Section 1 - Watershed Assessment Overview

California Environmental Resources Evaluation System (CERES) - Sierra Bioregion

The Sierra Bioregion is a vast and rugged mountainous area extending some 380 miles along California's eastern side and largely contiguous with Nevada. Named for the Sierra Nevada mountain range it encompasses, the Sierra Bioregion includes magnificent forests, lakes, and rivers that generate much of the state's water supply. It shares spectacular Lake Tahoe with Nevada and features eight national forests, three national parks -- Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia -- numerous state parks, historical sites, wilderness, special recreation and national scenic areas, and mountain peaks that beckon climbers, including 14,495-foot Mt. Whitney.

KINGS RIVER EXPERIMENTAL WATERSHED

The quality of aquatic, riparian (near-stream area), and meadow ecosystems is directly related to the integrity of adjacent uplands in their watershed. Forest Service scientists believe that these ecosystems are the most altered and impaired habitats of the Sierra Nevada primarily because of dams and diversions, overgrazing, roads, logging, and physical alteration. However, no long-term experimental watershed studies exist in the southern Sierra Nevada. Work began on the Kings River Experimental Watershed (KREW) in 2000 with data collection starting in October 2002. KREW has the following objectives. Quantify the variability in characteristics of stream ecosystems and their associated watersheds. Evaluate the effects of forest management (prescribed fire and uneven-aged, small-group tree harvesting), while maintaining older trees, large snags, and large woody debris throughout the landscape. Maintain a mosaic of vegetation types and ages that mimic, to the extent possible, the historical distribution of vegetation resulting from frequent, low-intensity fires prevalent before European settlement of the West. The Sierra Nevada Framework posed several management questions that KREW will address. What is the effect of fire and fuel reduction treatments (i.e., thinning of trees) on the riparian and stream physical, chemical, and biological conditions? Does the use of prescribed fire increase or decrease the rate of erosion (long term versus short term) and affect soil health and productivity? How adequate and effective are current stream buffers at protecting aquatic ecosystems? KREW will also address many basic and applied questions about headwater watersheds, streams, and riparian areas; these are outlined in detail in the KREW Study Plan (Hunsaker et al. 2004).

Overview – Color Aerial Photography of Headwaters Subunit (NAIP)

This imagery is published by the USDA FSA Aerial Photography Field Office under the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) in order to provide current information about agricultural conditions in support of USDA farm programs. The State of California makes this imagery available free of charge to the public on the Cal-Atlas website.

OVERVIEW: Assessment Subunits and Corresponding Hydrologic Areas

Numeric identifiers of the Hydrologic Areas represent planning units from the interagency Calwater 2.2.1 classification system. The five-digit number is the DWR RBUA code from the Watershed Boundary Dataset. For more detail, please see http://www.ncgc.nrcs.usda.gov/products/ datasets/watershed/datainfo.html

Overview: Color Aerial Photography of Study Area (NAIP)

This imagery is published by the USDA FSA Aerial Photography Field Office under the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) in order to provide current information about agricultural conditions in support of USDA farm programs. The State of California makes this imagery available free of charge to the public on the Cal-Atlas website.

Overview: Color Aerial Photography of Millerton Subunit (NAIP)

This imagery is published by the USDA FSA Aerial Photography Field Office under the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) in order to provide current information about agricultural conditions in support of USDA farm programs. The State of California makes this imagery available free of charge to the public on the Cal-Atlas website.

Overview: Color Aerial Photography of Mountain Subunit (NAIP)

This imagery is published by the USDA FSA Aerial Photography Field Office under the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) in order to provide current information about agricultural conditions in support of USDA farm programs. The State of California makes this imagery available free of charge to the public on the Cal-Atlas website.