Characterization of post-fire streamflow response across western US watersheds
Abstract. This research investigates the impact of wildfires on watershed flow regimes, specifically focusing on evaluation of fire events within specified hydroclimatic regions in the western United States. Information on fire events and watershed characteristics were collected through federal and state-level databases and streamflow data were collected from U.S. Geological Survey stream gages. Eighty two watersheds were identified with at least ten years of continuous pre-fire daily streamflow records and five years of continuous post-fire daily flow records. For each watershed, percent change in annual runoff ratio, low-flows, high-flows, peak flows, number of zero flow days, baseflow index, and Richards-Baker flashiness index were calculated using pre- and post-fire periods. The gathered watersheds were divided into nine regions or clusters through k-means clustering and regression models were produced for watersheds grouped by total area burned. The coefficient of determination (R2) was used to determine the accuracy of the resulting models. Results show that low flows, high flows, and peak flows increase significantly in the first two years following a wildfire and decrease over time. Relative response was utilized to scale response variables with respective percent area of watershed burned in order to compare regional differences in watershed response. Watersheds in Cluster 9 (eastern CA, western NV, OR) typically demonstrate a negative relative post-fire response, in that when scaling response to area burned, a slight negative response is observed in flow regimes. Most other watersheds show a positive mean relative response. In addition, regression models show limited correlation between percent watershed burned and streamflow response, implying that other watershed factors strongly influence response.