Completed Hydrologic Response Monitoring Reports:

Upper Lake Mary Watershed Monitoring Program

This project is a paired watershed study to monitor watershed response to forest treatments is to determine which techniques affect ground water recharge and surface water runoff into Upper Lake Mary. See the following brief for more information: FWPP – Upper Lake Mary Monitoring

Evaluating Erosion Risk Mitigation due to Forest Restoration Treatments Using Alluvial Chronology and Hydraulic Modeling

This study used alluvial chronology to study the recent geologic history of Schultz Creek and hydraulic modeling to predict how peak flood flow magnitudes and stored sediment could be affected by severe wildfires and FWPP treatments in and adjacent to Flagstaff, Arizona.

The alluvial chronology utilized C14 dating of charcoal fragments for age constraints. Sediments have been accumulating in the channel for ~7,000 years without any major disturbance such as a severe fire on the watershed scale or high magnitude flooding. Analyses indicate that over 1.5 million tons of sediment may be stored in the main channel. Hydraulic modeling using HEC-RAS 4.1 indicates that forest treatments reduce the magnitude of post-fire flow at the confluence of the watershed by up to 55%. The results of this study are relevant to the City of Flagstaff citizens whose votes approved use of municipal bond funds to conduct forest restoration, and to communities across the Southwest that could benefit from forest restoration in their watersheds. For full report, click here: Fullthesisdec10