Suspended sediment contributions from forest roads in the Honna River watershed

The Honna River is a source of drinking water for the Village of Queen Charlotte on Haida Gwaii, British Columbia. There is concern that sediment from a highly traveled logging road is contributing to poor water quality in the Honna River. This project is following up on the work of Elizabeth Baird (2010 Mitacs Intern), where she determined what factors controlled sediment leaving logging roads. However, the dataset she used was limited to a 10 month period. This project has two main objectives using a longer dataset collected over the past 3 years: 1. Determining what impact logging truck traffic has on sediment transported to streams during typical rainfall events and; 2. Assessing how improvements to logging roads could reduce sediment transported to nearby streams. This proposal is intended to focus on the first objective, with a separate proposal to focus on the second in 2013. This study will aim to provide practical management solutions for Island Timberlands, the Village of Queen Charlotte and the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations to reduce forest road generated sediment, and to improve water quality.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Marwan Hassan

Student:

David Reid

Partner:

BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development

Discipline:

Geography / Geology / Earth science

Sector:

Forestry

University:

University of British Columbia