TY - JOUR
T1 - Streamflow response to drought in a managed coast redwood catchment
AU - Keppeler, Elizabeth
AU - Wagenbrenner, Joseph
AU - Dymond, Salli
AU - Dralle, David
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 American Water Resources Association. This article has been contributed to by U.S. Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.
PY - 2024/10
Y1 - 2024/10
N2 - A 60-year precipitation and streamflow record from the Caspar Creek Experimental Watersheds in northern California was used to explore the propagation of meteorological drought to hydrological drought. Standardized precipitation and runoff indices were calculated for the two forested catchments using integration periods of 12, 24, and 36 months. The resulting time series were used to define three severe drought events (1976–1977, 2013–2014, and 2020–2022). The earliest drought followed the 1971–1973 harvest of the 417 ha South Fork (SF) watershed, a second followed the 1989–1992 harvest of the 479 ha North Fork watershed, and a third followed the 2017–2019 reentry harvest of the SF. From these time series, we calculated drought metrics and anomalies to model differences in catchment responses in the context of climate and management. The meteorological drought in the 1977 event was more severe and extreme than the streamflow response. Both of the 21st Century droughts were hydrologically more severe than the 1977 drought. Timber harvest initially shortened and reduced streamflow drought (1977 and 2021) but prolonged and intensified the 2014 streamflow drought. Declining fall precipitation has reduced streamflows, thereby impeding salmonid migration and exacerbating impacts on native fish. Our results provide new insights into the role of climate variation, particularly long-term and seasonal drought dynamics, in managed forests along the North American Pacific coast.
AB - A 60-year precipitation and streamflow record from the Caspar Creek Experimental Watersheds in northern California was used to explore the propagation of meteorological drought to hydrological drought. Standardized precipitation and runoff indices were calculated for the two forested catchments using integration periods of 12, 24, and 36 months. The resulting time series were used to define three severe drought events (1976–1977, 2013–2014, and 2020–2022). The earliest drought followed the 1971–1973 harvest of the 417 ha South Fork (SF) watershed, a second followed the 1989–1992 harvest of the 479 ha North Fork watershed, and a third followed the 2017–2019 reentry harvest of the SF. From these time series, we calculated drought metrics and anomalies to model differences in catchment responses in the context of climate and management. The meteorological drought in the 1977 event was more severe and extreme than the streamflow response. Both of the 21st Century droughts were hydrologically more severe than the 1977 drought. Timber harvest initially shortened and reduced streamflow drought (1977 and 2021) but prolonged and intensified the 2014 streamflow drought. Declining fall precipitation has reduced streamflows, thereby impeding salmonid migration and exacerbating impacts on native fish. Our results provide new insights into the role of climate variation, particularly long-term and seasonal drought dynamics, in managed forests along the North American Pacific coast.
KW - drought
KW - forests
KW - streamflow
KW - watershed management
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85196645241&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1111/1752-1688.13211
DO - 10.1111/1752-1688.13211
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85196645241
SN - 1093-474X
VL - 60
SP - 928
EP - 952
JO - Journal of the American Water Resources Association
JF - Journal of the American Water Resources Association
IS - 5
ER -