Early in the morning of Aug. 17, 2021, El Dorado Irrigation District Director of Operations Dan Corcoran knew that his region’s watersheds were in trouble.The Caldor Fire was sweeping through Grizzly Flat and heading right for Jenkinson Lake, the area’s main water source. At the time, Corcoran’s focus was evacuating the area and checking on staff that lived in the area.Once the smoke cleared, the challenge of maintaining safe water quality for the region was just beginning.”This is the lifeblood of our community and this is what we’re going to work hard to maintain to ensure it remains safe for our drinking water,” Corcoran said.Corcoran has been with EID for 18 years. He said the aftermath of the Caldor Fire is easily the biggest incident he’s had to manage.”We’ve affected our entire service area,” he said. The high-intensity, fire-scorched soil, brush and trees, release carbon that the forested area had been naturally storing up for decades. That carbon could then easily enter the water supply with the next rainstorm. While carbon is a naturally-occurring element, it’s not safe to consume above a certain level. So to clean the water, EID had to alter its filtration and sterilization procedures. “We’re constantly looking at the amount of carbon that’s coming into our reservoirs and the amount that’s coming into our treatment plants,” Corcoran said.The record rain that fell at the end of October sent carbon levels to 100 times the normal value at one of EID’s treatment facilities. Officials were forced to shut the site down for 24 hours in order to ensure safe drinking water. Still, water in the region was reported to have a musty, earthy smell and taste in the days after the storm.October’s storm brought fire season to an end, but it wasn’t a clean sweep for the Caldor Fire’s burn scar region. Carbon is still being released as trees decay and the once-fertile soil has turned pale and dusty.”The topsoil is effectively sterilized. And there’s no life,” Corcoran said.And no way for that soil to easily retain moisture when rain does fall. Despite that, there are signs of new growth returning to the area. But that growth looks different.Where once there were plenty of pines, black oaks are the first to return. Those oaks tend to thrive more in dry regions with little shade. Those changes aren’t necessarily a bad thing, but yet another example of how large fires can alter ecosystems. Corcoran said that the next few winters will play a big role in determining how fast the watershed is able to return to a more stable existence and start trapping carbon again. But he anticipates that EID will need to manage the Caldor Fire’s impacts on drinking water for a long time.”Our water is and will continue to be safe. But the problems are going to be challenging for the next several years and potentially decades as we work to restore the function of this watershed,” he said.
Early in the morning of Aug. 17, 2021, El Dorado Irrigation District Director of Operations Dan Corcoran knew that his region’s watersheds were in trouble.
The Caldor Fire was sweeping through Grizzly Flat and heading right for Jenkinson Lake, the area’s main water source.
At the time, Corcoran’s focus was evacuating the area and checking on staff that lived in the area.
Once the smoke cleared, the challenge of maintaining safe water quality for the region was just beginning.
“This is the lifeblood of our community and this is what we’re going to work hard to maintain to ensure it remains safe for our drinking water,” Corcoran said.
Corcoran has been with EID for 18 years. He said the aftermath of the Caldor Fire is easily the biggest incident he’s had to manage.
“We’ve affected our entire service area,” he said.
The high-intensity, fire-scorched soil, brush and trees, release carbon that the forested area had been naturally storing up for decades.
That carbon could then easily enter the water supply with the next rainstorm.
While carbon is a naturally-occurring element, it’s not safe to consume above a certain level. So to clean the water, EID had to alter its filtration and sterilization procedures.
“We’re constantly looking at the amount of carbon that’s coming into our reservoirs and the amount that’s coming into our treatment plants,” Corcoran said.
The record rain that fell at the end of October sent carbon levels to 100 times the normal value at one of EID’s treatment facilities. Officials were forced to shut the site down for 24 hours in order to ensure safe drinking water.
Still, water in the region was reported to have a musty, earthy smell and taste in the days after the storm.
October’s storm brought fire season to an end, but it wasn’t a clean sweep for the Caldor Fire’s burn scar region. Carbon is still being released as trees decay and the once-fertile soil has turned pale and dusty.
“The topsoil is effectively sterilized. And there’s no life,” Corcoran said.
And no way for that soil to easily retain moisture when rain does fall.
Despite that, there are signs of new growth returning to the area. But that growth looks different.
Where once there were plenty of pines, black oaks are the first to return. Those oaks tend to thrive more in dry regions with little shade.
Those changes aren’t necessarily a bad thing, but yet another example of how large fires can alter ecosystems.
Corcoran said that the next few winters will play a big role in determining how fast the watershed is able to return to a more stable existence and start trapping carbon again.
But he anticipates that EID will need to manage the Caldor Fire’s impacts on drinking water for a long time.
“Our water is and will continue to be safe. But the problems are going to be challenging for the next several years and potentially decades as we work to restore the function of this watershed,” he said.
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