality. Become familiar with best management practices (BMP’s), the specific BMP programs of several states, and the role of foresters in BMP implementation and watershed management.

Page 2: Forest Watershed Management

Grading

• Grades are based on:

• Four quizzes - 30%

• Final examination - 30%

• Project - 30%

• Class participation - 10%

Page 3: Forest Watershed Management

Research Paper

• Due Date: December 8, 2000• Length: 1,200 words• Topic:You may write about anything related to the course

or watershed management in general. I suggest selecting a topic of particular interst to you. Prof. Hoover is available to discuss possible topics.

• Format: This is to be a research paper. This means all factual statements must be based on published research. Any conclusions should be based on the evidence available in the literature, not mere opinion.

• Number of citations: Provide a minimum of six citations for sources of information included in your paper.

Page 4: Forest Watershed Management

What Is A Watershed? Also referred to as a “catchment”

• Topographically delineated area drained by a stream system– No specific scale implied

• Total land area above a designated point on a stream or river that drains past that point

• For planning and management purposes it’s a– Physical-biologic unit

– Socioeconomic-political unit

Page 5: Forest Watershed Management

Why Study Forest Watershed Management?

• Historically focus was forest hydrology– Hydrological effects of

vegetation and land management practices on water quantity and quality, erosion, and sedimentation at specific sites

• Hydrology – science of water concerned with the origin, circulation, distribution, and properties of the waters of the earth.

Page 6: Forest Watershed Management

Sources of Soil Erosion –“It’s All Relative Folks”

• Construction sites• Cropland• Forest roads• Forest land

Page 7: Forest Watershed Management

12T/A/Yr

Page 8: Forest Watershed Management

Soil Erosion on Forest Land Piedmont Region of Southeastern U.S.

= 0.4 tons/acre/year

= 0.04 tons/acre/year

(con

v ers

ion

fac t

o r: k

g /h a

x 0

.892

183

= lb

/ac r

e )

Source: John D. Hewlett. 1982. Principles of Forest Hydrology, Univ. Ga. Press, p. 150

Page 9: Forest Watershed Management

Forest Activities & Soil Erosion(in order of contribution to erosion)

• Roads and skid trails• Channel encroachment• Site preparation• Harvesting activities• Fire prevention and suppression• Recreation activities• Flatwoods drainage• Wildlife management activities

Source: John D. Hewlett. 1982. Principles of Forest Hydrology, Univ. Ga. Press, p. 149

Page 10: Forest Watershed Management

Hydrologic Affects of Silvicultural Practices

• Clearcut– Expose mineral soil– Increase soil

temperatures– Reduce

evapotransporation– Increase exposure to

wind and associated evaporation

– Increase erosion and stream sedimentation

Page 11: Forest Watershed Management

Hydrologic Affects of Road Systems

• Creates impermeable surface– Increases surface flow

– Channelizes surface water flow

– May channelize shallow subsurface flow

Page 12: Forest Watershed Management

Forest Watershed Management

• Clean Water Act – Sec. 1329 focuses attention

of forest land through nonpoint source pollution requirements

• Citizen interest– Poor practices would cause

shutdowns of forest operations

• Best management practices (BMP) adopted in most states

Page 13: Forest Watershed Management

An Issue in All States

• Areas of abundant rainfall– Impacts of

storm events

• Droughty areas– Capture and

allocation of available water

Page 14: Forest Watershed Management

Best Management Practices• Focus of forestry and forest products community• BMP’s are either regulations or guidelines for silvicultural

activities– Planting– Harvesting– Roads

• Usually emphasize water quality

Page 15: Forest Watershed Management

Focus of Course: Knowledge to Implement Forest BMP Practices

• Understand action of water in forest environments

• Knowledge of applicable BMP’s

• Skill to apply BMP’s to a specific project on a specific site

Page 16: Forest Watershed Management

Knowledge of Precipitation Amounts and Patterns

• Plan drainage structures– Size temporary

culverts to handle storm events during period of operations

– Size permanent drainage structure to handle 100 year storms

Page 17: Forest Watershed Management

Knowledge of Precipitation Amounts and Patterns

• Time operations– Expose soil during dry periods if possible– Establish vegetative cover as soon as possible– Use native vegetation whenever possible

Page 18: Forest Watershed Management

Become familiar with precipitation patterns

• Sources of data– NOAA

– NWS

– State climatologist• Usually at Land

Grant University

• Vast amount of data available on line

Page 19: Forest Watershed Management

National Climatic Data Center

National Climatic Data Center

Page 20: Forest Watershed Management

National Weather ServiceNational Weather Service

Page 22: Forest Watershed Management

Variation in Precipitation

• Random• Seasonal• Proximity to water

body (lake affect)• Prevailing winds

with moisture• Topographic

Page 23: Forest Watershed Management

Seasonal Variation

Indiana Total Precipitation

0

1

2

3

4

5

Jan.

Mar.

May

July

Sep.

Nov.

Month

Inch

es

NC

SC

State

Page 24: Forest Watershed Management

Proximity to Water Body

Page 25: Forest Watershed Management

Prevailing Winds

Page 26: Forest Watershed Management

Topographic Affect

• Rising air cools• Dew point reached• Water vapor

condenses to form clouds

• Precipitation may occur

Page 27: Forest Watershed Management

• Cloud patterns induced by passage of air current over mountains

• Precipitation concentrated on windward side of mountain, and mountain top

• Tends to be rain shadow on leeward side

Page 28: Forest Watershed Management

• Fidalgo Island in rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains.

• Rainforests with up to 200 inches of precipitation on the west side.

• Rain shadow area northeast of the Peninsula with only one-half (20 inches) of the normal rainfall for the rest of the region.

Page 29: Forest Watershed Management

Avg. Monthly Rainfall 1931-1998

02468101214161820

Month

Inch

es

Clearwater 118.5”

Coupeville 21.14”

Puget Sound Area, Washington

Page 30: Forest Watershed Management

Storm Events, 1st Qtr.

Daily Precipitation, Bedford, IN, 1998

00.20.40.60.81

1/1/99

1/8/99

1/15/99

1/22/99

1/29/99

2/5/99

2/12/99

2/19/99

2/26/99

3/5/99

3/12/99

3/19/99

3/26/99

Inch

es

Page 31: Forest Watershed Management

Storm Events, 2nd Qtr.

Daily Precipitation, 1998, Bedford, IN

012345

4/1/99

4/8/99

4/15/99

4/22/99

4/29/99

5/6/99

5/13/99

5/20/99

5/27/99

6/3/99

6/10/99

6/17/99

6/24/99

Inch

es

Page 32: Forest Watershed Management

Storm Events, 3rd Qtr.

Daily Precipitation, 1998, Bedford, IN

00.20.40.60.81

1.2

7/1/99

7/8/99

7/15/99

7/22/99

7/29/99

8/5/99

8/12/99

8/19/99

8/26/99

9/2/99

9/9/99

9/16/99

9/23/99

9/30/99

Inch

es

Page 33: Forest Watershed Management

Storm Events, 4th Qtr.

Daily Precipitation, 1998, Bedford, IN

00.51

1.52

2.5

10/1/99

10/8/99

10/15/99

10/22/99

10/29/99

11/5/99

11/12/99

11/19/99

11/26/99

12/3/99

12/10/99

12/17/99

12/24/99

12/31/99

Inch

es

Page 34: Forest Watershed Management

Monroe County Airport, April 15-16, 1998

15th 0953 .03

1053 .26

1158 .00

1253 .01

1353 .0

1453 .04

1553 .0

1953 .14

2053 .12

2153 .10

2253 .36

2353 .17

16th 0053 .32

0153 .22

0253 .25

0353 .08

Hourly Precipitation

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

Series1

Page 35: Forest Watershed Management

Some Basic Hydrologic Concepts

Weir are used to measure volume of water flowing past a point.

Page 36: Forest Watershed Management

What Happens to Precipitation?

• Hydrologic cycleP = RO + ET + S,

Where,• P ≡ precipitation

• RO ≡ runoff

• ET ≡ evapotranspiration

• S ≡ storage

Page 37: Forest Watershed Management

Evapotranspiration

• Loss of water from a given area during a specified time by evaporation from the soil surface and by transpiration from the plants.

• Supports plant life• Reduces water yield

Page 38: Forest Watershed Management

Runoff Provides Major Benefits RO = P – ET

Moose Creek, Clearfield County, PA WLH

Page 39: Forest Watershed Management

Where does runoff go to?

• RO = CI + SRO + SSF + BF, – where,

• CI ≡ channel interception• SRO ≡ surface run off • SSF ≡ subsurface flow• BF ≡ base flow

Page 40: Forest Watershed Management

Where does runoff go to?

– CI ≡ channel interception• Precipitation falling directly into

channel

Susquehanna River, Clearfield, PA, WLH

Page 41: Forest Watershed Management

Where does runoff go to?– SRO ≡ surface runoff or overland flow

• Precipitation not infiltrating soil

Sheet erosion of cropland resulting from surface runoff

Source: http://www.agric.gov.ab.ca/agdex/500/72000003.html

Page 42: Forest Watershed Management

Where does runoff go to?

– SSF ≡ subsurface flow, or interflow• Infiltrating precipitation intercepted by hardpan or

bedrock before entering groundwater pool

Page 43: Forest Watershed Management

Where does runoff go to?– BF ≡ base flow or ground water flow

• Precipitation entering water table

Page 44: Forest Watershed Management

Research results come from experimental watersheds such as:

Hot Link to Website

Page 45: Forest Watershed Management

What We’ll Look At

• Erosion– Impacts of

• Roads• Harvests

• Water flows– Storm events– Storage

• Water yield– Amount– Timing Montgemory Reservoir, Clearfield, PA, WLH