HYDROLOGY AND CLIMATE IN A PAIRED WATERSHED STUDY IN NORTHERN UTAH

We began a paired watershed study in the headwaters of the Weber River in northern Utah in 2003. The primary reason for the study is to identify vegetation treatments that are likely to result in restored ecosystem function of high elevation watersheds on private lands. We propose that historic fire suppression practices, land use, and vegetation dynamics (namely pinon juniper encroachment on aspen stands), have modified the catchment-scale ecosystem processes, including the hydrologic cycle. This presentation describes the on-going efforts to monitor climate and hydrology within these ~1000 acre catchments. Our background monitoring of climate and streamflow has allowed us to estimate gross water balances given the current status of each, and our record of bottom-of-catchment and synoptic stable isotope and biogeochemistry has provided us with more insight into the workings of each catchment.