After an extensive search for funding spanning almost eight years, the City of Kimberley has successfully secured $400,000 to conduct a study on the potential impact of wildfires on its drinking water supply. This initiative was prompted by the 2018 Meachen Creek fire, which raised concerns regarding the susceptibility of local water sources.
Mathieu Bourbonnais, an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Okanagan and co-director of the Centre for Wildfire Coexistence, emphasized the importance of understanding the reliance on environmental systems for drinking water. He highlighted how wildfires are altering these systems, potentially jeopardizing the consistent availability of clean water.
Kimberley draws its drinking water from the Mark Creek and Matthew Creek watersheds. The project’s primary objective is to assess the risks posed by severe wildfires to both the quality and quantity of the city’s drinking water in the aftermath of such events.
The recent Matthew Creek wildfire, which led to an evacuation alert for Kimberley, reignited concerns about the vulnerability of the city’s watersheds. While wildland fire ecologist Bob Gray indicated that the immediate impact on water movement in the watershed from the recent fire is minimal, the focus remains on the potential repercussions of a more severe wildfire in these critical watersheds.
Bourbonnais and his team are collaborating with the city and Gray to model potential fire behaviors in the Mark Creek watershed. The study will delve into forest conditions, climate change projections, and their implications up to 2060. The research will also investigate how a severe fire could impact water quality, streamflows, and reservoir inflows.
Looking ahead, the research aims to provide insights into forest management strategies such as thinning, harvesting, and prescribed burning to mitigate wildfire risks. The goal is to strike a balance between reducing the threat of wildfires and safeguarding water supplies by avoiding adverse impacts on hydrological systems.
The project, funded by the Columbia Basin Trust and the City of Kimberley, is anticipated to span two years. Its outcomes are expected to inform future wildfire mitigation efforts in Kimberley and offer valuable planning tools that can be tailored for other communities. The proactive approach to addressing wildfire risks underscores the significance of taking preemptive measures to protect drinking water sources.
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