Pre- and post-fire pollutant loads in an urban fringe watershed in Southern California
Abstract
Post-fire runoff has the potential to be a large source of contaminants to downstream areas. However, the magnitude of this effect in urban fringe watersheds adjacent to large sources of airborne contaminants is not well documented. The current study investigates the impacts of wildfire on stormwater contaminant loading from the upper Arroyo Seco watershed, burned in 2009. This watershed is adjacent to the Greater Los Angeles, CA, USA area and has not burned in over 60 years. Consequently, it acts as a sink for regional urban pollutants and presents an opportunity to study the impacts of wildfire. Pre- and post-fire storm samples were collected and analyzed for basic cations, trace metals, and total suspended solids. The loss of vegetation and changes in soil properties from the fire greatly increased the magnitude of storm runoff, resulting in sediment-laden floods carrying high concentrations of particulate-bound constituents. Post-fire concentrations and loads were up to three orders of magnitude greater than pre-fire values for many trace metals, including lead and cadmium. A shift was also observed in the timing of chemical delivery, where maximum suspended sediment, trace metal, and cation concentrations coincided with, rather than preceded, peak discharge in the post-fire runoff, amplifying the fire's impacts on mass loading. The results emphasize the importance of sediment delivery as a primary mechanism for post-fire contaminant transport and suggest that traditional…
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Fires can mobilize metals previously concentrated above background levels by human activities.
“Notably, fires can mobilize metals previously concentrated above background levels by human activities.”
From Wildfire Induces Changes in Receiving Waters: A Review With Considerations for Water Quality Management (2022) · cites this paper as Burke et al., 2013
Stream reaches draining a burned urbanized area in the WUI in California exhibited calcium and potassium increases, but not sodium.
“Further, stream reaches draining a burned urbanized area in the WUI in California exhibited calcium and potassium increases, but not sodium (Burke et al., 2013).”
From Wildfire Induces Changes in Receiving Waters: A Review With Considerations for Water Quality Management (2022) · cites this paper as Burke et al., 2013
Atmospheric deposition from anthropogenic sources can increase metals in soils, with the potential for remobilization by fire.
“Atmospheric deposition from anthropogenic sources can increase metals in soils (e.g., lead deposition from legacy fossil fuel combustion and deposition), with the potential for remobilization by fire (e.g., Abraham et al., 2017a; Burke et al., 2013).”
From Wildfire Induces Changes in Receiving Waters: A Review With Considerations for Water Quality Management (2022) · cites this paper as Burke et al., 2013
Cites
Moody, J. A., & Martin, D. A. (2009) · International Journal of Wildland Fire · doi:10.1071/wf07162 · Cited by 283 · see citing works
Stormwater contaminant loading following southern California wildfires
Stein, E. D., Brown, J. S., Hogue, T. S., Burke, M. P., & Kinoshita, A. (2012) · Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry · doi:10.1002/etc.1994 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Self-citationJung, H. Y., Hogue, T. S., Rademacher, L. K., & Meixner, T. (2009) · Hydrological Processes · doi:10.1002/hyp.7132 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Self-citationReview of Wildfire Effects on Chemical Water Quality
Bitner, K., Gallaher, B., & Mullen, K. (2001) · doi:10.2172/781455 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
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Paul, M. J., LeDuc, S. D., Lassiter, M. G., Moorhead, L. C., Noyes, P. D., & Leibowitz, S. G. (2022) · Water Resources Research · doi:10.1029/2021wr030699 · Cited by 219 · see citing works
“Further, stream reaches draining a burned urbanized area in the WUI in California exhibited calcium and potassium increases, but not sodium (Burke et al., 2013).”
Sánchez-García, C., Santín, C., Neris, J., Sigmund, G., Otero, X. L., Manley, J., González-Rodríguez, G., Belcher, C. M., Cerdà, A., Marcotte, A. L., et al. (2023) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2023.108065 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
- Authors
- Burke, M. P., Hogue, T. S., Kinoshita, A. M., Barco, J., Wessel, C., & Stein, E. D.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (US)
- Corresponding author
- Hogue, T. S.
- Venue
- Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
- Published
- 2013-08-04
- Volume
- 185
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 10131-10145
- ISSN
- 0167-6369 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-2959
- OpenAlex
- W1975219066
- Cited by
- 89
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 3.04
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of Medellín Journals (University of Medellín) (publishedVersion)
- University of Medellín Journals (University of Medellín) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Urban Stormwater Management Solutions
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Fire effects on ecosystems
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil erosion and sediment transport
- Keywords
- wildfire effects, post-fire runoff, stormwater pollution, trace metals, lead, cadmium, suspended sediment, cations, pollutant load, stormwater management
- MeSH terms
- California, Disasters, Environmental Monitoring, Fires, Rain, Trace Elements, Water Movements, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Water Supply
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