Drought monitoring research that supports multiple partners in Arizona

Photo Credit

USDA Forest Service photo by Jackson Leonard

The soil and climate monitoring network includes the installation of evapotranspiration sensors (seen here) across treated, untreated and grassland vegetation types, to look at the impacts of juniper treatments on water availability.

The Rocky Mountain Research Station is currently studying the impacts of a large-scale juniper removal project occurring in central Arizona for multiple resource objectives. The Arizona Game and Fish Department is funding the removal of the juniper trees from an area which was historically a grassland ecosystem, to support the recovery of Pronghorn antelope in the region. A unique aspect of this project is that the trees that are being cut for the treatment are being chipped and sold to a local cement plant for power generation to offset their use of coal. With support from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, we installed a climate and soil moisture monitoring network across the treatment area which serves three main objectives. 

First, this project allows researchers to use ground-based data in conjunction with satellite data to determine if there are any potential water savings that occur from the removal of the juniper trees. A question that is of particular interest for the Salt River Project, a project partner and major power and water utility in the state.

Second, the satellite data that is being gathered is assisting Reliance Brush Management, the forestry contractor in charge of the juniper cutting and Drake Cement, which operates a nearby cement plant, in estimating how much biomass is available for potential power generation.

Third, the network of sensors provides real-time data, available to both the Prescott National Forest and the Almida Cattle Company, which grazes cattle on public lands within the treatment area, to monitor drought conditions across the landscape and develop appropriate grazing strategies.

Already, data collected from the network is shedding light on how soil moisture fluctuates across the landscape during drought periods and how differences in local climate and soil type can influence herbaceous production across the landscape. As juniper treatments progress, we expect to be able to capture the impact of the treatments on water availability in the soil and make estimates of potential savings for future treatments.

This project brings together an array of State and Federal agencies, private industry, universities (Northern Arizona University), and local stakeholders, to serve as a timely reminder that collaborative public lands management work.