Estimating Regional Water Residence Time Changes in the Colonial Northeast United States

The Northeast United States experienced a fundamental change following colonization by Europeans. During the period from 1600 to 1800 forests were cleared, agricultural lands were expanded, beavers were hunted to near-extinction, wetlands were drained or filled, and cities were built. Such activities had important implications for the stocks of water on and the fluxes of water through that landscape. We have made an early attempt to quantify the changed water stocks and fluxes in the Northeast during this time period using historical information and simple analyses. Simple calculations and estimates of stock and flux uncertainty were used to compute the distribution of land surface water residence times at the beginning and ending of the Colonial Era. Our estimates show that humans shifted water residence towards shorter times, which would have important implications for geomorphology, biogeochemistry, and how humans responded to their alteration of the hydrologic cycle.