Protecting Water Supplies in an Era of Growing Wildfire Dangers

Almost two years have passed since the most destructive wildfire in the history of New Mexico, the Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon Fire, that burned 342,000 acres of land, destroyed more than 900 homes and structures, and forced more than 15,000 households to evacuate at its peaking.

Among the lasting impacts of the fire has been severe damage to the Gallinas River watershed, the primary source of drinking water for the city of Las Vegas, NM, including massive quantities of ash and debris that contaminated water supplies and jeopardized the city's water treatment systems.

In this article, Jay Lazarus explains how the fire effectively "broke" the river and watershed, and why damage to municipal and irrigation water supplies is a major, long-lasting, and hard to resolve wildfire impact.