An Analysis of the Effects of Large Wildfires on the Hydrology of Three Small Catchments in Central Chile Using Tritium-Based Measurements and Hydrological Metrics

Balocchi, Francisco; Rivera, Diego; Arumi, José Luis; Morgenstern, Uwe; White, Donald A.; Silberstein, Richard P.; Ramírez de Arellano, Pablo

doi:10.3390/hydrology9030045

Open AccessArticle

An Analysis of the Effects of Large Wildfires on the Hydrology of Three Small Catchments in Central Chile Using Tritium-Based Measurements and Hydrological Metrics

by

Francisco Balocchi

^1,2,*

,

Diego Rivera

^3,4

,

José Luis Arumi

^4,5

,

Uwe Morgenstern

⁶,

Donald A. White

^7,8

,

Richard P. Silberstein

^8,9,10

and

Pablo Ramírez de Arellano

¹

Bioforest SA, Camino a Coronel s/n km 15, Coronel 4190000, Chile

²

Water Resources and Energy for Agriculture PhD Program, Water Resources Department, Universidad de Concepción, Chillán 3812120, Chile

³

Centro de Sustentabilidad y Gestión Estratégica de Recursos (CiSGER), Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago 7760609, Chile

⁴

CHRIAM Water Center ANID/FONDAP/15130015, Universidad de Concepción, Chillán 3812120, Chile

⁵

Department of Water Resources, Faculty of Agriculture Engineering, Universidad de Concepción, Chillán 3812120, Chile

⁶

Isotope Hydrology & Water Dating Lab, GNS Science, Lower Hutt 5040, New Zealand

⁷

Whitegum Forest and Natural Resources Pty. Ltd., Midland, WA 6056, Australia

⁸

School of Science, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA 6027, Australia

⁹

Hydrological and Environmental Scientific Solutions Pty Ltd., Perth, WA 6872, Australia

¹⁰

School of Agriculture and Environment, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Hydrology 2022, 9(3), 45; https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology9030045

Submission received: 14 February 2022 / Revised: 4 March 2022 / Accepted: 6 March 2022 / Published: 9 March 2022

(This article belongs to the Section Hydrological Measurements and Instrumentation)

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Abstract

Wildfires are an important disturbance affecting catchments’ soil and hydrological processes within. Wildfires are predicted to increase in both frequency and severity under climate change. Here, we present measurements of tritium (³H) in surface water of three streams before and after the ‘las Máquinas’ megafire of January 2017 in central Chile and streamflow metrics. Mean transit times (MTTs) of water were calculated in three coastal catchments with the Mediterranean climate type, covered by native forest, a mixture of native forest and Pinus radiata D. Don, and P. radiata. Lumped parameter models (LPMs) were used to obtain MTTs. Tritium activities from 2012 to 2018 ranged from 0.597 to 0.927 Tritium Units (TU), with the lowest TU activity in 2018. These ³H concentrations indicated water ages from 5 to 30 years. Following the fire, peak flows and baseflow have increased in two catchments but decreased in the third. Even though we have seen changes in the hydrological responses within the three catchments, pre- and post-fire MTT values were not significantly different. Therefore, there is no conclusive evidence of hydrological changes at the groundwater level due to wildfire at this early stage. However, since the MTT ranges from 5 to 30 years, it is likely that more time is required for the changes in the hydrograph to be clearly reflected in the tritium signal even though there are noticeable changes in streamflow metrics such as runoff and baseflow. Within the following years from this study, a sampling schedule to continue to investigate both the long-term drought and the effect of wildfire on these catchments will be maintained.

Keywords: tritium; land cover; native forest; monterey pine; wildfires; Nothofagus glauca

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MDPI and ACS Style

Balocchi, F.; Rivera, D.; Arumi, J.L.; Morgenstern, U.; White, D.A.; Silberstein, R.P.; Ramírez de Arellano, P. An Analysis of the Effects of Large Wildfires on the Hydrology of Three Small Catchments in Central Chile Using Tritium-Based Measurements and Hydrological Metrics. Hydrology 2022, 9, 45. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology9030045

AMA Style

Balocchi F, Rivera D, Arumi JL, Morgenstern U, White DA, Silberstein RP, Ramírez de Arellano P. An Analysis of the Effects of Large Wildfires on the Hydrology of Three Small Catchments in Central Chile Using Tritium-Based Measurements and Hydrological Metrics. Hydrology. 2022; 9(3):45. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology9030045

Chicago/Turabian Style

Balocchi, Francisco, Diego Rivera, José Luis Arumi, Uwe Morgenstern, Donald A. White, Richard P. Silberstein, and Pablo Ramírez de Arellano. 2022. "An Analysis of the Effects of Large Wildfires on the Hydrology of Three Small Catchments in Central Chile Using Tritium-Based Measurements and Hydrological Metrics" Hydrology 9, no. 3: 45. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology9030045

APA Style

Balocchi, F., Rivera, D., Arumi, J. L., Morgenstern, U., White, D. A., Silberstein, R. P., & Ramírez de Arellano, P. (2022). An Analysis of the Effects of Large Wildfires on the Hydrology of Three Small Catchments in Central Chile Using Tritium-Based Measurements and Hydrological Metrics. Hydrology, 9(3), 45. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology9030045

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An Analysis of the Effects of Large Wildfires on the Hydrology of Three Small Catchments in Central Chile Using Tritium-Based Measurements and Hydrological Metrics

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