Forests of the Future as Sustainable Water Supply

The forests of the future will serve as a sustainable supply of clean water, researchers say in a new federal report supported by the United States Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture. As both urban and agricultural demands for water continue to increase, and the role of clean water from forests becomes better understood as an “ecosystem service” of great value. Many factors – changing climate, wildfires, insect outbreaks, timber harvest, roads, and even urban sprawl – are influencing water supplies from forests. Preserving and managing forests may help sustain water supplies and water quality from headwaters in the future, the report concludes.

Among the findings of the report include:

• Forests cover about one-third of the nation’s land area, and although they have roles in timber production, habitat, recreation and wilderness, their most important output may be water.
• Forests provide natural filtration and storage systems that process nearly two-thirds of the water supply in the U.S.
• Demand for water continues to rise due to population growth, while forest acreage is declining and remaining forest lands are threatened by climate change, disease epidemics, fire and global climate change.
• Forest vegetation and soils, if healthy and intact, can benefit human water supplies by controlling water yield, peak flows, low flows, sediment levels, water chemistry and quality.

To read more, visit http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ncs/newsarch/2008/Jul08/WaterSupply.html.