Dr. Chris Surfleet
Dr. Chris Surfleet
Dr. Surfleet's Areas of Focus
Hydrologic Change due to Land Management · Water Quality · Watershed Assessment and Monitoring · Hydrologic modeling · Hydrologic Effects due to Climate Change
About Dr. Chris Surfleet
Dr. Chris Surfleet is a Cal Poly graduate in Forestry and Natural Resources, with a Master of Science and PhD in Forest Hydrology from Oregon State University. He has considerable experience in watershed management and research. His career as a hydrologist has spanned academic, research, private land management, and federal forest land management. His research has emphasized the hydrologic, soil erosion, and water quality effects of land management activities as well as hydrologic responses to climate change.
Currently Dr. Surfleet and Cal Poly students are studying the hydrologic response of meadow restoration and streamflow and soil erosion consequences of the post fire environment of Swanton Pacific Ranch.
Selected Publications
Surfleet, C., Ramirez, O., and Jasbinsek, F. In preparation. Long term study of meadow restoration following the removal of encroached conifers. Target journal: Forest Ecology and Management.
Bales, E., Floreani Buzbee, R., and Surfleet, C. In Review. Plant community change following conifer removal in a Southern Cascades dry meadow. Restoration Ecology Submitted August 2024.
Marks, S., Surfleet, C., and Malama, B. 2024. Estimating and Modeling Transpiration of a Montane Meadow Encroached by Conifers Using Sap Flow Measurements. Forests 2024, 15(10), 1786; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15101786
Surfleet, C. and S. Marks. 2021. Hydrologic and suspended sediment effects of forest roads using statistical analysis and DHSVM modelling. Forest Ecology and Management, Vol. 499. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119632
Dymond SF, Richardson PW, Webb LA, Keppeler ET, Arismendi I,, Bladon KD, Cafferata PH, Dahlke HE, Longstreth DL, Brand PK, Ode PR, Surfleet CG and Wagenbrenner JW. 2021. A Field-Based Experiment on the Influence of Stand Density Reduction on Watershed Processes at the Caspar Creek Experimental Watersheds in Northern California. Front. For. Glob. Change 4:691732. doi: 10.3389/ffgc.2021.691732
Ridgeway, J.B. and C.G.Surfleet. 2021. Effects of Streamside Buffers on Stream Temperatures Associated with Forest Management and Harvesting Using DHSVM-RBM; South Fork Caspar Creek, California. Front. For. Glob. Change 4:611380. doi: 10.3389/ffgc.2021.611380
Malama, B., Pritchard-Peterson, D., Jasbinsek, J. and C. Surfleet. 2021. Assessing stream-aquifer connectivity in a coastal California watershed. Water (13) 416; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13040416
Surfleet.C., Fie, N., and J. Jasbinsek. 2020. Hydrologic response of a montane meadow from conifer removal and upslope thinning. Water 12(1), 293; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12010293
Surfleet, C., Sanford, T., VanOosbree, V. and J. Jasbinsek. 2019. Hydrologic response of meadow restoration the first year after removal of encroached conifers. Water (11) 428; doi:10.3390/w11030428
Surfleet C. and J. Louen. 2018. The influence of hyporheic exchange on water temperatures in a headwater stream. Water (10) 1615, doi:10.3390/w10111615
Louen, J. and C. Surfleet. 2017. Hydrologic influences on stream temperatures in Little Creek and Scotts Creek, Santa Cruz County, California. In: Standiford, Richard B.; Valachovic, Yana, tech cords. Coast redwood science symposium—2016: Past successes and future direction. Proceedings of a workshop. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-258. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station. 131-134.
Mateus, Cristina, Desiree D. Tullos, and Christopher G. Surfleet, 2014. Hydrologic Sensitivity to Climate and Land Use Changes in the Santiam River Basin, Oregon. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 1-21. DOI: 10.1111/jawr.12256
Surfleet, C., Dieterrick, D., and A. Skaugset 2014. Change detection of storm runoff and sediment yield using hydrologic models following wildfire. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 44:572-581 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2013-0328
Surfleet, C.G., Tullos, D. 2012. Variability in effect of Climate Change on Rain-on-Snow Peak
Flow Events in a Temperate Climate, Journal of Hydrology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.11.021
Surfleet, C., and A. Skaugset. 2012. The effect of timber harvest on summer low flows: Hinkle Creek, Oregon. West. J. Appl. For. 28(1), pp 13-21. http://dx.doi.org/10.5849/wjaf.11-038
Surfleet, C., A. Skaugset, and B. Dietterick. 2012. An Approach to Study the Effect of Harvest and Wildfire on Watershed Hydrology and Sediment Yield in a Coast Redwood Forest. In: Standiford, Richard B.; Weller, Theodore J.; Piirto, Douglas D.; Stuart, John D, technical coordinators. Proceedings of coast redwood forests in a changing California: A symposium for scientists and managers. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-238. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. 675 p.
Skaugset, A., Surfleet, C., Dietterick B. and A. Simmons. 2012. The Effect of Selective Harvest on Watershed Hydrology and Sediment Yield in a Coast Redwood Forest. In: Standiford, Richard B.; Weller, Theodore J.; Piirto, Douglas D.; Stuart, John D, technical coordinators. Proceedings of coast redwood forests in a changing California: A symposium for scientists and managers. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-238. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. 675 p.
Surfleet, C., and D. Tullos. 2012. Uncertainty assessment of hydrologic response to climate change for the Santiam River, Oregon. Hydrologic Processes, DOI: 10.1002/hyp.9485, 16 p.
Surfleet, C., Tullos, D., Chang,H., and I. Jung. 2012. Rainfall runoff modeling efforts for climate change assessment and decision making in the Pacific Northwest. J. Hydrol. 464-465, 233-248.
Skaugset, A., C. Surfleet, and J. Amann. 2011. Evaluation of erosion models for predicting forest road erosion. Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2203, Vol. 1, 3-12.
Surfleet, C., A. Skaugset, and M. Meadows. 2011. Road runoff and sediment sampling for determining road sediment yield at the watershed scale. Can. J. For. Res. 41(10):, 1970-1980
Surfleet, C., A. Skaugset, and J. McDonnell. 2010. Uncertainty assessment of forest road modeling using the distributive hydrology soil vegetation model (DHSVM). Can. J. For. Res. 40: 1397–1409.
Beschta, R.L., M. Pyles, A. Skaugset, and C. Surfleet. 2000. Peak flow responses to forest practices in the western cascades of Oregon, USA. Journal of Hydrology 233:102-120.
Recent Reports, Conference Publications, and Abstracts
Surfleet, C. 2020. Evaluation of Forest Road Scenarios Using Field Measurements and DHSVM Modelling of the South Fork of Caspar Creek. Final Report prepared for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection; Contract No. 8CA03637, Cal Poly State University – San Luis Obispo, CA. 71 p.
Dietterick, B., C. Surfleet, D. Perkins, D. Loganbill, D. Theobald, M. Crable, J. Hardy, and M. Gaedeke. 2019. Post-harvest and post-fire watershed response in the Little Creek Watershed, Santa Cruz County, California: observations, assessments, and evaluations from 2001 through 2019. Final Report prepared for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Swanton Pacific Ranch, Cal Poly State University – San Luis Obispo, CA. 165 p.
Surfleet, C. 2019. Evaluating the hydrologic change of montane meadows following the removal of encroached conifers. EGU abstract. Vol. 21, EGU2019-5869
Van Oosbree, G., Surfleet, C. and J. Jasbinsek. 2014 A Water Budget Approach to Study the Hydrologic Response of Mountain Meadow Restoration Following Conifer Removal. AGU Fall meeting abstract. http://abstractsearch.agu.org/meetings/2014/FM/H11G-0956.html
Louen, J. 2014. Development of an approach to predict stream temperature cumulative effects from forest harvest. Poster presentation, Society of American Foresters annual meeting, Salt Lake City, UT.
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