Watershed Management and Restoration
The primary research need for natural resource decision making, according to a recently
published national survey of scientists and policy makers, is the quantity and quality of surface
and groundwater necessary to sustain U.S human populations and ecosystem resilience during
the next 100 years. An estimated 70% of the freshwater in the United States originates in
forests, with the headwaters often occurring in National Forests. Forest Service research
provides the science for sustainable management of water and water dependent resources. This
research is critically important as demand on freshwater and climate driven treats to water
resources increase. Outcomes of this research include improved estimates of water yield from
national forest, identification of watershed most at risk of extreme fire events, improved
restoration strategies for cold-water fishes.
Recent Forest Service R&D accomplishments include:

A recently launched, multi-partner web-accessible database "NorWest" that provided stream
temperature monitoring data worth an estimated $10,000,000. The data had been collected
by more than 60 state, federal, tribal, and private resource agencies over previous decades.
This tool supports stream temperature-climate scenarios for all fish-bearing streams across
Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, including 52 national forests.
Ultimately, this resource will facilitate better climate vulnerability assessments for aquatic
species, enable coordinated management responses, and improve the efficiency of monitoring
efforts by reducing redundancies.

NetMap, a platform for rapid, cost-effective watershed analysis. This tool supports climatesmart management by identifying areas of watersheds that are most likely to warm, are
susceptible to erosion and mass wasting from wildfires and floods, and are currently most
productive for fish. NetMap is available to forest managers in the Northwest and is being
expanded to cover other western regions.

Forest Service scientists developed a new approach to prioritizing watershed restoration
needs that do not require expensive water sampling. Scientists used novel information
derived from the Landsat data archive that describes forest canopy cover change along with
forest inventory data and existing land cover data to predict total phosphorus content and
turbidity in streams draining into Lakes Superior and Michigan. This approach will
contribute to effective management of the Great Lakes watershed and result in efficient use
of restoration funds and will ultimately contribute to improve near-shore water quality.
Research in FY 2015 will continue to focus on best management practices for watershed
management, efficient and effective restoration strategies, methods for assessing changes in
watershed condition, improved techniques for watershed monitoring and assessment,
projections of national and regional water demand and supply under changing climate and
development scenarios, and strategies for managing surface and groundwater resources under
changing climate conditions and disturbance patterns.