An Ecohydrological Approach to Managing Intermittent and Ephemeral Streams on Department of Defense Lands in the Southwestern United States

The objective of this project was to develop an ecohydrologically-based stream type classification and methodology for four military reservations in the southwestern United States representing the four Level III eco-regions that occur here Fort Irwin Mojave Basin and Range, Yuma Proving Ground YPG Sonoran Desert, Fort Huachuca Madrean Archipelago, and Fort Bliss Chihuahuan Desert. The goals of this project were to 1 characterize ephemeral and intermittent streams using vegetation, hydrologic, and geomorphic attributes and develop a stream type classification based on those attributes, 2 associate wildlife habitat with the variables and stream type classification to improve management of TER-S and species of concern, and 3 provide a tool that allows Department of Defense DoD managers to evaluate the impacts of perturbations e.g. climate change, military activities on the hydrologic regimes of these systems and the species that depend on them.