Forests and water: a state-of-the-art review for Colorado MacDonald, Lee H. ; Stednick, John D. Forest management -- Colorado Watershed management -- Colorado "2003" "CWRRI Completion Report No. 196" "Sponsored by: Colorado River Water Conservation District, Colorado Water Resources Research Institute, Denver Water, Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District" "This report was financed in part by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey, through the Colorado WaterResources Research Institute and Grant No. 01HQGR0077." 75 p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-75) Forests occupy 22.6 million acres in Colorado, or 32 percent of the land area, and nearly three-quarters of the forest lands in Colorado are in public ownership. About 55 percent of the forested area is considered suitable for forest harvest. National forests comprise nearly half of the forested area and approximately 60 percent of the area is considered suitable for forest harvest. There are no significant, privately-owned, industrial forest lands in Colorado. Historic photographs, forest stand records, and other data indicate that forest density in Colorado is generally greater than in the mid to late 1800s. This increase in forest density, attributed to suppression of forest fires, reduced grazing, and lower rates of forest harvest for timber, fuel, and other products, are generally believed to have decreased annual water yields. Annual water yields from the 1.34 million acres of national forest lands in the North Platte River basin are estimated to have decreased by approximately 8 to 14 percent or 135,000 to 185,000 acre-feet per year, depending on the assumed stand history for the spruce-fir forests. Hydrologic models indicate that average annual water yields could be increased in the North Platte River basin by about 55,000 acre-feet per year if all 502,000 acres designated as suitable for timber harvest were regularly harvested on a sustained yield basis. Similar data are not available for other river basins in Colorado, although the overall trends are probably similar. This research looked at how reducing forest canopy affects the rate of spring snowmelt and water yield, how it affects evapotranspiration, what happens when the forest regrows, whether reducing forest density affects water yields if annual precipitation is a factor, the effects on water quality, and the necessity for water storage facilities to store the increased runoff. The report does not attempt to address the myriad of other issues that must be considered when evaluating various management alternatives for forested lands. Some of these issues include the numerous laws and regulations that affect land management, economic considerations, the downstream uses of water and water storage capacities, and the effects of forest management on recreation, local communities, aesthetics, and other plant and animal species. Colorado State University. Libraries Colorado Water Resources Research Institute Troendle, Charles T. Binkley, Dan Chambers, Carl Gosnell, Ron Hays, Polly Merrit, Dave Wiley, Rocky Wind, Brad Cech, Tom Holsinger, Kent 2003 text ; image application/pdf COMP196.pdf CCRICWRI100015CRPT eng Completion report (Colorado Water Resources Research Institute) ; no. 196 Colorado c2003 Colorado Water Resources Research Institute
Forests and water: a state-of-the-art review for Colorado
MacDonald, Lee H. ; Stednick, John D.
Forest management -- Colorado
Watershed management -- Colorado
"2003"
"CWRRI Completion Report No. 196"
"Sponsored by: Colorado River Water Conservation District, Colorado Water Resources Research Institute, Denver Water, Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District"
"This report was financed in part by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey, through the Colorado WaterResources Research Institute and Grant No. 01HQGR0077."
75 p.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-75)
Forests occupy 22.6 million acres in Colorado, or 32 percent of the land area, and nearly three-quarters of the forest lands in Colorado are in public ownership. About 55 percent of the forested area is considered suitable for forest harvest. National forests comprise nearly half of the forested area and approximately 60 percent of the area is considered suitable for forest harvest. There are no significant, privately-owned, industrial forest lands in Colorado. Historic photographs, forest stand records, and other data indicate that forest density in Colorado is generally greater than in the mid to late 1800s. This increase in forest density, attributed to suppression of forest fires, reduced grazing, and lower rates of forest harvest for timber, fuel, and other products, are generally believed to have decreased annual water yields. Annual water yields from the 1.34 million acres of national forest lands in the North Platte River basin are estimated to have decreased by approximately 8 to 14 percent or 135,000 to 185,000 acre-feet per year, depending on the assumed stand history for the spruce-fir forests. Hydrologic models indicate that average annual water yields could be increased in the North Platte River basin by about 55,000 acre-feet per year if all 502,000 acres designated as suitable for timber harvest were regularly harvested on a sustained yield basis. Similar data are not available for other river basins in Colorado, although the overall trends are probably similar. This research looked at how reducing forest canopy affects the rate of spring snowmelt and water yield, how it affects evapotranspiration, what happens when the forest regrows, whether reducing forest density affects water yields if annual precipitation is a factor, the effects on water quality, and the necessity for water storage facilities to store the increased runoff. The report does not attempt to address the myriad of other issues that must be considered when evaluating various management alternatives for forested lands. Some of these issues include the numerous laws and regulations that affect land management, economic considerations, the downstream uses of water and water storage capacities, and the effects of forest management on recreation, local communities, aesthetics, and other plant and animal species.
Colorado State University. Libraries
Colorado Water Resources Research Institute
Troendle, Charles T.
Binkley, Dan
Chambers, Carl
Gosnell, Ron
Hays, Polly
Merrit, Dave
Wiley, Rocky
Wind, Brad
Cech, Tom
Holsinger, Kent
2003
text ; image
application/pdf
COMP196.pdf
CCRICWRI100015CRPT
eng
Completion report (Colorado Water Resources Research Institute) ; no. 196
Colorado
c2003 Colorado Water Resources Research Institute