Upper Feather River Watershed

Created Ponds as Indicators of Restored Sierra Nevada Meadow Hydrology

Stream degradation has led to extensive restoration of wet-meadow systems in the Sierra Nevada. Pond-and-plug restoration reconnects the stream with its historic floodplain and dams eroded gullies, which then fill with water, creating a series of ponds. Elevated groundwater tables and stream flooding return natural function and wet-meadow vegetation. Little research has examined the impacts of these anthropogenic ponds on the hydrology of meadows, and ponds may represent a potential loss in the water budget via evaporation. In addition, ponds provide an opportunity to study proposed hydrologic models of groundwater flow in meadows. Meadows may act as a “sponge, valve, or drain” by absorbing and then releasing groundwater through the season, by recharging the meadow with groundwater through springs, or by allowing percolation of groundwater to deep aquifers. We measured groundwater and pond surface elevations and ponds' areas along with above and below meadow stream flow through a summer following a winter with 30% less snowpack than average.

To further understand the hydrology of restored meadows

2015-08-21

2015-08-21

Adam M. McMahon, UNR Masters Thesis

Flow, Groundwater, Hydrology, Incision, Meadows, Pond And Plug, Restoration, Riparian, Runoff, Stream

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