After an extensive search for funding lasting nearly eight years, the City of Kimberley has successfully secured $400,000 to conduct a study on the potential impact of wildfires on its drinking water supply. The initiative originated from concerns raised during the 2018 Meachen Creek fire, which highlighted the susceptibility of local water sources.
Mathieu Bourbonnais, an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Okanagan and co-director of the Centre for Wildfire Coexistence, emphasized the importance of recognizing the reliance on the environment for drinking water amidst changing wildfire dynamics. Kimberley draws its drinking water from the Mark Creek and Matthew Creek watersheds, making it vulnerable to disturbances that could affect water quality and availability long after a wildfire event.
The project’s objective is to assess these risks and develop strategies to mitigate them without compromising the water supply. The recent Matthew Creek wildfire, which prompted an evacuation alert for Kimberley, reignited concerns about the city’s watersheds. However, according to wildland fire ecologist Bob Gray, the fire’s impact on water movement in the watershed is expected to be minimal, with severe burns occurring in limited higher slope areas.
Looking forward, Bourbonnais’s research team at UBC Okanagan, in collaboration with the city and Gray, will be modeling potential fire behavior in the Mark Creek watershed. The study will evaluate forest conditions, weather patterns, and climate change projections up to the year 2060, focusing on how a severe wildfire could affect water quality, streamflows, and reservoir water inflow timing.
The research aims to identify areas where forest thinning, harvesting, and prescribed burning can reduce wildfire risks while considering their implications on hydrology. The findings will guide future wildfire mitigation efforts and provide valuable insights for other communities facing similar challenges. The project, funded by the Columbia Basin Trust and the city itself, is anticipated to span two years.
Bourbonnais stressed the importance of proactive measures, stating that the risks of inaction outweigh those of taking preventative steps. The study’s outcomes will serve as a blueprint for future wildfire mitigation strategies and planning tools that can be adapted by other communities facing similar threats.
