or beneficial uses. All four watershed have been heavily impacted by a 

 combination of timber harvest, road systems, residential development, past 

 and present grazing activities and past and present mining activities. 

 Cumulative impacts were evaluated for the project area and were 

 considered to be low. The potential of near future re-entry for beetle 

 salvage and the proposed Donovan timber sale would increase the risk of 

 cumulative impacts on water quality. Possible cumulative effects would 

 be caused by harvest in riparian areas and additional impacts to soils that 

 result in increased erosion rates. 



4.3.1.2 Water Yield 



4.3.1.2.1 Alternative A: No Harvest (No Action) 



Under Alternative A: No Harvest (No Action), low to moderate levels of 

 overall water yield increases are expected as a result of the recent wildfire 

 and fire suppression activities. Rehabilitation of fireline and other 

 associated fire suppression impacts should decrease erosion during runoff 

 and storm flow events. Predicted increases in water yield resulting from 

 the wildfire are discussed and displayed in Chapter 3. 



4.3.1.2.2 Cumulative Effects of Alternative A: No Harvest (No 

 Action) 



Under Alternative A: No Harvest (No Action), water yields are expected 

 to increase as a result of the wildfire and wildfire suppression activities. 



4.3.1.2.3 Alternative B: Harvest 



The proposed salvage harvest operations are not expected to produce 

 additional water yield. Most of the trees within the stand replacement fire 

 units are dead and are not capable of the evapotranspiration process. The 

 dead standing trees have little or no canopy cover and are therefore 

 incapable of providing substantial levels snow or rainfall interception. 

 Most of the ground cover in these stand replacement fires was consumed 

 as well, resulting in lost forest floor interception. The only trees to be 

 harvested during the proposed salvage are burned dead trees. There will 

 be no live, green trees harvested during the salvage. To help decrease 

 overland flow, large woody debris would be scattered throughout the units 

 and logs would be contour felled in those areas where needed. 



4.3.1.2.4 Cumulative Effects of Alternative B: Harvest 



Implementation of recommended mitigation measures should result in low 

 direct, indirect and cumulative impacts. Cumulative impacts to water yield 

 would not significantly increase if reentry for beetle salvage sale occurred, 

 because only dead trees would be harvested and no new road construction 

 would occur. 



Dirty Ike Salvage Environmental Assessment 4-3 



