Pacific Southwest Research Station

Hydrologic response of sub-alpine wetlands to climate change, Tahoe Basin

Principal Investigators:
Graham Fogg, University of California-Davis

Proposal [pdf]

Final Report
Christensen Dissertation 2013 [pdf]

Please contact Dr. Graham Fogg with questions regarding the dissertation.

Project Summary

Perennial wetlands in montane environments are often supported at least in part by groundwater input. Groundwater is especially important for wetlands in areas with a snowmelt-dominated precipitation regime and high summer evapotranspiration rates. Understanding of the groundwater hydrology that supports wetlands in montane environments is often complicated by steep topography, inadequate characterization of the subsurface material, and sparse data.

This study examined the groundwater system supporting Grass Lake, the largest peatland in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, located south of Lake Tahoe, California using field measurements, numerical modeling, and a watershed-scale hydrogeologic model.