HF018
Stream discharge in gauged watersheds within the Alsea Watershed Study, 1958 to 1973

CREATOR(S): Robert L. Beschta, John D. Stednick

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR(S): John D. Stednick

ORIGINATOR(S): Robert L. Beschta

OTHER RESEARCHER(S): George G. Ice, R. Dennis Harr

FORMER INVESTIGATOR: John R. Moring, James D. Hall, George W. Brown, Richard L. Fredriksen, Jack S. Rothacher

METADATA CREATION DATE:

1 Feb 2017

MOST RECENT METADATA REVIEW DATE:

10 Feb 2017

KEYWORDS:

Disturbance, hydrology, silviculture, disturbance, hydrologic processes, streamflow, long term monitoring, timber harvest, water, forest ecosystems, watersheds, long term studies

PURPOSE:

Three small headwater streams were monitored during a 15 year study to look at the influences of patch and complete clearcut logging on water yield, water temperature and water quality. The overall purpose was to consider direct and indirect effects of logging on fish populations and effects on environmental and physical properties of streams. This data set primarily addresses changes in water yield based on pre- and post-harvest measurements of stream discharge on two watersheds in conjunction with a control watershed.

METHODS:

Experimental Design - HF018:

Description:

Three watersheds were selected for the study: Flynn Creek, Deer Creek, and Needle Branch. Data on streamflow, sediment yield, temperature, and nutrients were collected during the study and compared to relations developed during the pre-treatment period. Hydrometeorologic data were collected on all three systems for 15 years beginning in water year 1959 (October 1958). Data were collected for 7 years before logging (1959–1965 water years), 1 year during logging (1966), and 7 years post-treatment (1967–1973).

Flynn Creek (202 ha) served as the control watershed, Deer Creek (303 ha) was harvested in three small patchcuts, with uncut forest left along the stream channels of 15 to 30 m wide (Brown 1972). The total area harvested in Deer Creek was 77 ha or 25% of the watershed area. Needle Branch (71ha) was nearly completely clearcut with no streamside vegetation left. Approximately 18% of upper Needle Branch watershed was harvested in 1956.

Logging roads were constructed into Deer Creek and Needle Branch between March and August 1965 and were mostly located on ridgelines. Roads were separated from logging for only one season. Logging began in March 1966 and was completed by November 1966. Most logging was done by high-lead yarding, but tractor skidding was done on the lower part of Needle Branch. As typical for the period, logging slash was burned after logging. The slash on Needle Branch was dry and resulted in a very hot fire in October 1966. Due to a depressed log market, logs were temporarily stored in Deer Creek landings and logging was not completed until summer 1969. One unit was burned in May 1967, one in 1968, and the lower unit in August 1969, but the vegetation regeneration resulted in cool fires

Citation: Stednick, J. D. (2008), Effects of timber harvesting on streamflow in the Alsea watershed study, in Hydrological and Biological Responses to Forest Practices: The Alsea Watershed Study, edited by J. D. Stednick, chap. 2, pp. 19 – 36, Springer, New York.

Field Methods - HF018:

Description: The USGS built stream gauging stations at each watershed outlet in 1958. Broad-crested compound V-notch concrete weirs were built on Deer Creek and Flynn Creek. Because of the smaller watershed area and stream channel size, Needle Branch had a smaller compound V-notch crest with vertical concrete walls. Each concrete weir had concrete cutoff walls built into the stream bank to prevent water short-circuiting of the control structure. The weirs are connected to the stilling well with two inlet pipes, one each for low flow and high flow conditions. The gauging house on the stilling well had a Leopold-Stevens A-35 recorder that recorded stage at a 1:0.1 scale. Streamflow measurements were made by the USGS and the stage-discharge relation frequently updated. Discharge measurements for high and medium flows were typically done with Price or pygmy current meters, while low flows were measured volumetrically. Discharge records were considered to be good to excellent for all three stations.

Instrumentation: Leopold-Stevens A-35 recorder, Price Type AA and Pygmy Current Meters

Citation: Stednick, J. D. (2008), Effects of timber harvesting on streamflow in the Alsea watershed study, in Hydrological and Biological Responses to Forest Practices: The Alsea Watershed Study, edited by J. D. Stednick, chap. 2, pp. 19 – 36, Springer, New York.

Processing Procedures - HF018:

Description: Stream gauges were operated daily by Oregon State Game Commission personnel, with funding from Oregon State University, and serviced at intervals by the USGS (Moring 1975). Streamflows were converted from gauge heights to streamflow by hand and are part on the USGS streamflow records. Additionally, to obtain a high temporal resolution data set, the A-35 charts were redigitized in 2000. Rating curves were developed from the original flow meter data points for each watershed for multiple intervals over the 15 year period to convert gauge height to flow in cubic feet per second. This new record is available along with daily, monthly and annual summaries of this re-digitized record. The original USGS record is embedded within this data set.

Instrumentation: Summagraphics 1812 digitizer was able to produce raw data points of stage height within .003 ft.

Citation: Moring, J.R. 1975. The Alsea Watershed Study: effects of logging on the aquatic resources of three headwater streams of the Alsea River, Oregon. Part II. Changes in environmental conditions. Fish. Res. Rep. 9. Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, Corvallis, OR. 39pp.

SITE DESCRIPTION:

The three headwater tributaries of the Alsea River are Deer Creek, Flynn Creek and Needle Branch located in Lincoln County, approximately 16 kilometers south of Toledo, Oregon. All three streams eventually flow into Drift Creek and ultimately into the Alsea Bay. Mean precipitation was reported as 244 cm per year over the pre-logging period, 1959-1965. Generally, 100-year-old Douglas-fir was the principal commercial species red alder as the important hardwood.

TAXONOMIC SYSTEM:

None

GEOGRAPHIC EXTENT:

Three headwater tributaries of Drift Creek within the Alsea River drainage in the northern Oregon Coast Range

ELEVATION_MINIMUM (meters):

134

ELEVATION_MAXIMUM (meters):

490

MEASUREMENT FREQUENCY:

Continuous

PROGRESS DESCRIPTION:

Complete

UPDATE FREQUENCY DESCRIPTION:

notPlanned

CURRENTNESS REFERENCE:

Ground condition

RELATED MATERIAL:

Brown, G.W. 1972. The Alsea Watershed Study. Pacific Logging Congress. Loggers Handbook 32:13–15, 127–130.

Harr, R.D., and Krygier, J.T. 1972. Clearcut logging and low flows in Oregon coastal watersheds. Forest Research Lab. Research Note 54. Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR. 3pp.

Moring, J.R. 1975. The Alsea Watershed Study: effects of logging on the aquatic resources of three headwater streams of the Alsea River, Oregon. Part II. Changes in environmental conditions. Fish. Res. Rep. 9. Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, Corvallis, OR. 39pp.

Harris, D.D. 1977. Hydrologic changes after logging in two small Oregon coastal watersheds. Water-Supply Paper 2037. U.S. Geological Survey Washington, DC. 31pp.

Stednick, J.D. 1996. Monitoring the effects of timber harvest on annual water yields. J. Hydrol. 176:79–95.

Stednick, J. D. (2008), Effects of timber harvesting on streamflow in the Alsea watershed study, in Hydrological and Biological Responses to Forest Practices: The Alsea Watershed Study, edited by J. D. Stednick, chap. 2, pp. 19 – 36, Springer, New York.