Battle Flat Watersheds Pilot Project

Watershed 1 (Tuscumbia)

AREA: 1356 ac (549 ha)
SLOPE:
ASPECT: Northeast
ELEVATION: 4,920 to 6,000 ft (1,500 to 1,830 m)
VEGETATION: Chaparral
PARENT MATERIAL: Granitic
GAGE: Concrete flume
PERIOD OF RECORD: 1978 through 1989

OBJECTIVE: To determine how converting chaparral vegetation to grass by fire, herbicide, or combination of the two affects streamflow, erosion and sedimentation, vegetation, and wildlife. Prior to treatment, streamflow from WS 3 (Battle Flat) was calibrated against streamflow from the designated control, WS 1 (Tuscumbia). See Baker, et al. 1997 for more details on watershed and hydrologi regime of the area.

TREATMENT: Although extensive intrumentation, inventories, and baseline research studies were performed on the demonstration area, treatment of the entire watershed was delayed because of political and legal constraints surrounding the widespread use of soil-applied herbicides for treating watersheds.

WS1 (Tuscumbia) was the designated control watershed to be left untreated and to be used to measure changes in the treated portion of the watershed.

SELECTED REFERENCES