Treesearch

Treated municipal effluent combined with water harvesting can be used for land restoration and enhancing the growth of important riparian tree species. Paired studies in Arizona are assessing the potential of growing trees using mixtures of effluent and potable water. Trees are grown in the field and in containers. Initial results from the field show high survival for four of the six species; cottonwood and willow had rapid growth.

Watersheds are the source of a number of resources which are of benefit to society. These resources include water, timber, grazing, recreation, wildlife and others, often described as multiple-use resources. In addition, however, watersheds also produce a number of less tangible resources and uses, which are also socially important. These include amenity, option values, bequest, existence and stewardship values. Watershed resources are usually subject to joint production, that is, the production of one resource is linked to the production of the others. The socially optimal amount of...

Management impacts on a watershed can cause a variety of complex responses by the encompassed riparian-stream system. Information about these responses will help land managers select practices that provide the riparian area with the best chance for future health and stability. Since we now recognize that people have been impacting riparian areas for a long time through their actions on the surrounding watersheds, it is appropriate that we apply our knowledge of history to guide our actions in the direction of stabilized watersheds and healthy riparian areas.

The White Mountain Apache Tribe has undertaken a watershed analysis and various demonstration projects in the Cibecue watershed in east-central Arizona. The results support an adaptive management strategy to promote ecological health, enhance economic opportunities, and protect cultural values. Some of the problems faced by today’s program are similar to those faced by a Cibecue watershed management project in the 1960s overseen by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). However, the Tribe’s current project has a more holistic goal of restoring streams to health through community-based efforts.

Anticipating landscape conditions in the 21st century is a difficult, if not impossible task. Different people have different perceptions of what future landscapes should look like. One group of people, a group of ranchers in the Malpai Borderland Region of the southwestern United States, have come together to work with government agencies, universities, and environmental groups in attempting to reduce the threat of property and ecosystem fragmentation in the region. These collaborative efforts are also finding ways to increase the productivity and biological diversity of the area’s...

The nature of the increased needs and demands for water relate to water quantity and quality, bringing in the dimensions of timing and location of water flows. Some key past international activities related to water and watershed policy are reviewed. The common threads that are shaping likely future responses relate to technical vs. institutional means of addressing problems, participatory stakeholder management, developing integrated solutions, and decentralization and privatization of management. Two major response areas are reviewed, namely, that of increasing efficiency in use to...

Addressing public and scientific concerns about human impacts on long-term ecological sustainability will require new approaches to resource management. These new approaches, which place considerable emphasis on management on the landscape or watershed scale, stress holistic and integrated science, meaningful public involvement to reflect changing social goals and objectives, collaborative decision-making, and flexible and adaptable institutions. New policies that incorporate ecological understanding as well as promote democratic ideals will be required. Five guidelines can assist in...

Equable natural resource management partnerships between the public and private sectors are a relatively recent development in the United States. Modern resource management partnership forms are interpreted to be a result of an interaction of social, political and economic forces not normally associated with natural resource management activities. These forces are identified, discussed, and placed in historical context. Possible future trends in public/private management partnerships are extrapolated from current approaches.

Securing clean water is a primary goal for many agencies, organizations, and concerned citizens. To achieve that goal, agencies have traditionally taken a mostly regulatory approach. In recent years, however, a major trend in government has been to move decision-making and action-taking to the local level. Conservation Districts, watershed organizations, and other local groups have taken on increased roles and responsibilities for ensuring a healthy environment. This relatively new phenomenon, alternatively referred to as "locally led conservation" and the "watershed approach", is proving...

Forest watershed management research is mandated by over 100 years of legislation, from the Organic Act and Weeks Law enacted around the beginning of the 20th century, to a variety of environmental protection acts passed over the past several decades. Research results have come primarily from studies of a multitude of gaged watersheds selected to represent a variety of geographic locations, forest types, topography and climate. These studies have show the effects of forests and forest disturbances on water yield, peak and flood flows, snow accumulation and melt, soil erosion, and water...