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| Southern California is prone to widespread fires
at the urban-wildland interface due to its Mediterranean climate (wet
winters, dry summers), prevalent Santa Anna winds during the fall
season, and an ever-expanding population which is responsible for
igniting many of the observed fires. The Day Fire, which recently
occurred north of Los Angeles, consumed nearly 254 square miles of
National Forest and designated wilderness areas. Several major drinking
water reservoirs for the metropolitan region are located downstream
from the Day Fire burn area, presenting an immediate and serious
concern for water resource managers. One of these reservoirs, located
on the eastern fringe of the burn, is Pyramid Lake, which stores water
from the California Aqueduct as well as natural inflows from the Piru
Creek watershed. The goals of this research project are to better
understand
the physical and chemical mechanisms that control nutrient, metal and
other contaminant fluxes in post-fire watersheds; focusing on the
Pyramid Lake reservoir system. Ecosystem and water supply
managers will be able to utilize information gathered in this study to
develop mitigation and warning strategies for reducing the impacts from
increased metal and nutrient fluxes in burned watersheds |
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| May 2007 C&EE Newsletter Article | ||||||||
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