Hydrologic effects of a bushfire in a catchment in south-eastern New South Wales

Abstract An opportunity to study the effect of a bushfire on the hydrology of a forested catchment was presented when a bushfire burned through an area of approximately 280 square miles in the Snowy Mountains region of south-eastern New South Wales, Australia, in March 1965. The effect of the fire upon the hydrologic characteristics of two catchments for which streamflow records were available before and after the fire was examined and it was shown that: 1. (i) there were pronounced changes in the shape of the flood hydrographs of one catchment, 2. (ii) the peak discharge from the other catchment were increased, 3. (iii) the amount of runoff from both catchments was much greater in the years following the fire than it would have otherwise been, and 4. (iv) the sediment loads carried by the streams were greatly increased. After a period of about 4 to 5 years the catchments appeared to have recovered and their hydrologic characteristics reverted to those prevailing before the fire.