watervulnerability

Chequamegon-­‐Nicolet National Forest Watershed Vulnerability Assessment, Eastern Region (R9)
The relative vulnerability of each HUC-6 to climate impacts on wetlands is presented in Figure 11. There
were 38 watersheds with low vulnerability because of low percentages of both total and acid wetlands.
There were 82 HUC-6s classified as having moderate vulnerability. There were 19 watersheds classified
as having high vulnerability and also 19 watersheds classified as having very high vulnerability because
of high percentages of both total and acid wetlands. They are located primarily in glacial till landforms
with loam or silt soils.
Groundwater Recharge
Average potential recharge varied substantially across the area. For 1971-1990, it generally ranged from 0
to 15 inches per year and for 2046-2065 it tended to range from 0-20 inches per year. The average
differences (future minus historic) for each pixel were mostly in the range of -1 to +2 inches (Figure 12).
The average potential recharge increased 0.54 inches from 7.81 to 8.35 inches for the entire area covered
by the Park Falls HUC-6s (Table 3). This represents a 6.9 percent increase in potential groundwater
recharge. While not large, this could have a significant effect over time on some groundwater dependent
resources.
Figure 10. Percentage of total and acid wetlands for portions of HUC-6 watersheds within the
Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest derived from ecological land type inventory mapping
247 Assessing the Vulnerability of Watersheds to Climate Change