Rocky Mountain Research Station

Title: Fuel management and water yield

Author: Troendle, Charles A.; MacDonald, Lee H.; Luce, Charles H.; Larsen, I. J.

Date: 2010

Source: In: Elliot, William J.; Miller, Ina Sue; Audin, Lisa, eds. Cumulative watershed effects of fuel management in the western United States. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-231. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 124-148.

Station ID: GTR-RMRS-231

Description: There have been numerous studies worldwide demonstrating that changes in forest density can cause a change in water yield. Bosch and Hewlett (1982), Hibbert (1967), Stednick (1996) and Troendle and Leaf (1980) have summarized the findings from most of these studies. In general, as Hibbert (1967) observed, reducing forest cover increases water yield; establishing forest cover on sparsely vegetated land decreases water yield; and response to treatment is highly variable and, for the most part, unpredictable.

Keywords: cumulative effects, watershed, wildfire, fuel management, water quality, soil erosion

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Citation

Troendle, Charles A.; MacDonald, Lee H.; Luce, Charles H.; Larsen, I. J.  2010.  Fuel management and water yield.   In: Elliot, William J.; Miller, Ina Sue; Audin, Lisa, eds. Cumulative watershed effects of fuel management in the western United States. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-231. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 124-148..