Water Stewardship Information Sources
| ID | 757 |
|---|---|
| Citation | Grainger and Associates Consulting Ltd and Streamworks Unlimited. 2010. Trepanier Creek Hydrological Risk Assessment. Prepared for BC Ministry of Environment. |
| Organization | Ministry of Environment |
| URL | http://a100.gov.bc.ca/appsdata/acat/documents/r18289/TrepanierCreekHydrologic_1275325693431_e9928943f45af179c58a8f3dcf58c3fa12b267f5dea0ab0341afe38258149d39.pdf |
| Abstract/Description or Keywords | Grainger and Associates Consulting Ltd. and Streamworks Unlimited completed an analysis of Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB) and salvage harvesting-related risks to water quality, water supply, fish habitat and other infrastructure in Trepanier Creek Community Watershed. Trepanier Creek has an area of 255km2 and drains into Okanagan Lake just north of the Town of Peachland. It is a water source for the District of Peachland (DoP). The hydrological effects of MPB and salvage harvest forest cover disturbance were analysed using recent research findings on snow accumulation and melt effects under different forest canopy conditions, including the effects of the dead pine trees, non-pine overstory, and understory seedlings, saplings and poles in MPB-attacked stands (Huggard and Lewis, 2008). Canopy change effects are expressed as equivalent clearcut area (ECA). Stand structure data for ECA modelling was collected in 245 random plots in 30 accessible pineleading stands (>40% pine) in the hydrologically sensitive upper watershed ﾓsnow zoneﾔ, in seven South Okanagan watersheds near and including Trepanier Creek. Over 70% of inventoried pineleading stands had a non-pine overstory averaging 25 to 69% of total overstory basal area, and healthy understory averaging 560 to 1000 well-spaced stems/ha >1.3m tall. These stands will have a significant hydrological function, even if all pine in the stand is dead. Stand data was used to model two watershed level management scenarios. In the ﾓMPB/unharvestedﾔ scenario, all pine trees in pine-leading stands (>40% pine) are assumed to be killed by MPB, and no further forest harvesting activity takes place in the watershed. In the ﾓfull clearcut salvageﾔ scenario all pine-leading stands are clearcut harvested, with the exception of riparian zones, old growth management and other areas designated as long-term reserves by forest licensees. For each of these scenarios, stand ECA data was rolled up into watershed or sub-basin ECA's for Trepanier Creek watershed and its four sub-basins. watershed assessment, water quality, mountain pine beetle, climate change, geomorphology, peak flow, low flow, forest disturbance, forest harvest |
| Information Type | report |
| Regional Watershed | Okanagan |
| Sub-watershed if known | Trepanier Creek |
| Aquifer # | |
| Comments | |
| Project status | complete |
| Contact Name | Bill Grainger |
| Contact Email | [email protected] |