Community S and T Seminar Series: A Tale of Fires and Rivers: How Do Wildfires Influence Water Quality?

​Wildfires are increasing in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Fires change the landscape, altering the types of materials transported to rivers. They also change how materials are transported, both of which can impact local water quality. As part of a Department of Energy funded project on river corridors, we are studying rivers in watersheds that were burnt by wildfires in the PNW to see how changes in nutrients and other materials manifest over time and space post-wildfire. We are working to understand what causes these changes so we can better integrate the influence of wildfires into predictive watershed models.