Sacramento, California Local News
A new study uncovers another devastating effect of California’s wildfires
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As wildfires sweep across California at greater frequency every year, a new study has uncovered another devastating effect of the annual disasters. Erosion in the state after a wildfire has increased dramatically in the past 37 years, according to recent U.S. Geological Survey research.The groundbreaking study analyzed soil and sediment erosion in the year following a big wildfire, for the years between 1984 and 2021. The concerning acceleration continues unabated as climate change leads to a growth in both yearly wildfires and record wet years. “We anticipated that we would also see some increase , but we were surprised at the degree to which that increase has occurred,” said Helen Dow, a research geologist with the USGS. The surge was most notable in Northern California, though it occurred all across the state.This could be particularly alarming for the state’s water system, with 57% of post-fire erosion occurring upstream of California’s reservoirs, where it could harm water quality and even damage vital infrastructure. Hopefully, water managers across the state can look at how they might manage their facilities in the future based on the new research, taking potential wildfires into account, Dow said.Ideally, the research also brings to light the issue of post-fire erosion across the state and can inform local research in different parts of California. Because the scale of the research was extensive, scientists now know erosion continues more than just a year after wildfires.“Everyone living in the state knows that wildfire is becoming a bigger problem. We’ve all lived through it,” Dow said. “What people might not know is that fire damages landscapes in a way that creates a threat for communities and water systems downstream — and that this threat can then last for years, long after the hazard of the fire itself is gone.”
As wildfires sweep across California at greater frequency every year, a new study has uncovered another devastating effect of the annual disasters. Erosion in the state after a wildfire has increased dramatically in the past 37 years, according to recent U.S. Geological Survey research.
The groundbreaking study analyzed soil and sediment erosion in the year following a big wildfire, for the years between 1984 and 2021. The concerning acceleration continues unabated as climate change leads to a growth in both yearly wildfires and record wet years.
“We anticipated that we would also see some increase [in erosion], but we were surprised at the degree to which that increase has occurred,” said Helen Dow, a research geologist with the USGS.
The surge was most notable in Northern California, though it occurred all across the state.
This could be particularly alarming for the state’s water system, with 57% of post-fire erosion occurring upstream of California’s reservoirs, where it could harm water quality and even damage vital infrastructure. Hopefully, water managers across the state can look at how they might manage their facilities in the future based on the new research, taking potential wildfires into account, Dow said.
Ideally, the research also brings to light the issue of post-fire erosion across the state and can inform local research in different parts of California. Because the scale of the research was extensive, scientists now know erosion continues more than just a year after wildfires.
“Everyone living in the state knows that wildfire is becoming a bigger problem. We’ve all lived through it,” Dow said. “What people might not know is that fire damages landscapes in a way that creates a threat for communities and water systems downstream — and that this threat can then last for years, long after the hazard of the fire itself is gone.”
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