Newsgroups: sci.bio.ecology
From: casspa@efn.org (Paul Cass)
Subject: Watershed Management #3
Summary: The technical and human components of forested watershed management
Keywords: Watershed, forest, water degradation, cummulative effects
Organization: Prototype Eugene Free Net
Date: Sat, 26 Feb 1994 05:19:21 GMT
Lines: 140

The following article is part of a watershed seminar held at Oregon State
University in Spring, 1993.  The summary was written by Penny Cass and
approved by the speaker.  This article is part of a publication that can be
ordered from the Oregon Water Resources Research Institute, OSU, Strand
Ag Hall 210, Corvallis, OR 97331-2208 (503) 737-4023.  The article may be
reprinted without permission for educational purposes.  If used, Please send
2 copies of your publication to OWRRI.


FORESTED WATERSHED ISSUES IN OREGON
Bruce P. McCammon, U.S. Forest Service, Portland

 Across the United States, 70 percent of the rain that falls on land, falls
on forests.  Many cities in Oregon depend on that rain and on the health of
forested watersheds for their drinking water.  Forest and water management
issues are of great significance to the state but there is a general lack of
understanding about watersheds ~ what they are, the role they play, how
they differ, and why the public should care about their health. 
Communication may be the single most important ingredient in watershed
restoration.
       A quick survey of Oregon reveals a variety of complex, sometimes
conflicting water-related concerns.  There are very few places in the state
where you can stand without stepping on someone's water issue.  To begin
to address the health of water systems requires assessing the technological
and human dimensions, determining both watershed condition and water-
related values.

OREGON WATER ISSUES ~ A SAMPLER
       Oregon is expected to have 850,000 more people within ten to fifteen
years but some areas of the state were already water-limited at the turn of
the century.  Conflicting values and water uses are adding additional strain
on an over-taxed supply.  Endangered species such as the spotted owl and
marbled murelet, and instream flow requirements for salmonids and suckers
affect water management choices.  Scenic waterway legislation and federal
and Native American water rights have already halted  development in some
areas of the state such as in the John Day basin.  Inability to meet clean
water standards has required allocating Total Maximum Daily Loads
(TMDL's) of allowable pollutants to users of the Tualatin, Coquille, Umatilla,
and Grand Ronde rivers.  Municipal costs are rising as cities struggle to filter
water in order to meet tougher standards.  Northeastern Oregon is the home
of thousands of acres of dead and dying trees.  The change in forest cover
and habitat will affect many of the hydrologic process in the area. 
Recreationists and ranchers, farmers and fishermen are all affected by the
quality and availability of water.
       Around the state, new buzzwords reflect the growing water concerns
~ cumulative effects, channel maintenance flows, forest health, water rights
adjudication, best management practices, riparian zone protection, point and
non-point sources of pollution, ecosystem management and analysis, and
watershed condition assessment and restoration.  A healthy debate and the
best allocation of resources requires accurate scientific assessment on the
condition and capacity of watersheds and an understanding of the values
that determine human choices.  Figure 1 illustrates some of the water issues
that exist within Oregon.

TECHNICAL DIMENSIONS
       The technical dimensions of forested watersheds can be explored by
discussing ecosystem management, water quality, watershed restoration, and
cooperative data acquisition.
       Ecosystem management involves identifying principle components of
a system and understanding the processes that affect that system.  The
components of a watershed are its scale, its elements, and its natural
variability.  Watershed processes are affected by size, elevation, amount of
precipitation, vegetation, and geology.  The processes are also affected by the
type, magnitude, and frequency of disturbances such as landslides, fires, or
infestations.  Other factors that are important to an accurate assessment of
watersheds are the historical, current, and future land uses, the land
ownership, and the valued benefits the watershed provides.
       Cumulative effects analysis is the synthesis of all the data provided in
an accurate technical assessment of a watershed.  By comparing the current
health of a basin with its natural condition and range of variability, decisions
can be made about the capacity of the catchment to meet projected uses and
provide valued benefits.
       Communicating the findings on cumulative effects has frequently
been an attempt to assign quantitative values to dynamic, sometimes poorly
understood systems.  McCammon recommends using qualitative risk
assessment and communicating the level of confidence.
       By describing a particular watershed's health as "at the outer edge of
fair" management decisions can be made about mitigating impacts which
might move the basin into a "poor" category.  Such qualitative assessments
are more easily understood and can be as reliable as attempting to attach a
percentage of risk to a given project.
       Water quality in forested areas is significantly affected by non-point
source pollutants often related to road building and timber harvesting.  The
current strategy for dealing with non-point source impacts is to use the Best
Management Practices (BMP) for a particular project, monitor the results, and
provide feedback.  BMP's for the Forest Service relate to silviculture practices
and road engineering.  BMP's need to be more adequately developed for
recreation, range, and agriculture activities.
       One of the most expensive aspects of non-point source strategies is
monitoring.  McCammon suggests that there is a need for better cooperation
and coordination among Federal, State and private groups in monitoring
basins and projects.  Avoiding duplication can allow more funds to be spent
on other aspects of watershed management such as restoration.
       The headwaters of many Oregon municipal water supplies are on
National Forest lands.  Because changes in the Safe Drinking Water Act are
requiring higher standards and more expensive treatment of city water,
municipalities are increasingly becoming involved in the administration of
watersheds.  Land management agencies, various local governments, and
private land owners will need to work cooperatively on the water quality
and economic issues that originate within a watershed.
       The Clinton administration has placed political emphasis on the
environment and on jobs.  Watershed restoration projects can benefit both
goals.  Watershed restoration will depend on an accurate assessment of
ecosystem health so that priorities can be developed.  Restoration will require
working on scales that involve private, State and Federal land ownership. 
Again, cooperation in the planning and in the projects will be essential.
       The final technical dimension involves developing fundamental data
and information sources.  Watershed assessment and project monitoring must
be based on sound scientific research.  Shared databases and mapping
projects have been started but often the most basic information, such as the
number of miles of fish-bearing streams within a particular forest, have yet
to be determined.

HUMAN DIMENSIONS
       No discussion of watershed management should leave out the human
dimension.  People are involved in the changing social expectations toward
watersheds; people make up the political and economic interests that
communicate values on watersheds; and people will staff the work force
tackling watershed restoration.
       The forest planning process can provide valuable insight into the
changing demands for water and the changing demands on the forests that
produce that water.  Litigation involving Forest Service proposals also
indicates the public interest in water resources.  The Forest Service response
to this changing environmental alignment has been the adoption of
ecosystem management planning.
       Because watershed management increasingly involves a mixture of
land ownership, McCammon believes it will be essential to become familiar
with our neighbors, to develop communication networks that can work
cooperatively.  He asserts that communication is a two-way street requiring
technical experts to put their findings in easily understood language, and the
public to communicate their values objectively.
       Watershed restoration work can help communities that are in
transition from economic reliance on timber.  A watershed work force will
require training to be technically astute and to be able to communicate well.
       Watershed issues are complex, with no single, right answer.  It took a
long time to create the current watershed problems and the cures won't come
quickly.  Communication that emphasizes cooperation will help set priorities
through understanding, rather than through litigation.




