By Dr. M. Karl Wood Director New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute Recovery of Main Diamond Creek Watershed in the Black Range Following Catastrophic Wildfire

Where is Main Diamond Creek?

Canyon Sides 30-60% Slope Watershed 8.45 km long 11.09% mean slope

Northern Exposures Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, white fir, southwestern whitepine, Engelmann spruce, and quaking aspen

Southern Exposures Gambel oak, hairy mahogany, gray oak, and and scattered conifers

Willows, alders and mixed conifers Riparian Areas

Log Dams Installed by Civilian Conservation Corps

Main Diamond Creek Protected from wildfire for decades Contained half the total population of endangered Gila trout Fire: First week of July 1989 following a year of drought Fire covered 24,762 ha ( 1740 ha of the 2368 ha in Main Diamond Creek watershed)

Main Diamond Creek continued… 566 Gila trout were rescued and taken to fish hatchery at Mescalero Water sample taken July 20, 1989 contained 181,452 mg/l of total solids Runoff filled with ash, sediment, and bedload continued through 1990 Recovery time for reestablishment of Gila trout was estimated at 15 to 20 years Estimated that livestock could never be reintroduced

Main Diamond Creek continued… Other impacts: Reburn of 50 ha adjacent to creek in 1993 Heavy cattle trespass middle to end of July 1996 Prescribed fire in 1997 included 243 ha burned in 1989 and 202 ha previously not burned

Time Line ’89 ’90 ’91 ’92 ’93 ’94 ’95 ’96 ’97 ‘98 Divide Fire Flooding Partial Reburn Fish Reestablished Cattle Reintroduced Heavy Cattle Trespass Prescribed Fire

Monitoring Started May through September Collaborators included: New Mexico State University New Mexico Department of Game and Fish U.S. Forest Service U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Precipitation: Continuously recording rain gage

Runoff: Continuously recording stage recorder

Suspended solids: two Manning automatic sediment samplers timed to take a 500 ml sample every 4 hours

Temperature: Continuously recording thermometer

pH: Same samples used to determine suspended solids

Cross-section Profiles measure annually

Results

Typical Values for Total Suspended Solids (mg/l) For Selected Rivers* Skagit in Washington 12 Ogeechee in Georgia 14 Cache la Poudre in Colorado 16 Colorado in California 18 Rogue in Oregon 23 Cumberland in Kentucky 28 Yellowstone in Montana 47 Amazon in Brazil 143 La Plata in Argentina 196 Colorado in Colorado 240 Yukon in Alaska 308 Danube in Romania 325 Mekongin Viet Nam 340 Mississippi 362 Arkansas in Kansas 484 Nile in Egypt 3667 Yellow in China22,040 Stednick, J.D Wildland water quality sampling and analysis. Academic Press, New York

Common Species of Trout Grown In the Western States Temperature in °F SurvivalOptimumSpawning Range Range Range Brook Trout Brown Trout Rainbow Trout Main Diamond Creek 44.6 to 68.9 ° F Stream Temperatures

Steam pH Main Diamond Creek: Ranged from 6.4 to 8.2 Most values 7.0 to 8.0 Considered safe limits for Gila Trout Limiting pH Values Minimum MaximumEffects Fish eggs could be hatched, but deformed young are often produced Limits for the most resistant fish species Range tolerated by trout Trout eggs and larvae develop normally Fish avoid waters beyond these limits Optimum (best) range for fish eggs Provides protection for the life of freshwater fish and bottom dwelling invertebrates

Downcutting and filling were due to bedload shifts Magnitudes were not considered to be abnormal

Time Line ’89 ’90 ’91 ’92 ’93 ’94 ’95 ’96 ’97 ‘98 Divide Fire Flooding Partial Reburn Fish Reestablished Cattle Reintroduced Heavy Cattle Trespass Prescribed Fire Major Precip Major Solids Loading Major Precip High Runoff Minor Solids Major Precip Minor Solids Minor Solids

Conclusions Gila trout were reestablished in 1995, 1995, & 1996 Livestock were reintroduced in 1996 Livestock (including trespass livestock) did not adversely affect water quality A subsequent reburn and presribed burn did not affect water quality and fish populations Gila trout apparently have more tolerance to higher total solids loads than other trout species

Questions?