Cumulative watershed effects: Can they be measured? What have we learned from the Caspar Creek studies in northern California?

Abstract

Cumulative Watershed Effects (CWEs) may be additive or synergistic. Additive CWEs are the accumulation downstream of the effects of various activities. Their existence is inevitable. However, their magnitude is often difficult to measure. The amount of sediment, for example, has considerable natural variation which may mask the CWEs caused by road construction or forest roads. Synergistic CWEs present still more difficult measurement problems. They are based on the idea that even though Best Management Practices (BMPs) are being applied, somewhere downstream their effects may aggregate in an unacceptable manner or trigger additional impacts. Current research at Caspar Creek is aimed at estimating the magnitude of synergistic CWEs. It will also inevitably measure additive CWEs

Citation

Rice, R. M. 1991. Cumulative watershed effects: Can they be measured? What have we learned from the Caspar Creek studies in northern California?. In: The 1990s--Challenging Our Profession and Professionalism, Summaries of the Proceedings of the 1990 Western Forestry Conference, 2-5 December 1990, Coeur d''Alene, Idaho. Western Forestry and Conservation Association, Portland, Oregon. Page 92.