Wildfire and healthy watersheds are linked

Free landowner’s workshop Friday, October 3

By Bailey Friedman, Water Resources Project Manager, Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District

On July 10, lightning struck on the South Rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, starting a fire that grew to 4,200 acres, closing the National Park and displacing ranchers and their livestock temporarily. Two years ago in 2023, another lightning strike fire, the Lowline Fire, started in the Ohio Creek Watershed and burned 2,000 acres. As of September 2025, there were over 2,000 personnel across Colorado assigned to fighting fires and over 14,000 personnel assigned to 38 active large wildfires across the United States. A study published in 2023 by Simic et al. from Western Colorado University, United States Geological Survey and the Bureau of Land Management, found that a regime of low-severity fires were normal in Gunnison County up until 1892. This was then followed up by a century of fire suppression actions. The practice of fire suppression, although implemented with good intentions, has contributed to unintended consequences for us today, creating, in part, more intense fires that have become the “new normal” across the country. 

You might be asking yourself, “What does this mean for the Gunnison Country?” Although that’s a tough question as wildfires affect so many different resources for the county, here I will address the question “What does this mean for our water resources?” I am going to focus on the effects just to water quality and quantity.

Wildfire can pose short and long-term impacts to water quality and quantity by influencing hillside and streambank erosion, sediment and debris deposition, flooding events and water channel movement, where the channel moves on the landscape within the floodplain. All of these occur naturally, but a high-intensity fire can change the typical flows and increase their risk and magnitude. 

Vegetation that would normally hold soil in place and slow the flow of water often will burn away during a wildfire. This is especially true during drought conditions when the vegetation is very dry. Once the vegetation is gone, the top layer of soil tends to harden, preventing water from infiltrating into the ground. After such a fire, when it rains or the snowpack melts, soil and debris wash away and are deposited in streams, lakes, and wetlands. The buildup of these materials can clog such water bodies and increase their pH level, temperature, chemical composition, and heavy metals, which can result in a significant decrease in water quality, making the water unsuitable for aquatic life and other species. 

Debris flows, which are comprised of a slurry mixture of water, soil, rocks, and other solid materials like tree limbs and shrubs, can be compared to fast-moving water-rich landslides which often catch communities by surprise following a fire. Such was the case in 2018 in Montecito, California, following the Thomas Wildfire. The ensuing debris flow killed 23 people and destroyed hundreds of homes after much of the area had already been decimated by the high-intensity fire. These debris flows deposit their slurry in areas known as debris fans, which can be devastating for infrastructure and buildings in the area. 

The aftermath of wildfires highlights the importance of naturally occurring and properly functioning water bodies, such as wet meadows, floodplains, riparian areas and beaver wetland complexes. These areas can serve as a “sponge” to absorb debris flows and can minimize or even prevent fires from burning in this landscape in the first place. Protecting and/or restoring these areas, especially upstream of infrastructure and communities, can greatly reduce the potential risks of wildfires and debris flows. 

Forest management actions, such as thinning trees and vegetation or prescribed burns, can also reduce the intensity should a wildfire occur. In turn, this can help to reduce soil erosion and speed up vegetation regrowth following a fire. 

While I think we can all agree that it is alarming and depressing to see the reports of increasing wildfires and their aftermath in the media, hopefully, you will be reassured that there are measures that can be done, or even are currently underway, by various agencies and organizations throughout the basin that can help protect our precious watershed in the future. For instance, here at the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District (District), we contracted with the company Watershed Science & Design to perform a geo-fluvial assessment across key areas in the basin to identify potential projects to mitigate post-fire hazards. Their full assessment and accompanying story map will be available on the District’s website at www.ugrwcd.org later this year. Gunnison County also completed the Community Wildfire Protection Plan in June 2025, which includes an accompanying story map that identifies short to long-term mitigation projects to be implemented in the county. 

There are also resources available for landowners to take action to protect and restore vital water resources on their personal property. For instance, agencies such as the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) offer cost-share programs to implement mitigation efforts on the landscape to reduce fire risk. Here at the District, the Wet Meadows Restoration and Resiliency program can help with simple hand-built structures that can create landscape resiliency to fire and mitigate the impacts from fire on water-quality. If you are a landowner who would like to learn more about such efforts, I encourage you to attend a free landowner’s workshop on Friday, October 3, at 9:30 a.m. in the District’s conference room at 210 West Spencer Avenue, Suite A.  Since a free lunch will be served, we appreciate you RSVPing to marcella.tarantino@usda.gov. This workshop is a joint program being offered by the Upper Gunnison River District, Gunnison Conservation District, Bird Conservancy of the Rockies and Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

Wildfires have naturally occurred for thousands of years and actually aid in forest health. As our population continues to grow and climate change intensifies our weather, we all need to do our part to reduce the risk to our watershed, our infrastructure, our homes and especially, ourselves!