When forests burn, it can affect water quality. Large, high-severity wildfires have become more frequent in the Western U.S., increasing the likelihood of effects on water security (drinking water quality and availability). When watersheds burn, the potential for floods, erosion, debris flows, and stream and river contamination increases, threatening downstream drinking water, public health, and aquatic ecosystems. For example, in 2020, the Labor Day fires burned more than 1 million acres, causing serious water system challenges in Oregon, including water quality declines, water and hydroelectric service interruptions, and damage to infrastructure. In all, the 2020 wildfire season affected drinking water availability for more than 100,000 people. Effects from wildfires on watersheds and water supply systems can persist for decades, resulting in increased costs for communities.
Many drinking water utilities and communities in Oregon and Washington rely on water from increasingly fire-impacted watersheds. To deliver clean water to customers and communities, drinking water utilities need to anticipate the challenges associated with treating water from burned watersheds using their current capabilities, technology, and infrastructure. Communities need to plan for and often respond to wildfire-related risks and possible challenges to drinking water treatment using different capacities and resources. The Wildfire and Water Security project addresses these needs by providing scientific information and tools that do the following:
- Help forest and watershed managers understand the effects of wildfire on forested watersheds and drinking water systems
- Support informed decision making as managers and communities prepare for, and respond to, wildfires in their source watersheds
- Contribute to the delivery of safe drinking water to communities
The Wildfire and Water Security research team is structured to address the many complexities in managing fire effects on water in the Pacific Northwest. This project leverages research from scientists and engineers to better understand the challenges that water utilities and communities face as wildfire becomes more prevalent. Researchers, managers, and partners are contributing perspective, experience, data, site access, time, and funding.
The team is listening to and engaging partners. To start this endeavor, the research team hosted an intensive partner workshop to better understand the science needs of forest and water managers and drinking water utilities. The team learned that there is a broad need for a better understanding of the potential effects of wildfire on water quality, communities, ecosystem services, drinking water treatment, and forest and watershed management. Research teams mobilized to address the most critical questions identified by the partners.
Researchers are delivering scientific knowledge and tools. The research team is collecting samples and measurements in burned watersheds, addressing key gaps in watershed and water quality modeling, running experiments to assess the ability of technologies to treat water from burned watersheds, surveying communities and water utility operators, and sharing the complex results across these different focus areas. The knowledge and information gained through the Wildfire and Water Security project will be shared with land managers and utility partners in multiple formats, including digestible snapshots and summaries, maps, presentations, technical reports, and websites.