U-027 - Initial Response of Step-Pool Streams to Wildfire
PI: Dr. Anne Chin
Project Lead: Anne Chin
Funding Source: NSF/EAR 1254989
Location: Waldo Canyon, Colorado
Dates: 2013-04-21 to 2014-10-05
Project Summary
Steps and pools are characteristic bedforms that dominate the channel morphology of steep mountain streams, regulating the flow and sediment dynamics feeding into lowland rivers and larger water bodies. In summer of 2012, several catastrophic wildfires spread across the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and burned numerous watersheds containing step-pool channels. These events provide opportunities to monitor the impacts of wildfire as a major disturbance on step-pool streams, and to ultimately develop predictive understanding of the resilience and potential recovery of such systems. This project seeks to quickly establish baseline conditions in step-pool channels before significant changes occur in response to the Waldo Canyon Fire. The Waldo Canyon Fire started on 23 June 2012 and was fully contained on 10 July 2012. It burned 18,247 acres of an area just northwest of the city of Colorado Springs, mostly on national forest land. Channel conditions in burned step-pool streams within the Pike National Forest will be documented at selected reaches. Temporary benchmarks installed in the study sites will provide bed elevations. Physical measurements include longitudinal profiles, cross-sections at pools, suspended sediment, and turbidity. Benthic macroinvertebrate samples will also be collected for analysis of wildfire impacts on benthic communities, particularly in relation to the impacts of changes in sediment regime in the streams.The project will generate information that can be used by environmental managers who manage water resources for communities such as Colorado Springs while also working to protect residents from flood and sediment hazards. Because step-pool streams are important habitats for many sensitive aquatic species, results of this study are also expected to have implications for ecological management. The project will engage graduate and undergraduate students, and develop a collaboration with the US Geological Survey. (From [http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1254989 NSF Award Abstract #1254989 ])
Project Sites
- PS01 Steppool Williams Upstream
- PS02 Steppool Williams Tributary
- PS03 Steppool Williams Midstream
- PS04 Steppool Williams Downstream
- PS05 Steppool CampCreek OldGlen
- PS06 Steppool CampCreek NewGlen
- PS07 Steppool CampCreek Gowe
- PS08 Steppool CampCreek Glen
- PS09 Steppool CampCreek Eagle
- PS10 Steppool CampCreek Aussie