Pollutants from wildfires can linger in the water supply long after the flames are out. The findings are from a new study that looked at more than 500 watersheds across the Western U.S.
Scientists found that water stays cloudy with sediment and full of nitrogen and phosphorus for up to eight years after a wildfire.
The University of Colorado’s Carli Brucker worked on the study and says that makes the water much harder to clean.
"The biggest impact is really to the water treatment facilities themselves, and, you know, having to invest millions of dollars into increased treatments or repairing damages due to too much debris flowing into the treatment plants," Brucker said.
She and other scientists found levels of sediment, organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus can be more than one hundred times higher after a wildfire.
"In areas of the Western U.S. with these more forested areas, they're not only more prone to wildfires and have these like large fuel sources, but we see that those also drive higher, higher loads of sediments and contaminants," Brucker said.
Brucker says upgrades to water treatment systems are becoming more important as wildfires in the West get bigger and more intense.
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Last summer, the Grand Canyon’s North Rim suffered catastrophic damage from the Dragon Bravo Fire. Now, park officials are seeking public input on their long-term recovery plans for the area. -
Grand Canyon National Park is dealing with ongoing recovery efforts from recent flash floods and a destroyed water pipeline, as well as the 20-25 Dragon Bravo Fire.
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When natural disasters hit a community, there’s naturally talk of rebuilding. That work, though, takes workers to do the rebuilding. Saket Soni is director of a group called Resilience Force, which represents people who do this kind of work in what’s called the resilience economy. -
The faster a fire burns, the more severe its ecological impacts. That's one of the findings of a new paper in the journal Science Advances. Climate change only promises to further accelerate those fires, according to its lead author. -
The U.S. Forest Service says it has reopened parts of Oak Creek in Sedona. The popular tourist destination was closed during the Pocket Fire in June.
