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A methodology for estimating detectable change in water quality due to prescribed fire in northern Colorado

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dc.contributor.authorLange, Robert William, author
dc.coverage.spatialColorado
dc.date.accessioned2007-01-03T04:39:20Z
dc.date.available2007-01-03T04:39:20Z
dc.date.issued2001
dc.description.abstractIncreases in nutrients and metals in receiving waters have been documented after wildfire. However, water quality impacts from prescribed fire are not well known. This research investigated the design of a post-fire water quality monitoring program using a pre-fire dataset to detect water quality changes from prescribed fire. Since water quality changes due to land use practices are often difficult to detect due to high natural variability, a paired watershed approach was implemented. Two small watersheds were selected in the Cache la Poudre watershed in Northern Colorado and monitored for one year, resulting in 14 pre-fire water quality samples. A single station and paired approach, which consider statistical power are presented and the minimum detectable change is calculated for a range of post-fire sample sizes. Samples from the Bobcat Fire in the Big Thompson Watershed near Drake, Colorado are used to evaluate the results. These results show that with 16 post-fire samples a change of less than 1% of the difference between pre-firewater quality samples and samples from the Bobcat Fire can be detected for most parameters with a statistical power of 80%. The paired watershed approach is shown to reduce the minimum detectable change by half for parameters that are correlated between the two watersheds.
dc.format.mediummasters theses
dc.identifier2001_Spring_Lange_William.pdf
dc.identifierETDF2001400001GEOS
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10217/77782
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherColorado State University. Libraries
dc.relationCatalog record number (MMS ID): 991011372309703361
dc.relationTD224.C6.L35 2001
dc.relationwwdl
dc.relation.ispartof2000-2019
dc.rightsCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.
dc.subject.lcshWater quality -- Colorado
dc.subject.lcshPrescribed burning -- Colorado
dc.titleA methodology for estimating detectable change in water quality due to prescribed fire in northern Colorado
dc.typeText
dcterms.rights.dplaThis Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/). You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
thesis.degree.disciplineEarth Resources
thesis.degree.grantorColorado State University
thesis.degree.levelMasters
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science (M.S.)

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