Using Wildlife Guzzlers to Estimate Precipitation and Runoff in Remote Catchments
 

Laurel Saito (PI); Mark Walker (Co-PI); Kelley Stewart (Co-PI); Mark Weltz (Co-PI)

Student:  Nicholas Grant (UNR)

Other assistance provided by: Christo Morris (ARS)

Funded by:  Nevada Arid Rangelands Initiative; USDA Agricultural Research Service; Bureau of Land Management; Nevada Department of Wildlife

* 2008 -2010*
Photos

We are investigating the potential enhancement of the availability of precipitation and runoff data in the arid west by installing precipitation and water level monitoring devices on existing wildlife guzzlers.  Wildlife guzzlers are designed to capture rainwater and/or snowmelt to store water during dry periods for wildlife, and some also capture surface runoff.  The Nevada Department of Wildlife currently maintains over 1500 small and big game guzzlers throughout Nevada, so if it is possible to add hydrologic instrumentation and gather reliable data, this could be a relatively low-cost way to greatly increase the density of precipitation data for Nevada.  If surface runoff during storms can also be measured, this will provide excellent data for estimating rainfall-runoff relationships in catchments with intermittent flow.

A Research Experiences for Undergraduates student (Rob Engel) is working on the design of runoff collectors that may be used to monitor surface runoff at wildlife water developments.

Publications:

None at this time.

For further information contact Dr. Saito, lsaito@cabnr.unr.edu

Research Topics

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