“…Harvesting is predicted to result in increases of hillslope water levels of up to 3 m (Figures a,b and a,b); however, in general, peak increases do not persist beyond the initial post‐harvest years. Rapid recovery of aspen evapotranspiration (Petrone et al, ), although spatially variable (Figure a), is predicted to prevent water‐logging of near‐surface soils with low potential for run‐off generation (Buttle et al, ; Price, Branfireun, Waddington, & Devito, ). Where harvesting does result in increased hillslope groundwater levels, impacts may be difficult to identify (e.g., Figure a) as observed and predicted post‐harvest responses are similar in magnitude to observed fluctuations due to variability in atmospheric conditions (Figures a,c, a,b, and a,b) with comparable seasonal trends (i.e., peak following snowmelt and general decline during growing season) for both cut and uncut locations.…”