Patterns and trends in streamflow from 1939 to 1980 at Workman Creek, Sierra Ancha Experimental Forest, Arizona

Abstract

Water is a vital natural resource and its paucity in the Southwest makes it of particular importance. There is a long history in the Southwest of research on increasing water yields from forests starting in 1911 at Wagon Wheel Gap Experimental Watershed in central averaged 22.01 inches while summer precipitation Colorado. Watershed studies in the Salt River Basin began in 1925 with the Summit Plots upstream from Roosevelt Dam. The Summit Plots were established to study the effects of vegetation change and mechanical stabilization on stormflows and sediment yields after it was discovered that 101,000 acre-feet of sediment had accumulated behind Roosevelt Dam in less than two decades (Gottfried et al. 1999). Watershed studies at Workman Creek were initiated in 1938 to investigate the hydrology of mixed conifer forests and determine the effects of manipulating these forests to increase water yields. Streamflow was monitored from 1939 to 1980 at the four gaging stations.

Citation

Koestner, Peter E.; Koestner, Karen A.; Neary, Daniel G.; Gottfried, Gerald J. 2010. Patterns and trends in streamflow from 1939 to 1980 at Workman Creek, Sierra Ancha Experimental Forest, Arizona. Hydrology and Water Resources in Arizona and The Southwest. 40: 11-16.