Abstract:This study examined the thermal regime of a headwater stream within a clear-cut. The stream had a complex morphology dominated by step-pool features, many formed by sediment accumulation upstream of woody debris. Maximum daily temperatures increased up to 5°C after logging, and were positively associated with maximum daily air temperature and negatively with discharge. Maximum daily temperatures generally increased with downstream distance through the cut block, but decreased with distance in two segments over distances of tens of metres, where the topography indicated relatively concentrated lateral inflow. Localized cool areas within a step-pool unit were associated with zones of concentrated upwelling. Bed temperatures tended to be higher and have greater ranges in areas of downwelling flow into the bed. Heat budget estimates were made using meteorological measurements over the water surface and a model of net radiation using canopy characteristics derived from fisheye photography. Heat exchange driven by hyporheic flow through the channel step was a cooling effect during daytime, with a magnitude up to approximately 25% that of net radiation during the period of maximum daytime warming. Heat budget calculations in these headwater streams are complicated by the heterogeneity of incident solar radiation and channel geometry, as well as uncertainty in estimating heat and water exchanges between the stream and the subsurface via hyporheic exchange and heat conduction.

Abstract:Subsurface runoff dominates the hydrology of many steep humid regions, and yet the basic elements of water collection, storage, and discharge are still poorly understood at the watershed scale. Here, we use exceptionally dense rainfall and runoff records from two Northern California watersheds (~100 km 2 ) with distinct wet and dry seasons to ask the simple question: how much water can a watershed store? Stream hydrographs from 17 sub-watersheds through the wet season are used to answer this question where we use a simple water balance analysis to estimate watershed storage changes during a rainy season (dV). Our findings suggest a pronounced storage limit and then 'storage excess' pattern; i.e. the watersheds store significant amounts of rainfall with little corresponding runoff in the beginning of the wet season and then release considerably more water to the streams after they reach and exceed their storage capacities. The amount of rainfall required to fill the storages at our study watersheds is the order of a few hundred millimeters (200-500 mm). For each sub-watershed, we calculated a variety of topographic indices and regressed these against maximum dV. Among various indices, median gradient showed the strongest control on dV where watershed median slope angle was positively related to the maximum volume of storage change. We explain this using a hydrologically active bedrock hypothesis whereby the amount of water a watershed can store is influenced by filling of unrequited storage in bedrock. The amount of water required to activate rapid rainfall-runoff response is larger for steeper watersheds where the more restricted expansion of seepage from bedrock to the soil limits the connectivity between stored water and stream runoff.

[1] A 6-year study documented the effects of clear-cut harvesting with and without riparian buffers (10 m and 30 m wide) on headwater stream temperature in coastal British Columbia. The experiment involved a replicated paired catchment design. Pretreatment calibration relations between the treatment and control streams were fitted using time series of daily minimum, mean, and maximum temperatures. Generalized least squares (GLS) regression was used to account for autocorrelation in the residuals. While water temperature in streams with 10 and 30 m buffers did not exhibit marked warming, daily maximum temperature in summer increased by up to 2°-8°C in the streams with no buffer. The effectiveness of the buffers may have been maximized by the north-south orientation of the streams, which meant that the streams would be well shaded from late morning to early afternoon by the overhead canopy, even under the 10 m buffer. The variation in response for the no-buffer treatments is consistent with the differences in channel morphology that influence their exposure to solar radiation and their depth. Relations between treatment effect and daily maximum air temperature suggested that recovery toward preharvest temperature conditions was occurring, with rates appearing to vary with stream and by season.

Long-term effects of different forest management practices on landslide initiation and volume were analysed using a physically based slope stability model. The watershed-based model calculates the effects of multiple harvesting entries on slope stability by accounting for the cumulative impacts of a prior vegetation removal on a more recent removal related to vegetation root strength and tree surcharge. Four sequential clearcuts and partial cuts with variable rotation lengths were simulated with or without leave areas and with or without understorey vegetation in a subwatershed of Carnation Creek, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The combined infinite slope and distributed hydrologic models used to calculate safety factor revealed that most of the simulated landslides were clustered within a 5 to 17 year period after initial harvesting in cases where sufficient time (c. 50 years) lapsed prior to the next harvesting cycle. Partial cutting produced fewer landslides and reduced landslide volume by 1·4-to 1·6-fold compared to clearcutting. Approximately the same total landslide volume was produced when 100 per cent of the site was initially clearcut compared to harvesting 20 per cent of the area in successive 10 year intervals; a similar finding was obtained for partial cutting. Vegetation leave areas were effective in reducing landsliding by 2-to 3-fold. Retaining vigorous understorey vegetation also reduced landslide volume by 3·8-to 4·8-fold. The combined management strategies of partial cutting, increasing rotation length, provision of leave areas, and retention of viable understorey vegetation offer the best alternative for minimizing landslide occurrence in managed forests.

Abstract:A physically based distributed slope stability model is described that utilizes a combined surface-subsurface kinematic wave module to assess groundwater fluctuations related to slope stability. A total of 82 major rainstorms from 1972 to 1990 in Carnation Creek, British Columbia, were examined to determine the influence of different characteristics of rainstorms (such as mean and maximum hourly intensity, duration, and rainfall amount) on the slope stability. These rainstorms vary in mean intensity from 1Ð6 to 11Ð2 mm h 1 , storm duration from 11 to 93 h, and maximum hourly intensity from 3Ð4 to 35 mm h 1 . Four synthetic 'uniform intensity' rainstorms were also tested against real storms to assess the effect of short-term hourly rainfall intensity peaks on landslide occurrence. Altogether, 602 simulations were conducted. The combined influence of mean and maximum hourly intensity, duration, and total rainfall amount of rainstorms were important in generating landslides. The temporal distribution of short-term intensity also influenced the landslide occurrence. When saturated hydraulic conductivity of the soil was lowered or soil depth was raised, most rainstorms produced larger numbers of landslides. For the most part, actual rainstorms produced less stable conditions than their synthetic 'uniform intensity' counterparts. For all landslide-producing storms, slope failure usually occurred after some threshold of cumulative rainfall and maximum hourly rainfall intensity. These simulations provide insights into the distributed behaviour of landslide occurrence during large rainstorms with varying characteristics.