Wildfires Can Harm Water Quality up to Eight Years Later, Study Finds

Research shows wildfires can contaminate water quality up to eight years later

CENTRAL COAST, Calif. (KION-TV) -- In a recent study that discovered wildfires can affect water quality in surrounding areas for up to eight years. The research, conducted by the University of Colorado-Boulder, looked at data points from 1984 through 2021 comparing burned watersheds and unburned basins across the western United States. "Wildfires can dramatically alter water quality, resulting in severe implications for human and freshwater syst…

Wildfires can harm water quality up to eight years later, study finds

Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder found that wildfires in Colorado and throughout the western United States can dramatically alter the water quality of rivers and streams up to eight years after a fire. Results of a new CU Boulder study show high levels of contaminants such as organic carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen can remain in water for years after a fire. “We don’t really know too much as a field about the lingering effects o…

Wildfires can harm water quality up to eight years later, CU Boulder study finds

Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder found that wildfires in Colorado and throughout the western United States can dramatically alter the water quality of rivers and streams up to eight years after a fire. Results of a new CU Boulder study show high levels of contaminants such as organic carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen can remain in water for years after a fire. “We don’t really know too much as a field about the lingering effects o…

Water Contaminant Levels Can Remain High for Eight Years After a Wildfire, Study Finds

It’s no secret that smoke and other contaminants from wildfires can pollute the air, soil and water during and after a blaze burns out. But now, scientists are warning that wildfire pollutants can continue to contaminate local waterways for up to eight years after a wildfire event. In a new study, led by scientists at University of Colorado at Boulder’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), experts analyzed 100,00…

Wildfires leave lasting scars on water supplies by spreading contaminants for years

Communities that rely on forested watersheds for drinking water face prolonged risks after wildfires, as new research shows pollutants can persist in rivers for nearly a decade.Ben Livneh writes for The Conversation.In short:A large-scale study of 245 burned and 300 unburned watersheds in the western U.S. found that wildfires significantly degrade water quality, with contaminants spiking up to 286 times above normal levels.Key pollutants include…

Pollution from wildfires can contaminate our water for up to 8 years, study finds

When wildfires devastated a wide swath of Los Angeles last winter, officials warned residents of several ZIP codes not to drink the water, or boil it first if they must. They worried that soot, ash, and other debris from the blazes might have infiltrated the groundwater, or that damaged pipes might allow toxins into the supply. The last of these “do not drink” orders was lifted last month. But the first large-scale study of post-wildfire water q…