Review of Wildfire Effects on Chemical Water Quality
Open accessAbstract
The Cerro Grande Fire of May 2000 burned almost 43,000 acres of forested land within the Pajarito Plateau watershed in northern New Mexico. Runoff events after the fire were monitored and sampled by Los Alamos National Laboratory. Changes in the composition of runoff water were noted when compared to runoff water composition of the previous 20 years. In order to understand the chemical water quality changes noted in runoff water after the Cerro Grande Fire, a summary of the reported effects of fire on runoff water chemistry and on soils that contribute to runoff water chemistry was compiled. The focus of this report is chemical water quality, so it does not address changes in sediment transport or water quantity associated with fires. Within the general inorganic parameters, increases of dissolved calcium, magnesium, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium and pH in runoff water have been observed as a result of fire. However, the dissolved sodium, carbon, and sulfate have been observed to increase and decrease as a result of fire. Metals have been much less studied, but manganese, copper, zinc, and cesium-137 have been observed to increase as a result of fire.
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Cations like calcium, potassium, and magnesium generally follow nutrient trends, increasing after post-fire precipitation events as a function of burned area and burn severity.
“Cations like calcium, potassium, and magnesium generally follow nutrient trends, increasing after post-fire precipitation events as a function of burned area and burn severity (Bitner et al., 2001; Rust et al., 2018; Smith et al., 2011) as they are primarily generated from ash (Ranalli, 2004).”
From Wildfire Induces Changes in Receiving Waters: A Review With Considerations for Water Quality Management (2022) · cites this paper as Bitner et al., 2001
Wildfires have been shown to condense and mobilize radionuclides in soils.
“Wildfires have been shown to condense and mobilize radionuclides in soils.”
From Wildfire Induces Changes in Receiving Waters: A Review With Considerations for Water Quality Management (2022) · cites this paper as Bitner et al., 2001
In burned plots in Colorado and New Mexico, soils had concentrations of 137Cesium 400%-2,200% of those in unburned plots.
“In burned plots in Colorado and New Mexico, soils had concentrations of 137Cesium 400%–2,200% of those in unburned plots (Bitner et al., 2001).”
From Wildfire Induces Changes in Receiving Waters: A Review With Considerations for Water Quality Management (2022) · cites this paper as Bitner et al., 2001
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FIRES AND TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENTS
Wohl, E. (2024) · Special publications · doi:10.1002/9781394235186.ch3
- Authors
- Bitner, K., Gallaher, B., & Mullen, K.
- Affiliations
- University of New Mexico (US)
- Published
- 2001-05-01
- OpenAlex
- W168311214
- Cited by
- 13
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2024: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 2 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 1
- Type
- report
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) (submittedVersion)
- University of North Texas Digital Library (University of North Texas) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- University of California
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Fire effects on ecosystems
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Water Quality and Resources Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Water Quality and Pollution Assessment
- Keywords
- wildfire effects, post-fire runoff, chemical water quality, Cerro Grande fire, dissolved calcium, dissolved nitrogen, dissolved phosphorus, sulfate, pH, metals, manganese, copper, zinc, cesium-137, soil chemistry
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