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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-25-23 Public Comment - M. Wictor - Public Comment 4-25-2023 Researched_ Does removal of Trees affect hydrology_From:Mary Wictor To:Agenda Subject:Public Comment 4-25-2023 Researched: Does removal of Trees affect hydrology? Date:Tuesday, April 25, 2023 12:00:47 PM Attachments:Binder-Does removal of Trees affect Groundwater levels = YES!.pdf CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Please look at and review the PDF attached by scrolling through those multiple pages. Public Comment 4-25-2023 Researched: Does removal of Trees affect hydrology? From:Mary Wictor (mwictor@yahoo.com) To:mwictor@yahoo.com Date:Tuesday, April 25, 2023 at 10:54 AM PDT Dear City of Bozeman, Please distribute to City Commission, Community Development Board, and include as inputs for App. 22264 Canyon Gate I have researched online in the past plus at the present time about TREES and how they can and do affect hydrology, the water cycle, water quality--and importantly the level of groundwater. At the 4/18/2023 City Commission meeting before passage of Preliminary Plat for Canyon Gate Application# 22264, numerous questions-to-ask were submitted by the public, and many asked by City Commissioners who did note that Public Comment had helped make the project better/stronger. Several Commissioners spoke about Trees and their importance and preference to keep them. However, Mayor Andrus asked one that was responded to incorrectly. Thus, I feel it is important to relook at that question and provide a response based on some research. Submitted Question: "... Will removal of 110+ large trees increase the groundwater level to be even higher?" Answer/response: "No" or "No, effect." In reality: Trees do impact the ground water level and are certainly a factor to at least be considered. Proper modeling and design really must address this aspect and appropriately handle this/tehese influences. Please look at and review the attached pages from official Public Hearing in Montana related to Trees and Water in 2017 by Kerry White. In trying get to the root of things, relating trees (without even going into stormwater), I find this research is pertinent and is NOT refuted by other things I find browsing and searching online in the past, or at the present time using the Internet. I hope you will think about this input and materials, and consider what real impacts are related to development removing large numbers of significant trees historically on the land, in natural swales, where groundwater is already known to be at high levels (e.g., 6.44 -13ft). Sincerely, Mary Wictor 1504 Boylan Rd, Bozeman, MT 59715 Question studieD = YES! Does removing trees effect hydrology? To: City Commission –Bozeman, MT Public Comment 4/25/2023 Arbor Day [Relate to… App. 22264 Canyon Gate where high groundwater exists &>110 trees are to be removed/cleared, PLUS the land graded.] Rep. Kerry White (R)MT, HD 64 ▪U.S. House Natural Resources Committee •Serving as Chairman for the last two sessions ▪Environmental Quality Council •Third term ▪Legislature •Third Term ➢Public Testimony at public hearing –water rights, wells; watersheds & aquifers –October 6, 2017 10am Helena, MT (capitol) Photo: Montana Legislature ➢Kerry White: Couple things he wanted to get on the record that he had mentioned at the Environmental Quality Council… Public Hearing, audio recording: o There was a study done by Dan Ambercrombie from Sacramento Mountains, [New Mexico]… see report. •They did a [tree] thinning project on 3,000 acres. They had test water wells. ❖They raised the water table from 95 feet (below the surface of the land)to 15 feet (below the surface of the land)—an increase of 80 feet in the water table just by thinning the trees. ➢I think one thing we need to look at is the amount of trees and their consumption of water.” ~ Public Testimony 10/6/2017 Rep. Kerry White, MT 3,000 acres is under 4 ¾ square miles Before thinning After ▪Tree ROOTS reach about 75-125 & even 200ft deep! fb: Common Sense Solutions for Complex Problems •Representative Kerry White ➢“look at the amount of trees and their consumption of water.” Removal of trees just by clearing/thinning did highly impact groundwater levels. [NO grading of land occurred] ➢Raises the groundwater, and effects hydrology. Photo: Montana Scorecard 2017 Excerpt Page 6 of 7 report by Dan Ambercrombie in the Sacramento Mountains per MT Rep. Kerry White Southern Illinois University Carbondale OpenSIUC 2006 Conference Proceedings 7-20-2006 Restoring a Forest Watershed and Adding Water Back to the Land Dan C. Abercrombie Natural Resources Conservation Service Follow this and additional works at:http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/ucowrconfs_2006 Abstracts of presentations given on Thursday, 20 July 2006, in session 30 of the UCOWR Conference. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Conference Proceedings at OpenSIUC. It has been accepted for inclusion in 2006 by an authorized administrator of OpenSIUC. For more information, please contact opensiuc@lib.siu.edu. Recommended Citation Abercrombie, Dan C., "Restoring a Forest Watershed and Adding Water Back to the Land" (2006).2006.Paper 6. http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/ucowrconfs_2006/6 RESTORING A FOREST WATERSHED AND ADDING WATER BACK TO THE LAND Dan C. Abercrombie, abercrombie@tularosa.net, PO Box 306, Alamogordo, NM 88311, 505-491-7591 Historical evidence clearly shows a significant decline in both stream flow and ground water recharge in the Sacramento Mountains of southern New Mexico. Photos, oral history, early Census data, and written accounts all paint a much wetter picture than is present today. Dense forests are robbing springs and streams of surface flow. Ground water recharge during the recent drought was non-existent. Large numbers of wells all over Otero County dried up. Drilling deeper was successful in some areas, but people in some areas are still hauling water. Members of the Sacramento River Watershed Coalition recently completed several large thinning projects near Timberon. Several thousand acres of Ponderosa pine and alligator juniper have been thinned and restored to historical tree densities. Trees were thinned on both private and State Land using Senator Jeff Bingaman’s Forest Restoration funds, State Forestry Wildland/Urban Interface funds, NRCS Environmental Quality Incentive Program cost share, BLM, and the rancher’s input. Tree densities were reduced to improve ground cover and reduce danger of a crown fire. The Otero Soil and Water Conservation District began monitoring static water levels in five wells in the watershed about three years ago. Following the treatment and decent summer precipitation, water rose about 100 feet in a well below the treated area. The static water level in this well is now about 15 feet. The New Mexico Bureau of Geology is preparing a Hydrogeology Map of the Sacramento Mountains. Contact: Dan C. Abercrombie, abercrombie@tularosa.net, PO Box 306, Alamogordo, NM 88311, 505-491-7591 RESTORING A FOREST WATERSHED AND ADDING WATER BACK TO THE LAND Dan C. Abercrombie, District Conservationist Natural Resources Conservation Service 2920 N. White Sands Blvd. Alamogordo, NM 88310 Historical facts clearly show a significant decline in both stream flow and ground water recharge in the Sacramento Mountains of southern New Mexico. Photos, oral history, early Census data, and written accounts paint a different landscape than is present today. Dense forests are robbing springs and streams of surface flow. Ground water recharge during the recent drought was non-existent. Large numbers of wells all over Otero County dried up. The Otero Soil and Water Conservation District served as the catalyst to form the Sacramento Watershed Coalition in 1996. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), United States Forest Service (USFS), Bureau of Land Management BLM), Otero County Commission, the home owner groups and landowners near Timberon joined with the District in developing a strategy for improving the watershed health. The strategy developed revolved around applying for grants and coordinating implementation of projects. The Otero SWCD applied for 11 grants to thin trees and begin developing a data base of natural resources present in the area. In 2001, the first thinning project began and in 2003 the first grant was received for monitoring static water levels of selected wells in the watershed. During the summer of 2004, the static water level in the southernmost well being monitored rose 70 feet. SELECTED RECORDS FOR WATERSHED General Land Office Survey notes from 1885 describing the Sacramento River area state that “the entire township is covered with a luxuriant growth of grass. Almost the entire township is covered with heavy timber of pine and fir of very good quality”. Indeed, many photos taken of the Sacramento Mountains in the early 1900’s depict an open forest with good grass cover. The Department of the Interior carried out a firewood inventory for New Mexico in 1883 for the Tenth Census of the United States. There were 2-5 cords of firewood per acre available at higher elevations and 1-2 cords per acre in lower elevations of the pinon- juniper foothills. OLD BENT MINE PICTURE TAKEN LOOKING NORTH IN ABOUT 1900 AND IN LATE 2005 PORTRAYS TREE DENSITIES AT ABOUT THE SAME ELEVATION AS THE LAND THINNED BELOW TIMBERON In the early 1900’s a water line was laid from the Sacramento River to Orogrande to supply water for the railroad. As late as 1971, the Sacramento River was stocked with fish at Timberon. Carrisa Spring, part of Timberon’s water supply, has yielded as much as 600 gallons per minute. A 10-inch flow meter was installed on the main spring in 1986 and the average yield that year was 108 gpm. In the 1990’s the flow ranged from 124 gpm in 1990 to a low of 66 gpm in 1994. Presently it is flowing about 30 gallons per minute. Developers opened the Sacramento Mountains to large scale logging operations in the early 1900’s. A railroad was built from Alamogordo to Cloudcroft and along many canyons such as in the Sacramento River watershed to transport the trees to saw mills. Settlers, at about the same time, brought large numbers of livestock, which kept the lush grasses of the forest floor short. Without the low intensity ground fires of the past, large numbers of tree seedlings sprouted and lived. The delicately balanced ecosystem early settlers marveled at, was forever changed. Trees began to overpower the natural balance developed between trees, grass, and water over the past centuries. RESTORATION BEGINS The Coalition’s primary objective was thinning trees. Historic reconstruction of the forest plant communities painted a picture of a more open forest with many large openings or meadows. USFS logging records indicate a tree density of 20-70 trees per acre with 25-45 foot spacing. Three Federal grant programs were found which fit these parameters. The owner of the Elkhorn Land and Cattle Company applied for an Environmental Quality Incentive Program cost share grant through the Natural Resources Conservation Service to thin trees on his private and State land. Elkhorn restored about 1800 acres of rangeland to a more natural tree density. Photos depict thinning as part of a landscape with NRCS cost share program. In 2001, the Otero SWCD successfully applied for a Collaborative Forest Restoration Program grant through the Community Forest Restoration Act of 2000. Three locations in the watershed were thinned. At Sunspot, 8 acres on the western slope below the National Solar Observatory were thinned. The Circle Cross Ranch thinned over 40 acres along the western boundary of Timberon. The Southern Cross Ranch thinned 337 acres south of Timberon. These photos depict the west side of Timberon before Ponderosa Pine is thinned and after thinning with the CFRP grant. Timberon residents have completed 103 projects to thin 152 acres in Timberon. Project funding was received through the Western Wildland Urban Interface Program, which is part of the Happy Forest Act. BLM used internal natural resource project funding to thin 230 acres of pinon-juniper slopes along the southwest side of Timberon to make Timberon more wildfire safe. WATER The Otero SWCD received small grants through the Bureau of Reclamation to monitor the Static water levels in 6 wells in the watershed. Water level data has been collected since 2003. Static Water Levels Southern Cross Well 8.811/08/05 11.36/20/05 7.33/21/05 20.204/07/06 7.311/01/04 78.706/29/04 79.903/22/04 76.609/30/03 7607/08/03 7503/05/03 Static Water LevelDate -90 -80 -70 -60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 Static Water Level2003 2004 20062005 Time The graph portrays a dramatic rise in the water table at the lower well being monitored. This well is located in an east-west syncline or downfold in the San Andreas Limestone formation. The Otero SWCD petitioned the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 New Mexico State Legislatures for funds to complete some hydro-geologic mapping in the Sacramento Mountains. The Otero SWCD has been working on a plan with the Bureau of Geology to gain a better understanding of the water cycle in the Sacramento Mountains. Several years of mapping geology and data collection will provide facts so that land managers can use better science to make watershed management decisions. CONCLUSIONS Almost 3000 acres have been restored to a more natural tree density through the efforts of this Coalition. The wildland-urban interface initiative and Environmental Quality Incentive Program were the tools that led to the number of acres thinned contiguously. Ponderosa Pine roots extend 75-125 feet deep and juniper roots extend up to 200 feet deep. Reducing the consumptive use of the forest by thinning and restoring savannahs to the landscape apparently affected the water cycle. Landscape thinning during the present drought cycle produced a dramatic rise in the water table below the thinning. AUTHOR CONTACT INFORMATION: Dan C. Abercrombie, District Conservationist Natural Resources Conservation Service 2920 N. White Sands Blvd. Alamogordo, NM 88310 (505)-437-3100 Ext. 3 dan.abercrombie@nm.usda.gov REFERENCES Abercrombie, Dan C., 2003, Waters of the Sacramento Mountains Forest, Water Resources of the Lower Pecos Region, New Mexico, Science, Policy, and a Look to the Future, Decision Makers Field Conference 2003 Garrett, Dave and Garrett, Paula, 2001, Evaluating Forest Restoration Opportunities on the Lincoln National Forest: M3 Research Kaufmann, Merrill R., Huckaby, Laurie S., Regan, Claudia M., Popp, John 1998 Forest Reference Conditions for Ecosystem Management in the Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico: U.S. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-19