Background: Long-term research on the effects of forest management activities on water quantity and quality from FS experimental watersheds continues to provide timely, important information necessary for making good decisions about the role of forests in providing important ecosystem services in a changing climate, and over long time scales. The network of USDA FS Experimental watersheds has provided the most comprehensive understanding of the relationship (in both managed and unmanaged watersheds) among vegetation, soils, and water quality and quantity in the world. Decades of research demonstrate that well-managed forested watersheds can provide the cleanest and most reliable supplies of water of all land uses while still offering numerous other ecosystem services to the country.
What’s being done: Research at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, the Fernow Experimental Forest and the Fraser Experimental Forest is some of the best and longest term watershed research in the United States, and the world, and continues to provide information useful to managers with responsibility for a spectrum of ecosystems. Studies set up as early as 1934 evaluate the effects of different cutting practices, and other disturbances on water yield and water quality. Research from these three experimental watersheds shows that clearcutting can increase annual water yields significantly, although the effects are of shorter duration in the humid eastern U.S. Snow dominates the precipitation inputs at the Fraser EF and cutting practices can be tailored to increase snow capture and therefore water yields. Natural disturbances such as insect attacks and severe storms can impact annual water yield, peak storm flows and water quality to varying degrees, and impacts may be as significant as those from human-caused activities. The FS Experimental Forest system is critical to the ongoing long-term research that allows us to quantify short-term impacts in long-term management applications.
Management uses: Information from these three experimental watersheds has been used in National Forest planning efforts, in NEPA analyses throughout the federal government, and by state and local land managers. Research has also been used in several important law suits. The value of this research will only increase as land managers are challenged to provide clean water and dependable water in the context of accelerated land use change, no-native and native insects and diseases and extreme climatic events.
Contacts: Mary Beth Adams, Ph.D.; Northern Research Station; mbadams@fs.fed.us; 304-478-2000. Kelly Elder, Ph.D.; Rocky Mountain Research Station; kelder@fs.fed.us; 970-498-1233. Jim Vose, Ph.D. ;Southern Research Station; jvose@fs.fed.us;828-524-2128.
Facilitated by the Stream Systems Technology Center |
