Forestry & Wildfire Resiliency

While fire is an essential and naturally occurring event in California's natural landscapes, fires across California are becoming uncharacteristically large, and undoubtedly pose a risk to the watersheds they affect.  Wildfires can destroy vegetation which protects the land from erosion and prevents runoff of sediment into water bodies.  This sediment runoff can damage water bodies by increasing the cloudiness of the water, also known as turbidity. This increase in turbidity results in less light reaching native aquatic plants and algae, which limits photosynthesis and can result in the death of those plants and algae, potentially opening the door for invasive species to move in.  Increases in turbidity can also raise water temperatures, resulting in lower levels of dissolved oxygen.  Less dissolved oxygen in waters is detrimental to fish and can cause fish kills.

When wildfires burn more urban areas, the debris and ash from manmade structures and objects can also run off into streams and water bodies.  This debris and ash often contain heavy metals and toxic chemicals, which can contaminate drinking water sources and present additional human health challenges.