Water expert to speak at El Dorado County supes meeting
Richard Bales, director of the Sierra Nevada Research Institute at U.C. Merced, will present new research on the beneficial impacts to water resources from sound forest management.
In a recently published paper, Bales makes the case that the Sierra Nevada Watershed Ecosystem Enhancement Project could increase water yield from forests and extend the retention of snowpack in the spring, both of which will translate into more water at the right time of year for the rest of California. Initial estimates suggest that reducing forest cover by 40 percent of maximum levels across a watershed could increase water yields by about 9 percent. Sustained, extensive treatments in dense Sierra Nevada forests could increase water yield by up to 16 percent.
Bales’ presentation is sponsored by El Dorado County Supervisor Ray Nutting and El Dorado County Water Agency General Manager Dave Eggerton.
The presentation is scheduled for 2pm March 20 at the Board of Supervisors meeting, 330 Fair Lane in Placerville. There will be time for discussion following the presentation.
“Removing 40% of the forest cover to increase water yield by 9%” – what kind of a trade-off is this (?). . .
Sounds like a ploy for the logging community, as it is overdue forest restoration work (including the removal of excess biomass) that will preserve and possibly increase the health of the ecosystem we rely on. . . as forests are already decimated, they remain the most important bulwark against climate change – by storing carbon and releasing oxygen.
This is true around the world. . .
I have an archived copy of an 2004 Op/Ed piece written by Mike Dombeck, Head of the U.S. Forest Service as to forests being “water factories” , but his emphasis is on vegetation (trees, plants, soil) as filtration to clean water, and saving further erosion as outcomes – not removing more of the forest cover.
Anyone e-mailing me at tahoefuture@gmail.com can request a copy, as the issue of water retention and diversion, mostly at the increasing expense of both irrigation and growing urban populations needn’t be at the damaging expense of further forest decimation, as noted above. . .
This direction would appear to once again exploit the ‘upstream’, as the ‘downstream’ continues to struggle with how to manipulate the demand in their favor. . .the upstream is too critically important than that, even if not heard from as much. . .
UC Merced just received a $2 mil grant for a 4 yr study of the snowpack by installing a massive web of wireless sensors in the 2,000-square-mile American River Basin in the Sierra northeast of Sacramento.
Why he’s talking about tree removal is beyond me. He should stick to putting his sensors on the ground and leave any tree removal issues alone for now.