Tag: Water yield

Bringing science from groundwater to surface

by Virginia McDaniel, Science Writer  • 
On May 3, 2022 the USDA Forest Service hosted a virtual Santee Experimental Forest Research Forum. More than 40 scientists, researchers, and other partners came together to discuss projects occurring on the Santee Experimental Forest. The Santee Experimental Forest is nestled in the Francis Marion National Forest 10 miles from the coast in South Carolina.…  More 

Forests to Faucets 2.0

by Jennifer Moore Myers and Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
Standing on the banks of the Yadkin River in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, the river tumbles peacefully by. The river water has made a long journey: it originated as rainfall deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. It flows through the Uwharrie, Sumter, and Francis Marion National Forests. It travels through Winston-Salem, Charlotte, and Charleston…  More 

Wetland Silviculture & Water Tables

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
Water tables are everywhere, but their levels fluctuate – especially in the poorly drained clay soils of coastal South Carolina. Topography also affects water tables, and forested wetlands in the Coastal Plain tend to be flat. “They respond rapidly to rainfall and evapotranspiration,” says Devendra Amatya, a USDA Forest Service research hydrologist. Amatya is on…  More 

Species Selection for Woody Biomass Production

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
In the southeastern U.S., short-rotation woody crops are a significant part of a growing renewable energy supply. A USDA Forest Service study examines how growing different tree species for bioenergy may have impacts on water yield. “Loblolly pine has long been considered the go-to woody bioenergy species in the South,” says Peter Caldwell, research hydrologist…  More 

After the Fire, What Happens to Water Yield?

by Stephanie Worley Firley, EFETAC  • 
The immediate impacts of large and severe wildfires on water runoff have long been known to researchers, land managers, and, increasingly, the communities in their path. Devastating mudslides and millions of dollars in flood damage occur each year following fires that compromise vegetation and soils that would otherwise absorb and regulate the flow of post-fire…  More 

Watersheds of the Future Could Mirror a Variable Climate

by Stephanie Worley Firley  • 
With some exceptions, precipitation, water yield from forests, and forest growth and productivity generally increase from west to east across the United States. Shifts in temperature and precipitation associated with climate change may not necessarily alter these general west-to-east trends, but U.S. Forest Service and university researchers do anticipate great variability in how watersheds respond…  More