Once again, lower than average winter rainfall has paired with exceptionally hot summer months and set California up for a disastrous wildfire season with the potential to surpass that of the historic 2018 fire season. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Monday that fires had burned through more than 1.4 million acres burned so far in 2020. That’s already well ahead of this time in 2019, when Cal Fire reports just shy of 28,060 acres burned.
When the Smoke Clears: Aftereffects of Wildfires on Communities’ Water Quality
It is impossible to overstate the tragedy of the Camp and Woolsey fires. The road to recovery will be a long, expensive, and painful one and, unfortunately, rebuilding is only the first of many costs. In addition to the obvious aftermath of a wildfire, there is a subtle yet salient issue these communities will now face: tainted water quality.