Effect of forest management on water yields & other ecosystem services in Sierra Nevada forests UCB/UC Merced/UCANR project

Effect of forest management on water yields & other ecosystem services in Sierra Nevada forests UCB/UC Merced/UCANR project

Some motivating points Water is the highest-value ecosystem service associated with Sierra Nevada conifer forests Precipitation & temperature trends are changing the timing & amount of runoff Many second growth forests have dense canopies & growing fire risks

Mountain water cycle & climate warming Warming by 2 6 o C (4 11 o F) drives significant changes: rain-vs-snow storms * snowpack amounts * snowmelt timing * flood risk streamflow timing * low baseflows growing seasons * recharge? drier soil in summer Precipitation changes uncertain Already observed (*) Land surface temperatures 5-yr average Departure from 1901-2000 mean o F 15 11 7 4 0-4 o F 2 1 0-1 -2

Sierra Nevada precipitation & snow water equivalent (SWE) climatological estimate in in >80 >28 70 24 50 16 35 25 8 15 3 10

cal-adapt.org steady precipitation Note: limited data in Sierra

A lot of precipitation falling on dense forests never gets into the streams Forest ~300 mm (1 ft) Grass Every acre foot of water that runs through the full set of PCWA turbines generates about 2.8 MWh which is worth ~$130 (5 yr avg price)

Mountain water balance transpiration evaporation precipitation Myth: We can, with a high degree of skill, estimate or predict the magnitude of these quantities runoff sublimation

Forest management principles & assumptions Produce different stand structures & densities across the landscape using topographic variables to guide varying treatments Higher density & canopy cover for local cool or moist areas, w/ less-frequent or lower-severity fire, providing habitat for sensitive species Low densities of large fire-resistant trees on southern-aspect slopes Thinning based on crown strata or age cohorts & species, rather than uniform diameter limits Such treatments can also enhance water yield & timing of runoff

How much snow gets to the ground & how fast does it melt? 3 scenarios for solar & infrared radiation 1. Dense canopy 2. Small gaps 3. Large gaps Shortwave (solar) radiation Canopy longwave (infrared) radiation Lowest shortwave High longwave Low shortwave Low longwave High shortwave Lower longwave

Snow depths in mixed-conifer forest D J F M A M in 59 2009 Snow depth under canopy only about half 39 to two thirds of that in the open 20 Differences of about 40 cm (16 in) Mean & standard deviation of snow depth over 6-mo period, Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory

Sierra Nevada long-term average water yield ft 3.3 2.6 2.0 1.3 0.7 In order to verify the impact of forest management, need to accurately estimate the precipitation, discharge & evapotranspiration General N S decrease Decreasing precipitation Increasing snow

A closer look at water yield: 8 KREW instrumented headwater catchments Providence 1800 m 6000 ft 2400 m 8000 ft Bull

Precip, mm inch in 950 37 47 1800 71 1950 77 750 30 39 31 24 16 Increase in water yield w/ elevation, from rain to snow dominated Kings River basin 6000 7000 8000 8 Decreasing temperature Increasing snow fraction Decreasing vegetation Coarser soils Hunsaker et al., JAWRA 2012

The effect of snowpack storage on runoff timing Cumulative over one water year O N D J F M A M J J A S 134 150 197 In this rain-snow transition catchment, stream discharge lags precipitation by about 2 months This lag is expected to decrease by about 1-2 weeks per 1 o C (2 o F) of warming How forest management will affect the lag depends on how the energy balance changes KREW/CZO, P-301 headwater catchment

Annual evapotranspiration mm in 800 32 ET (mm yr -1 ) 800 700 28 700 600 24 600 500 20 500 400 16 400 300 12 300 2011 2010 2011 Mean ET Tower-based ET (2009-11) Mean GPP 2009 2011 2010 2011 2010 2000 1800 1600 1400 1200 1000 800 600 GPP (gc m -2 yr -1 ) 0 1000/ 2000/ 3000/ 3300 Elevation (m) 6600 10000 Elevation, m/ft Highest current evapotranspiration in rain to rain-snow transition region of mixed conifer forest year-round growth Lower elevation is water limited Higher elevation is cold limited Goulden et al., submitted

UC ANR work plan 2012-15 Determine rates of ET in Sierran mixed-conifer/true fir forests Determine water use efficiency of trees & shrubs in these forests Determine the potential for forest management to delay snowmelt in Sierran forests Determine potential economic tradeoffs of forest management treatments to affect water yield & ecosystem services Involve stakeholders in decision-making regarding forest management & watershed effects 2012 summer season start measurements needed to calibrate the forest/water model

Hydrologic research in progress American River 1. Sierra Nevada Adaptive Management Project (SNAMP) Two instrumented headwater catchments in Forest Hill/Duncan Peak area Sierra Nevada Framework treatments 2. Sierra Nevada Watershed Ecosystem Enhancement Project (SWEEP) Phase 2 research to develop treatments & project effects Phase 3 to carry out & evaluate treatments Additional phase 2 planning needed 3. American River basin hydrologic observatory National Science Foundation (NSF) supported infrastructure CA-DWR supported infrastructure

Potential SWEEP catchments

A new generation of integrated measurements lidar eddy correlation embedded sensor networks isotopes & ions low-cost sensors sap flow sediment satellite snowcover

Basin-wide deployment of hydrologic instrument clusters American R. basin Strategically place low-cost sensors to get spatial estimates of snowcover, soil moisture & other water-balance components Network & integrate these sensors into a single spatial instrument for water-balance measurements.

Building the knowledge base to enhance forest & water management