We asked our Board Supervisors to occasionally write a  short spot for our newsletter.

 

Instrumentation Upgrade for High Elevation

Watersheds in the Snowy Range

 

By Larry Munn, LRCD Supervisor

River Restoration Update

 

We are very pleased to report that in addition to improving fish habitat, the 2009, Phase I of the Laramie River Restoration Project did indeed save several stretches of the Laramie River Greenbelt Trail, which were in eminent danger of being undercut by powerful spring runoff flows.  Last summer we embedded 60 full-size Douglas fir trunks into the bank with rootwads jutting into the stream channel, to create fish habitat,  and direct the power of the river away from the eroding banks at 6 sites.  We also brought in hundreds of tons of “shot rock” from a local quarry and with the help of many volunteers transplanted about 20,000 willows to give the treatments a natural look and help hold it together.  After record spring runoff this year, everything was still perfectly in place.   This year we will tackle another 25 sites in the project area between I-80 to the south and the waste water treatment plant north of Curtis street.  Work will commence in early August and run through October.  There will be many opportunities for volunteering to help harvest willows for transplant and you can follow our progress through our website at www.lrcd.net, or on the interactive FaceBook page for the Laramie River Restoration Project.  Many thanks go out to the City, County, Laramie Beautification Committee, Parks and Rec staff, and dozens of other people and organizations who have helped make this project a huge success!

June 8, 2010: Transplanted willows slowing the flow along the bike path behind Bighorn Lumber

Researchers at the University of Wyoming, are upgrading capabilities to measure hydrologic function of alpine watersheds in the Snowy Range.  In collaboration with the Forest Service, instrumentation is being installed this summer to expand capabilities to evaluate the impacts of bark beetles and climate change on local watersheds and to generally improve our understanding of high elevation watersheds where snow storage and snomelt runoff are so important for Wyoming agriculture.  An intensive instrumentation of Libbey creek and a sub-watershed of Libbey creek will provide new and more detailed information on hydrologic function. In addition to water flow, measurements of sediment and stable isotope chemistry will be collected to add information to the existing long term data base. Dr’s Ginger Page, Scott Miller and David Williams from Renewable Resources and Dr.’s Elise Pendall, Steve Gray and Brent Ewers from Botany are all contributing expertise to components of the project. The upgraded hydrologic sampling will also provide data to a statewide effort which includes the National Weather Service, the US. Geological Survey,  the Wyoming Water Development Commission and the Conservation Districts. The extensive beetle kill of so much of the forest stand in particular is a new phenomenon lie in Southern Wyoming forest watersheds. The enhanced instrumentation will provide data that will help researchers predict long term effects on water quality, quantity and release patterns as the forest recovers over time.

University of Wyoming Lab School students installing a floating dock at LaBonte Park.  The dock will be used by students for testing water and studying wildlife.