Long-term streamflow trends on California’s north coast

J. Eli Asarian; Jeffrey D. Walker

Treesearch

Long-term streamflow trends on California’s north coast

Formally Refereed

Authors:

J. Eli Asarian, Jeffrey D. Walker

Year:

2017

Type:

General Technical Report

Station:

Pacific Southwest Research Station

Source:

Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-258. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station: 215

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Abstract

Using streamflow data from the U.S. Geological Survey, we assessed long-term (1953-2012) trends in streamflow on California’s North Coast including many sites in the redwood region. The study area spans from the Smith River to the Mattole River and includes the Eel and Klamath-Trinity basins. Antecedent Precipitation Index (API) is a time-weighted summary of precipitation which provides high weight to recent precipitation and low weight to precipitation that occurred many months ago. We used a regression model of the relationship between API and streamflow to calculate "precipitation-adjusted streamflow", which statistically reduced the year-to-year fluctuations caused by variable precipitation and allowed evaluation of the underlying streamflow trend.

Parent Publication

Coast redwood science symposium—2016: Past successes and future direction

Citation

Asarian, J. Eli; Walker, Jeffrey D. 2017. Long-term streamflow trends on California’s north coast. In: Standiford, Richard B.; Valachovic, Yana, tech cords. Coast redwood science symposium—2016: Past successes and future direction. Proceedings of a workshop. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-258. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station: 215.