A Review of the Water Impacts of Wildfire at the Wildland Urban Interface

Devastating wildfires driven by climate change, fire suppression regimes, disease, and human encroachment into wildlands are increasingly common. However, the threats wildfires pose to water systems and infrastructure are poorly understood. Even more limited is our knowledge of the unique impacts of wildfire on water systems at the wildland urban interface (WUI). This is of particular consequence as fires at the WUI have become increasingly frequent and can have devastating socio-economic and environmental impacts. While there currently exists a modest body of literature that examines the water quality impacts of wildfire at the WUI, additional hydrologic consequences have received limited attention. To better evaluate the extent of the research and identify the knowledge gaps, we reviewed 114 papers from the peer reviewed and grey literature. The collection of literature included in this review were identified from paper citations and keyword searches including terms related to: water quality, water quantity, snow pack, aquatic ecosystems, and water infrastructure. The current findings of this review suggest future research on the subject of wildfire-related water impacts would benefit from, 1) research at more extensive temporal and spatial scales, 2) a greater attention to the impacts of successive wildfires, and 3) improved consensus on metrics for recovery and burn severity. We conclude by drawing attention to areas where there is an urgent need for a more expansive body of research at the WUI to improve our ability to plan for, mitigate and respond to the evolving threat of wildfires to water systems.