Storm Runoff and Sediment Production After Wildfire in Chaparral

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Author
Hibbert, Alden R.
Affiliation
USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Forestry Sciences Lab, ASU Campus, Tempe, Arizona 85287
Issue Date
1985-04-27
Keywords
Hydrology -- Arizona.
Water resources development -- Arizona.
Hydrology -- Southwestern states.
Water resources development -- Southwestern states.

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Copyright ©, where appropriate, is held by the author.
Collection Information
This article is part of the Hydrology and Water Resources in Arizona and the Southwest collections. Digital access to this material is made possible by the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science and the University of Arizona Libraries. For more information about items in this collection, contact anashydrology@gmail.com.
Publisher
Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science
Journal
Hydrology and Water Resources in Arizona and the Southwest
Abstract
Stormflow and sediment production increased greatly after a wildfire on three small cha3parrlal watersheds in .entral Arizona. Peaks frequently exceeded 5 m³ s⁻¹ km⁻² (450 cfg mi⁻²) when 15-minute rainfall intensity exceeded 50 mm hr⁻¹ (2 in hr⁻¹) on catchments that, before burning, responded little to intense rainfall. Source water for the flashy spates and heavy erosion was surface runoff on the severely burned, unprotected, water -repellent soils. For a few years after the fire, intense summer rains produced a disproportionate amount of the runoff and sediment. Early postfire recovery was rapid; severe flooding and erosion were over in 3 years, and within 5 to 10 years stormflows and peaks declined to near prefire levels. Postfire conversion to grass on one watershed did not appreciably change the rate of recovery.
ISSN
0272-6106
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