A watershed is the land area that contributes water to a system of stream channels.

1. A watershed is the land area that contributes water to a system of stream channels.

2. Stream Types Across the Landscape What happens up here … Affects waterways down here … (NRCS, 1998)

3. Healthy riparian areas • Unhealthy

4. Flood Tolerance • Species • Adventitious roots and lenticels • Age and vigor • **Season and length of flooding**

5. Flood Recovery • Roots • Recovery • May last up to 3-5 years. • Shoot growth • Susceptible to insect and disease attack

6. Changes in Riparian Forests • Loss - farmland, urban development • Much less fire • Dams • Disease • Increased herbivore pressure

7. Invasives • Saltcedar • Bromegrass • Russian-olive

8. Riparian Filter Strips • Native grasses and shrubs • Ephemeral/intermittent streams • May be used with buffers lower in the watershed

9. Riparian Buffers • Shrubs, trees, grasses • Natural or planted • **Three zones** • Larger streams/rivers

10. Bioengineering • Focused on streambank stabilization • Plantings AND earth-moving • Intensive and expensive

11. Cattle management • Water development • Planned grazing systems • Allow cattle in woods only when ground is not soft, trees not tender

12. The Dead Zone