Charles R. Hursh
From HydroWiki
Contents |
Biography
A native of Jonesboro, IL, Hursh received a B.S. degree from the University of Missouri and later a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. After graduation Hursh was employed by the U.S. Forest Service in 1926 after completing a Civil Service exam for ecologists with Ph.D. degrees. Hursh retired from the Forest Service in 1954.
Background
In the early 1900’s there was great speculation and concern over the effects of forests on climate, public health, soil, and stream flow. There was, however, little data available. Of particular concern were soil erosion, flood control, and sustained yields of water. This later led to the establishment of forest reserves and to the passage of the Weeks Act in 1911. The controversy over forest cover and stream flow peaked in the 1920s after the Mississippi River flooded. Subsequent surveys showed serious problems with land use, erosion, and flooding throughout the country. When the U.S. Forest Service established the Appalachian Forest Experiment Station (now the Southern Research Station) located in western North Carolina it had no professional foresters with the expertise to study the effects of forests on soil, climate and stream flow. It was at this time Hursh was hired to develop a watershed research program in western North Carolina.
Hursh’s first goal while at the Southern Research Station was to define the characteristics of soil, water, and climate of forested land by accumulation data on small drainages that represented discrete, independent hydrologic units. Between the time of his hire in 1926 and 1931, Hursh worked to establish erosion control, roadbank stabilization, accumulation of organic matter in soil and the role of upstream watersheds in the Mississippi River. Based on this early research on surface runoffs from forests and farmlands Hursh was able to provide preliminary data on the movement of water through the soil profile.
After compiling the data, Hursh was able to prepare a comprehensive analysis of problems involving forest influences and had proposed an approach to solving them. His plan recommended the establishment of a long term monitoring studies as well as the creation of the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory as a research site. The site’s location was selected based on its location of complete headwater drainage, perennial stream flow, high rainfall, deep soils, and complete forest cover.
Work at Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory
After adopting Hursh’s proposal in 1933, 3900 acres of the Nantahala National Forest was set aside as the Coweeta Experimental Forest. Using labor from federal programs funded during the great depression, Hursh oversaw the construction of roads, offices, shops, a power plant, a hydraulic testing station, and 10 weather stations. Additionally, Hursh was able to inventory vegetation, create a 60-gage network for measuring precipitation, and install 16 stream gages, 4 ground water wells, and 25 weirs.
By 1939, Hursh was able to collect enough data to begin testing the effects of changes in forest cover on three distinct watersheds. Trees were felled on two of the three watersheds with one of the two being completely cleared to simulate animal grazing and farming practices.
Contributions to Hydrology
Hursh's approach to watershed measurement was a dramatic diversion from common hydrologic practice during the 1930’s and 1940’s. Hursh endeavored to evaluate the effects that changes in forest cover had on a watershed by measuring the changes in balance between precipitation and runoff. The conventional method of watershed analysis at this time paired watersheds together to serve as a check on the total change in stream flow.
During this time Hursh worked with other notable hydrologists such as E.F. Brater and M.D. Hoover to shape current concepts of stream flow and water quality. Through his work over the next 30 years, Hursh was influential in establishing the concept of a dynamic form of subsurface flow. This, in turn, inspired other researchers to take a more integrated approach to stream flow generation on forest lands.
