Reframing the Challenge of Global Wildfire Threats to Water Supplies

Hallema, Dennis W.; Robinne, François; Bladon, Kevin D.

doi:10.1029/2018ef000867

Cited by 55 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…In particular, the ability of the model to identify persistent and insensitive sediment bottlenecks will provide valuable insight for more targeted post‐wildfire aquatic habitat restoration. Finally, with the widespread damming of western waterways, this modeling framework can be used to help predict the vulnerability of water supply reservoirs located downstream of wildfires that generate debris flow erosion (Bladon et al ., ; Martin, ; Sankey et al ., ; Murphy et al ., ; Hallema et al ., ).…”

Section: Synthesismentioning

confidence: 97%

Post‐wildfire sediment cascades: A modeling framework linking debris flow generation and network‐scale sediment routing

Murphy

Czuba

Belmont

2019

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Wildfires represent one of the largest disturbances in watersheds of the Intermountain West. Yet, we lack models capable of predicting post-wildfire impacts on downstream ecosystems and infrastructure. Here we present a novel modeling framework that links new and existing models to simulate the post-wildfire sediment cascade, including spatially explicit predictions of debris flows, storage of debris flow sediment within valleys, delivery of debris flow sediment to active channels, and the downstream routing of sediment through river networks. We apply the model to sediment dynamics in Clear Creek watershed following the 2010 Twitchell Canyon Fire in the Tushar Mountains of southern Utah. The debris flow generation model performed well, correctly predicting 19 out of 20 debris flows from the largest catchments, with only four false positives and two false negatives at observed rainfall intensities. In total, the model predicts the occurrence of 160 post-wildfire debris flows across the Clear Creek watershed, generating more than 650 000 m 3 of sediment. Our new storage and delivery model predicts the vast majority of this sediment is stored within valleys, and only 13% is delivered to the river network. The sediment routing model identifies numerous sediment bottlenecks within the network, which alter transport dynamics and may be hotspots for aggradation and aquatic habitat alteration. The volume of sediment exported from the watershed after seven years of simulation totals 17% of that delivered, or 2% of the total generated debris flow sediment. In the case of the Twitchell Canyon Fire, this highlights that significant post-wildfire sediment volumes can be stored in valleys (87%) and within the stream network (11%). Finally, we discuss useful insights that can be gleaned from the model framework, as well as the limitations and need for more monitoring and theory development in order to better constrain essential inputs, process rates, and morphodynamics.

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Section: Synthesismentioning

confidence: 97%

Post‐wildfire sediment cascades: A modeling framework linking debris flow generation and network‐scale sediment routing

Murphy

Czuba

Belmont

2019

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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“…They are realities towards which everyone may contribute, in some way, in order to mitigate them. In fact, damage caused by forest fires has increased over the last few decades across the globe [1].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socioeconomic Impacts of Forest Fires upon Portugal: An Analysis for the Agricultural and Forestry Sectors

Martinho

2019

Sustainability

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Recent forest fire activity has resulted in several consequences across different geographic locations where both natural and socioeconomic conditions have promoted a favorable context for what has happened in recent years in a number of countries, including Portugal. As a result, it would be interesting to examine the implications of forest fire activity in terms of the socioeconomic dynamics and performance of the agroforestry sectors in the context of those verified in the Portuguese municipalities. For this purpose, data from Statistics on Portugal was considered for output and employment from the business sector related to agricultural and forestry activities, which were disaggregated at the municipality level, for the period 2008-2015. Data for the burnt area was also considered in order to assess the impact of forest fires. The data was analyzed using econometric models in panel data based on the Keynesian (Kaldor laws) and convergence (conditional approaches) theories. The results from the Keynesian approaches show that there are signs of increasing returns to scale in the Portuguese agroforestry sectors, where the burnt area increased employment growth in agricultural activities and decreased employment in the forestry sector. Forest fires seem to create favorable conditions for agricultural employment in Portuguese municipalities and the inverse occurs for forestry employment. Additionally, some signs of convergence were identified between Portuguese municipalities for agroforestry output and employment, as well for the burnt areas. However, signs of divergence (increasing returns to scale) from the Keynesian models seem to be stronger. On the other hand, the evidence of beta convergence for the burnt areas are stronger than those verified for other variables, showing that the impacts from forest fires are more transversal across the whole country (however not enough to have sigma convergence).Sustainability 2019, 11, 374 2 of 14 modelling, for example, brings new approaches for forest fire assessment, namely because it allows us to link several dimensions related with these multidisciplinary realities [2]. Good assessments of the impacts of forest fires are important contributions to the design of adjusted agroforestry policies, specifically in order to direct support to the most negatively affected activities. Policy instruments and related legislation are determinant tools for reducing the negative impacts of forest fires [3].Indeed, in international terms, agroforestry land inside and outside of Europe continues to burn, in some cases with more severity and frequency, namely due to climate change and global warming. On the other hand, governments and related institutions create (and disclose) more regulations than in the past [4]. Maybe, new approaches are needed, where new technologies may play a determinant role. Multidisciplinary approaches could bring interesting contributions, for instance, economic analysis could transmit valuable insights.These undesirable forest fires have always brought neg...

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“…The primary objectives of F2F were to explore spatial relationships between forested water sources, the number of downstream consumers, and potential threats from urban development, insects and disease, and wildfire potential [33,34]. While this model was a valuable initial effort, its direct applicability outside of USA is constrained, mainly because of limitations in data availability-yet, the global demand for spatially explicit information combining wildfire hazard and associated risks to community water supply is growing [35].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Regional-Scale Index for Assessing the Exposure of Drinking-Water Sources to Wildfires

Robinne

Bladon

Silins

et al. 2019

Forests

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Recent human-interface wildfires around the world have raised concerns regarding the reliability of freshwater supply flowing from severely burned watersheds. Degraded source water quality can often be expected after severe wildfire and can pose challenges to drinking water facilities by straining treatment response capacities, increasing operating costs, and jeopardizing their ability to supply consumers. Identifying source watersheds that are dangerously exposed to post-wildfire hydrologic changes is important for protecting community drinking-water supplies from contamination risks that may lead to service disruptions. This study presents a spatial index of watershed exposure to wildfires in the province of Alberta, Canada, where growing water demands coupled with increasing fire activity threaten municipal drinking-water supplies. Using a multi-criteria analysis design, we integrated information regarding provincial forest cover, fire danger, source water volume, source-water origin (i.e., forested/un-forested), and population served. We found that (1) >2/3 of the population of the province relies on drinking-water supplies originating in forested watersheds, (2) forest cover is the most important variable controlling final exposure scores, and (3) watersheds supplying small drinking water treatment plants are particularly exposed, especially in central Alberta. The index can help regional authorities prioritize the allocation of risk management resources to mitigate adverse impacts from wildfire. The flexible design of this tool readily allows its deployment at larger national and continental scales to inform broader water security frameworks.

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Reframing the Challenge of Global Wildfire Threats to Water Supplies

Cited by 55 publications

References 35 publications

Post‐wildfire sediment cascades: A modeling framework linking debris flow generation and network‐scale sediment routing

Post‐wildfire sediment cascades: A modeling framework linking debris flow generation and network‐scale sediment routing

Socioeconomic Impacts of Forest Fires upon Portugal: An Analysis for the Agricultural and Forestry Sectors

A Regional-Scale Index for Assessing the Exposure of Drinking-Water Sources to Wildfires

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