Shallow Groundwater Monitoring as a Tool to Determine Wetland Hydrology in Heavily Irrigated Agricultural Areas of Western U.S.
Location
ECC 216
Event Website
https://water.usu.edu/
Start Date
3-31-2008 7:05 PM
End Date
3-31-2008 7:10 PM
Description
The criteria for delineating wetlands that fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) are based on three parameters: 1) vegetation, 2) soils, and 3) hydrology. Determination of hydrology can be confounding in the arid west, where irrigation water can serve to augment existing natural sources of water, or it can be the sole source of water maintaining wetland plant communities. The only way to account for the input of anthropogenic sources of water is to cease irrigation and allow for the plant communities to adjust—a process that can take a long time because plant communities shift slowly, often over the course of many years. Groundwater monitoring can determine whether wetland hydrology exists in the absence of irrigation, over the course of one or two growing seasons. Groundwater monitoring studies can expedite the process of documenting existing conditions. They can also improve the accuracy and expediency of determining if a wetland is a relatively permanent and self-sustaining landscape feature, or it is an artifact of human management of water.
Shallow Groundwater Monitoring as a Tool to Determine Wetland Hydrology in Heavily Irrigated Agricultural Areas of Western U.S.
ECC 216
The criteria for delineating wetlands that fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) are based on three parameters: 1) vegetation, 2) soils, and 3) hydrology. Determination of hydrology can be confounding in the arid west, where irrigation water can serve to augment existing natural sources of water, or it can be the sole source of water maintaining wetland plant communities. The only way to account for the input of anthropogenic sources of water is to cease irrigation and allow for the plant communities to adjust—a process that can take a long time because plant communities shift slowly, often over the course of many years. Groundwater monitoring can determine whether wetland hydrology exists in the absence of irrigation, over the course of one or two growing seasons. Groundwater monitoring studies can expedite the process of documenting existing conditions. They can also improve the accuracy and expediency of determining if a wetland is a relatively permanent and self-sustaining landscape feature, or it is an artifact of human management of water.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/runoff/2008/Posters/4