Transcript Watershed Management Framework

Watershed Management Framework
• Mission of watershed management
– Coordinate and integrate the programs,
tools, and resources of multiple
stakeholder groups to better protect,
maintain, and restore the ecological
structure and function of watersheds and
support the sustainable uses of
watersheds.
Form Interagency Workgroup
• Design and implement a
framework to facilitate the
transition from a programcentered to a resource-based
approach to holistic management
of watershed.
Resource Management Goals
• Conserve and enhance public health.
• Conserve and enhance watershed
ecosystems.
• Support watershed resource use to
achieve water quality standards and
conservation goals.
• Conserve and improve ambient
conditions.
• Reduce or prevent pollutant loadings and
other stressors.
Goals Achieved Through
Operational Objectives
• Identify indicators of watershed integrity
• Increase communications and consensus among all
stakeholder
• Implement integrated solutions by coordinating
activities on targeted watersheds
• Provide a forum for program networking
• Develop stronger partnerships with regional, county,
and local governments
• Coordinate public communication and education
forums,
• Coordinate existing means and develop new avenues
for broad participation
• Promote stronger resource conservation ethics
Major Elements –
• Stakeholder involvement
• Basin-wide management units
• Tool kit of programs
NRCS
Conservation
Reserve Program
Conservation Reserve
Enhancement Program
Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program
Wetland Reserve Program
Forests as Source of NPS Pollution
• Forests not a major source of NPS
– Especially true in flat lands
– Potential for erosion increases with slope and
soil type
• Forests used as buffer against more
intensive land uses
– Agriculture
– Urbanization
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
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
What Happens to Precipitation?
• Hydrologic cycle
P = RO + ET + S, where
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P ≡ precipitation
RO ≡ runoff
ET ≡ evapotranspiration
S ≡ storage
Evapotransporation
• 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
Relationship of Forest Cover to
Water Flows
• Erosion
– Impacts of
• Roads
• Harvests
• Water flows
– Storm events
– Storage
• Water yield
– Amount
– Timing
Timber Harvesting
• Major factor in control
of water quality in
forested watersheds
• Felling, limbing and
bucking – avoid
riparian zones and
exclude slash from
channel
Timber Harvesting
• Skidding and
yarding –
minimize
soil
compaction
and
disturbance
• Use high
lead systems
in sensitive
and steep
areas
Timber Harvesting
• Roads and skid trails – layout and construct
according to BMP’s
Impact of Harvesting on Water
Quantity and Quality
Stone, Swank, and Hornbeck. 1978.
“Impacts of Timber Harvest Regeneration
Systems on Stream Flow and Soils in the
Eastern Deciduous Region,” Forest Soils
and Land Use, Proceedings Fifth North Am.
Forest Soils Conf.
Low Flow
Water Yield
VH
VH
H
H
M
M
L
L
VL
VL
uncut
selection
shelterwood
clearcut
intensive
clearcut
uncut
selection
shelterwood
clearcut
intensive
clearcut
Peak Flow
Sedimentation
VH
VH
poor roads &
skid trails
poor roads &
skid trails
H
H
M
M
L
L
Good control of roads
& skid trails
VL
VL
uncut
selection
shelterwood
clearcut
intensive
clearcut
uncut
selection
shelterwood
clearcut
intensive
clearcut
Dissolved Nutrient Loss
Nutrient Removal by
Harvest – Average Annual
VH
VH
Thick organic layer
H
H
M
M
L
L
VL
VL
uncut
selection
shelterwood
clearcut
intensive
clearcut
uncut
Maximum Stream Temperature
VH
Without shade
selection
shelterwood
clearcut
intensive
clearcut
Reduction in Surface Soil Organic Matter
VH
H
H
M
M
L
L
With shade strip
VL
VL
uncut
selection
shelterwood
clearcut
intensive
clearcut
uncut
selection
shelterwood
clearcut
intensive
clearcut
NPS: Sediment
• Total suspended solids (TSS), i.e., sediment
is major NPS pollution of concern
Cropland – 1 to 20
tons per acre per
year
Forestland – 1 lb. to
0.5 tons per acre per
year
NPS Contribution of Total Suspended
Sediment (TSS), 1980
Background
26%
Forest
5%
Other
6%
Cropland
38%
Pasture and
range
25%
Issue is amount of sediment loading relative to expected
amount. Usually zero for streams in forested watersheds.
NPS: Nitrogen
• Water soluble
• Some converted
to gaseous forms
by microbial
action
• Enters surface
and goundwater
Sources of NPS Nitrogen
Background
25%
Forest
4%
Pasture
25%
Other
3%
Cropland
43%
NPS: Phosphorus
• Major nutrient
leading to water
pollution
• Binds to soil
particles – correlated
with silt load
• Leads to low
dissolved oxygen
from excessive plant
growth
Sources of NPS Phosphorus
Background
28%
Forest
2%
Other
1%
Pasture and
range
28%
Cropland
41%
Logging and Forestry BMP’s
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Planning
Roads
Skid Trails
Stream Crossings
Riparian Zones
Log Landings
Fuel
Related BMP’s
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Equipment breakdown and spills
Litter
Site preparation
Mechanical and hand clearing
Chemical site preparation
Planting and weed control
Forest chemicals
Fire and fire control lines
Woodland grazing
Recreation trails
Streamside Forest as
Sediment Filter
• Sediment settles as
speed of surface flow
reduced by forest floor
• Sediment is filtered
out as sediment loaded
water percolates into
porous forest floor
Benefits of Buffers
• Control surface runoff
and shallow ground
water
– Nutrients
– Sediment
• Shade streams
• Ameliorate effects of
some pesticides
• Provide dissolved and
particulate organic food
for aquatic and
terrestrial systems
Sheet erosion on crop land
Underlying Principles
of Buffers
• Vegetation and soil
filters sediments
• Vegetation takes up
nutrients which can be
removed from portion
of site by harvesting
timber and forage.
Clearfield Creek in PA, stable structure
but polluted by mine drainage
Riparian Forest Buffer: Design
Total Buffer
Width: Streamside
• Determine based on
– Soil hydrographic
group
– Total area of source
– Soil capability class
Midwest Issue
• Field drain tiles empty
into drainage ditches
that flow directly to
waterways.
• Methods need to
buffer tile water before
it enters ditches.
• Nitrogen is pollutant
Hydrology
Water Movement Below Surface
• Groundwater issues
– Recharge areas
– Inorganic pollutants
• Soil trafficability
– Location of roads and
skid trails
– Operating seasons
Abandoned wells are most
common source of ground
water pollution, not surface
applied chemicals.
Groundwater Issues
• Groundwater recharge zones should receive
special protection
Management for Water Yield
• Basic treatments
– Removal of woody
vegetation – limited
application
– Weather modification – not
practical
– Construction of
“catchments” – best
technique but with high
ecological cost
Control of Stream Flow Regimen
• Objectives
– Prevent deterioration of
regimen because of altered
land uses
• Improve natural stream
flow regime by
management of hydrology
• Rehabilitate deteriorated
watersheds
Stable banks
Primary considerations
• Irregular flow
– Volume of high and low flows
– Duration of high and low flows
• Capacity of structures to handle high flows
• Management of aquatic ecosystems
Hyetograph
Conflict
Resolution
The Colorado Internet Center for Environmental
Problem Solving, University of Colorado
• Watershed management involves multiple
– Stakeholders
– Landowners
• High likelihood of conflicting
– Values,
– Cultures
– Threat to economic security
Conflict Resolution
• Resolution should be based on a participatory
process led by non-stakeholder
– Agree on discussion process
– Identify points of
• agreement
• disagreement
– Agree on major issues
– Identify possible solutions
– Implement representative solutions
Forest Certification
• Way to “guarantee” BMP’s are
implemented for multiple
objectives,
– Water quality
– Timber production
– Biodiversity
• Response to interest groups
wanting to
– Stop timber harvests
– Buy products from sustainably
managed forests
Forest Stewardship Council is a
major certifying agency
What Is Certification
• Loose definition Verification by a first-,
second, or third-party of
compliance with principles,
objectives and performance
measures established by a
recognized organization.
• Strict definition Independent verification of
conformity to a standard.
Sustainable
Forestry
Initiative (SFI)®
Program
• Sustainable Forestry
– To practice forestry to meet the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations
to meet their own needs by practicing a land
stewardship ethic which integrates the reforestation,
managing, growing, nurturing, and harvesting of trees
for useful products with conservation of soil, air and
water quality, wildlife and fish habitat and aesthetics.
Definitions
• Principle – The vision and
direction for sustainable forest
management
• Objective – A fundamental goal
of sustainable forest management
• Performance measure – A means
of judging whether an objective
has been fulfilled