IMPACTS OF THE 1988 WILDFIRES ON THE WATER-QUALITY OF YELLOWSTONE ANDLEWIS LAKES, WYOMING

The objective of this paper is to examine whether the severity and gre at extent of the 1988 Yellow-stone fires impacted the water quality of two of Yellowstone's major lakes. Analysis of water quality records f or Yellowstone and Lewis Lakes collected over a fifteen year period (1 976-1991) have shown only a minimal shift in lake water quality follow ing the fires. Though 25 percent of their watersheds were heavily burn ed, these lakes appear to be large enough to dilute increased inputs a nd have experienced few lasting effects from the 1988 fires. The relat ive importance of landwater interactions in affecting the water qualit y of Yellowstone's large lakes must be viewed in the context of a mult itude of other factors, including changing atmospheric deposition and hydrothermal inputs.