After almost eight years of searching for funding, the City of Kimberley has successfully obtained $400,000 to investigate the potential impact of wildfires on its drinking water supply. The initiative originated from the 2018 Meachen Creek fire, which highlighted concerns about 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 that people often take their access to drinking water for granted. He pointed out that while it may seem like a constant resource, the environment plays a crucial role in providing it, and wildfires are altering the dynamics of these systems.
Kimberley sources its drinking water from the Mark Creek and Matthew Creek watersheds. The city’s water supply could face challenges in quality and availability following a severe wildfire event. The project’s objective is to identify these risks and develop strategies to mitigate them without creating new issues for the water supply.
The recent Matthew Creek wildfire led to a city-wide evacuation alert, drawing attention to the vulnerabilities of Kimberley’s watersheds. Wildland fire ecologist Bob Gray noted that the impact on water movement in the watershed from this specific fire is expected to be minimal due to the severity and location of the burned areas.
Looking ahead, Bourbonnais’s lab at UBC Okanagan is collaborating with the city and Gray to forecast fire behavior in the Mark Creek watershed. The research will analyze forest conditions, weather patterns, and climate change projections up to 2060, examining how a severe fire could influence water quality, streamflows, and reservoir water inflow timing.
The study will also help identify areas where forest thinning, harvesting, and prescribed burning could reduce wildfire risks. However, Bourbonnais highlighted the need to balance these mitigation efforts with their potential hydrological impacts.
Gray, with two decades of experience in Kimberley’s wildfire mitigation, stressed the importance of strategic planning to prevent adverse effects on erosion and water flow. The project, backed by $300,000 from the Columbia Basin Trust and $100,000 from the city, is anticipated to span two years. Its outcomes will inform future wildfire mitigation strategies and offer planning tools for other communities to adapt.
In conclusion, Bourbonnais emphasized the proactive approach as crucial, stating that the risk of inaction outweighs the risks associated with taking proactive measures.