Abstract
Restoring mountain meadows within the Sierra Nevada may result in reduced sedimentation rates and benefits to ecological systems within the watershed and downstream. Healthy mountain meadows are believed to attenuate peak runoff rates and accommodate sediment deposition. Stream and sediment discharge data were collected during the 2011 water year from two basins drained by Tells Creek to assess whether the basins could be distinguished from one another based on their proportions of meadow area and sediment yield. Stream discharge and sediment yield data were compared with results produced by a geospatial interface for the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model called GeoWEPP. Land cover, soil type, and topographic geospatial data inputs were used within GeoWEPP to model average annual sediment yield for a five-year model period. This study provides a hydrologic characterization of the previously unstudied Tells Creek drainage basin in the El Dorado National Forest, California. An automated suspended sediment sampler collected suspended sediment samples daily during the spring of 2011 and again in October, 2011. The model simulation constructed in this study tests the ability of the WEPP model to simulate hydraulic processes in a large 2,319-hectare catchment using both field-collected and publically available geospatial data. Average annual sedimentation rates for the Tells Creek drainage were likely under-represented by field-gathered sediment samples and over-predicted by the modeled sediment yields. Model results also support the concept that the Tells Creek drainage basin with a greater proportion of meadow area may produce lower rates of sediment yield.