Wildfire and Drinking Water

Wildfires have a devastating impact on infrastructure in the built environment, especially in wildland urban interface communities. Over the course of Oregon’s 2020 wildfire season, more than one million acres — twice the ten-year average — were burned by 229 fires. By the end of the 2020 fire season, 4,129 homes were destroyed, 40,000 people were evacuated and 11 people lost their lives. Oregon Health Authority Drinking Water Services (OHA-DWS) identified 37 public water systems that sustained wildfire damage. The Oregon Office of Emergency Management puts the conservative estimate for damages caused by the 2020 fires at over 380 million dollars.

In addition to damage to infrastructure, wildfires have numerous environmental health impacts like smoke exposure and potential contamination of source waterways with toxic ash and sediment. Following the 2017 Tubbs and 2018 Camp wildfires in California, volatile organic compound (VOC) levels exceeding state and federal government exposure limits were found in buried water distribution and service lines of impacted systems. Several studies have aimed to understand the source of this VOC contamination in drinking water systems damaged by wildfire and have identified several vectors of contamination including loss of system pressure, burned and melted service lines and meter boxes, and loss of structures connected to water systems.

Following damage to public water systems by the 2020 wildfires in Oregon, OHA-DWS recognized the public health risk of contamination from VOCs — including the known carcinogen benzene — and organized efforts to sample impacted systems that were damaged and lost pressure. The following timeline provides a broad overview of the steps taken by OHA-DWS to determine the extent of VOC contamination in impacted public drinking water systems.

The purpose of this study was to enhance understanding of wildfire’s impacts on drinking water by summarizing drinking water system VOC contamination following the 2020 wildfires in Oregon, synthesizing insight from both public water operators and emergency management staff, and summarizing the 2020 wildfire response to inform future wildfire response and increase resiliency. The two objectives were to:

• Aggregate data on and summarize VOC contamination experienced by Oregon drinking water systems after the 2020 wildfires and
• Evaluate perspectives and insights from impacted water system operators and emergency response staff to create a collection of information and lessons learned following the 2020 wildfires.

Of the 3,320 active Oregon public water systems in 2020, 93 were within the 2020 burn perimeters and 37 were identified by OHA-DWS as having sustained damage or lost pressure due to fire damage. Located primarily along rivers and in the passes of the Cascade Range, east of the Willamette Valley, they are predominantly Community, Oregon Very Small, and Transient Non-Community systems with service populations ranging from 12 to 91,000. Twenty-six systems are supplied primarily with groundwater and 11 with surface water. Of 25 systems tested for VOCs, almost all are Community and Oregon Very Small systems with full-time residents. Because the health effects of VOCs are typically the result of chronic exposure, Transient Non-Community systems with temporary populations were not required to sample for VOCs. Twelve sampled systems use groundwater and 13 use surface water as their primary source.

Most impacted systems with confirmed damage are clustered in counties containing the largest fires, with the notable exceptions of Jackson and Lincoln counties, where the relatively small Almeda and Echo Mountain Complex fires burned structures in densely developed areas. Most sampled systems in all counties except Klamath had at least one VOC detection, though a smaller portion had at least one detection that exceeded the MCL. Table 1 shows the numbers by county of impacted systems with confirmed damage, sampled systems and the number of systems with at least one detection or exceedance.

Twenty of the 25 systems sampled had at least one VOC detection. Of those 20, six systems had at least one MCL exceedance: Detroit Water System, City of Gates, Lyons Mehama Water District, Hiland Water Commission – Echo Mountain, City of Talent, and Whispering Pines Mobile Home Village. Additional information about each sampled system’s VOC results can be found in the  technical report  developed concurrently with this StoryMap.

A total of 1,767 valid samples were collected from 25 impacted drinking water systems and were collectively analyzed for 71 different VOCs. VOCs were detected in 866 of 1,767 samples collected. Forty-eight samples contained at least one VOC present in levels that exceeded the MCL. Of the 71 unique VOCs, only 36 were detected in the 847 samples with a VOC detection. The ten most detected VOCs were 2-butanone (MEK), benzene, bromodichloromethane, bromoform, chloroform, chloromethane, dibromochloromethane, methyl-tert-butyl ether, styrene, and toluene. Chloroform was the most common VOC with 708 detections. Benzene was detected 103 times and was detected above the MCL the most with 31 MCL exceedances. Five of the ten most detected VOCs were included in a preliminary VOC “fire package” developed by Purdue university: 2-butanone (MEK), benzene, methyl-tert-butyl ether, styrene and toluene.

Preparedness, communication, funding, teamwork, and coordination were central themes expressed through conversations with operators of impacted drinking water systems and a survey distributed to emergency response staff.

All respondents stated the importance of emergency preparation. Trained and knowledgeable system staff, an updated and realistic emergency response plan, infrastructure that is resilient to and protected from fire, and investment into additional emergency assets like portable generators were all identified as key resources in drinking water system preparedness. Operators found that communication with both those participating in wildfire response and the public was challenging. The need for more open, transparent, and clear communication among partnering agencies and organizations responding to wildfire and with the public was stressed. Operators found adapting message delivery methods with changing conditions and battling misinformation made communicating with the public challenging and were concerned about the effectiveness of communication to those who had no power or had evacuated. One emergency staff survey respondent noted that general strategies for improving water system preparedness were easy to identify, but that the details of those strategies were often water system specific.

The specific need to assist rural and small communities with delivering emergency messages was also emphasized, and investing in equipment for alternative communication methods (i.e., portable cell towers) was noted. Emergency response staff identified the need for official lines of communication with all groups working on wildfire response, and especially with water system operators. Financial assistance was also a challenge for drinking water operators during the 2020 wildfires. Struggles included identifying financial resources, understanding the application process, and determining a system’s eligibility for aid. Operators expressed frustration with paperwork hurdles and delay in receiving aid as they juggled assessing wildfire damage to the system and conducting emergency repair work. The importance of proper documentation and recordkeeping was described as important when seeking financial aid.

Many impacted drinking water operators highlighted the role of teamwork and coordinated response when asked about the 2020 wildfires. Operators credited a diverse group of individuals from various agencies and organizations in various roles. Local firefighters were repeatedly called “heroes,” the National Guard’s assistance was described as both “quick” and “helpful,” FEMA was acknowledged for cleanup aid, and the efforts of multiple county health departments and technical guidance provided by the state were described as “beneficial” and “appreciated.” Many operators valued free VOC testing by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality laboratory, and one operator mentioned how test results increased confidence in the decision to lift advisories by confirming that the water being served was safe. Emergency response staff identified the need for real, hands-on assistance by those with knowledge of how drinking water system work to reduce water system operator workload, especially those with limited staff.

There was general agreement that developing and maintaining partnerships that include the community is an important activity for successful wildfire response and recovery. One operator expressed how a regional emergency response approach that involves the community and plans for response and communication on a smaller scale may have value. Benefits of a regional- or community-scale approach may include easy sharing of resources, broader communication, and efficient leveraging of available funding. Emergency response staff stressed the importance of building relationships with groups like Oregon Association of Water Utilities (OAWU) and Oregon Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network (ORWARN).

To learn more about this project, explore the  Esri ArcGIS Experience  for brief statistics and an interactive map. An  Esri ArcGIS Web Map  provides a more robust map experience. Accompanying this StoryMap are a  technical report and key findings document , both available as PDFs, that describe in more detail the process of developing this project, including in-depth methods and data limitations. All of the data used in this project is publicly available on  OHA Drinking Water Services Data Online , a public data access site where visitors can find water system information like coliform and chemical monitoring results, system contact information and basic water system information. For more information on the impacts of wildfire on water systems, visit the  OHA-DWS “Emergency Preparedness and Planning”  or  U.S. EPA “Build Wildfire Resilience"  websites, a repositories of information about wildfires and other hazards.