Effects of basin-scale timber harvest on water yield and peak streamflow

Streamflow changes resulting from clearcut harvest of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) on a 2145 hectare drainage basin are evaluated by the paired watershed technique. Thirty years of continuous daily streamflow records were used in the analysis, including 10 pre-harvest and 20 post-harvest years of...

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Published inJournal of the American Water Resources Association Vol. 33; no. 6; pp. 1187 - 1196
Main Author Burton, T.A. (Boise National Forest, Boise, ID.)
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.12.1997
Subjects
AGUA AFLORADA
APROVECHAMIENTO DE LA MADERA
aquatic ecosystems
BASSIN VERSANT
CLEAR FELLING
clearcutting
CORTA A HECHO
COUPE RASE
CUENCAS HIDROGRAFICAS
DEBIT
DISCHARGE
evapotranspiration
FLOW RATE
FOREST HYDROLOGY
FORESTED PAIRED WATERSHEDS
Freshwater
GASTO
HIDROLOGIA
HYDROLOGIE
HYDROLOGY
LOGGING
LOGGING EFFECTS
modeling/statistics
PINUS CONTORTA
RECOLTE DU BOIS
RENDEMENT EN EAU
STREAM FLOW
surface water hydrology
UTAH
WATER YIELD
watershed management/wildland hydrology
WATERSHEDS
USA, Utah
Utah
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Summary:Streamflow changes resulting from clearcut harvest of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) on a 2145 hectare drainage basin are evaluated by the paired watershed technique. Thirty years of continuous daily streamflow records were used in the analysis, including 10 pre-harvest and 20 post-harvest years of data. Regression analysis was used to estimate the effects of timber harvest on annual water yield and annual peak discharge. Removal of 14 million board feet of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) from about 526 hectares (25 percent of the basin) produced an average of 14.7 cm additional water yield per year, or an increase of 52 percent. Mean annual daily maximum discharge also increased by 1.6 cubic meters per second or 66 percent. Increases occurred primarily during the period of May through August with little or no change in wintertime streamflows. Results suggest that clearcutting conifers in relatively large watersheds ( 2000 ha) may produce significant increases in water yield and flooding. Implications of altered streamflow regimes are important for assessing the future ecological integrity of stream ecosystems subject to large-scale timber harvest and other disturbances that remove a substantial proportion of the forest cover
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Paper No. 95146 of the Journal of the American Water Resources Association (formerly Water Resources Bulletin). Discussions are open until August 1, 1998.
ArticleID:JAWR1187
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ISSN:1093-474X
1752-1688
DOI:10.1111/j.1752-1688.1997.tb03545.x