Municipal Watershed Management Survey

Abstract

Based on survey data, this report provides a general • summary of the nature and extent of (and uses, manage ment problems, and informational needs for municipal watersheds in the southeastern US. Emphasis is placed on small and heavily forested watersheds and related forestry activities.Based on projections made in 1965, municipal water with drawal is expected to more than double by the year 2000 in the South Atlantic-Gulf, Tennessee, and Lower Mississippi Re gions.1 Population increases will contribute to these increased water needs, particularly in the South Atlantic-Gulf Region. A recent report2 emphasized the need for planning at a municipal level in order to meet future water demands; research needs have been discussed in several reports.2'3 It is clear that the management of municipal watersheds will become increasingly important in the future. Since many of the watersheds include forested lands, the Forest Service, USDA, through the Southeastern Forest Experiment Station and the Southeastern Area Office for State and Private For estry, conducted a municipal water-shed-management survey in the southeastern US in 1972, encompassing Alabama, Arkan sas,

Reforestation and the reduction of water yield on the Southern Piedmont since circa 1940

“…This consumptive use and reduced water yield may become significant as increasing amounts of water are needed for water supplies, hydroelectric power, navigation, and diluting polluted waters. At the present there is little real shortage of water in the humid United States, and basins subject to delibe1:ate management are rarely large [Dissmeyer and Swank, 1976]. Thus the findings of this study would have only limited management utility at present.…”