Location: Southwest Watershed Research Center
Project Number: 2022-13610-013-033-T
Project Type: Trust Fund Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Apr 13, 2026
End Date: Jan 31, 2028
Objective:
The upper Green River in Wyoming is the headwaters of the Colorado River and represents a vital water supply for farms, ranches, rural communities, and downstream water users throughout the western U.S. and is also an important source of renewable timber supplies. The provision of timber and water from these mountain headwaters is under threat from combined pressures of drought, warm winters, and wildfires. ARS research based on Snowtography (snow-photography) provides a flexible, low-cost means to directly measure how timber harvest and the spatial configuration of harvested areas and remaining trees affects the amount and timing of snowmelt water resources. ARS models have been used to generalize these impacts over landscape-scale forest harvest projects in Arizona and to inform water-smart forestry practices in Colorado. Objectives of this research include conservation of snowmelt water resources for farms, ranches, businesses and homes and improved soil moisture and fuels moisture conditions to improve wildfire resilience of the future forest.
Approach:
The current project will support design, installation, and operation of the first Snowtography measurement station in the Upper Green River Watershed (HUC8 14040101) through a partnership between the Cooperator and ARS. When completed, the Snowtography Station will measure snow depths daily in 150 locations across a mosaic of forest harvest projects completed between 1970 and 2018. Additional monitoring will include soil water content at 73 positions, 3 weather stations, and a research grade snowfall and snow water equivalence measuring station modeled after the USDA NRSC Snow Telemetry Station.