California Forestry
» Water Quality
Water Quality
Protecting Water Quality
Most of California's water originates in our forests. During the rainy season, moisture-laden clouds push onshore from the Pacific and squeeze against the slopes of the Coast Range and Sierra Nevada. The result is the snow and rain that we depend upon in our homes, farm fields, and for recreation as well as fish and wildlife habitat.
The quality of our water is directly affected by the health of our forests. A healthy forest acts like a giant sponge, preventing excess erosion and silting by soaking up rain and snow and gradually releasing it into streams. Healthy forests also remove pollutants from water.
Because of heavy rainfall, soil types and earthquake activity, streams along the northern California coast have more sediment flowing into them than almost any streams in the world. Earthquakes, fires, floods and landslides still create a continual cycle of destruction and renewal that has lasted millions of years. The fish and plants that live here evolved for eons under these conditions.
Because so much of our water comes from the forest, timber management practices in California are held to very strict standards. Long gone are the days when loggers "skidded" logs down drainages, or forest trails and roads were constructed with little concern about their potential for contributing erosion to nearby streams.
Today, before a Timber Harvest Plan (THP) is approved, all Plan watercourses must be carefully identified and mapped. Each watercourse is assigned protection measures based on a comprehensive environmental rating system. This ensures that streams that support fish receive the most stringent protections. Streams containing anadramous species such as coho salmon undergo the tightest scrutiny.
Forest water quality is protected in a number of ways, including the use of streamside buffers where logging equipment is excluded, tree canopy retention standards, "no-harvest" zones, and careful on-site mitigation of all watercourse crossings and forest road drainage systems. All roads, log landings and "skid trails" must pass final inspection by a state Forest Practice Inspector. The Inspector has the authority to issue citations for rule violations, or to invoke tougher measures such as ordering remedial work to be done.
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There are also long-term studies, sanctioned by the California Board of Forestry, which continuously monitors the effectiveness of the state's forest practice rules in protecting water quality. Previously harvested sites are visited and rigorously examined by teams of resource specialists. The results of these ongoing monitoring studies help ensure that today's strictly regulated forest practices are not impairing water quality or riparian habitat--giving us the products we need along with the assurance of the highest levels of environmental compliance and protection.
From the 1940's to the 1980's, government agencies required landowners to remove large woody debris from streams. That policy has been reversed because it's now known that wood in streams is an essential part of fish habitat. Foresters mimic the natural landslides and erosion by putting woody debris, rocks and gravel back into waterways. Forest products companies also have hatcheries and research programs that are improving the outlook for fish in California streams.