After nearly eight years of pursuing funding, Kimberley City has successfully secured $400,000 for a study on the potential impact of wildfires on its drinking water supply. This initiative stems from the 2018 Meachen Creek fire, which raised concerns about 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 not taking drinking water for granted, highlighting the changing dynamics of water systems due to wildfires.

Kimberley relies on the Mark Creek and Matthew Creek watersheds for its drinking water, with a severe wildfire posing risks to both the quality and availability of water long after the fire is extinguished. The project seeks to identify these risks and develop strategies to mitigate them without introducing new challenges to the water supply.

The recent Matthew Creek wildfire, which prompted an evacuation alert for Kimberley, reignited concerns about the city’s watersheds. Despite the fire, wildland fire ecologist Bob Gray mentioned that the water movement within the watershed is not expected to be significantly impacted.

Looking ahead, Bourbonnais’s research team at UBC Okanagan, in collaboration with the city and Gray, will model potential fire behavior in the Mark Creek watershed. They will analyze forest conditions, weather patterns, and climate change projections up to 2060 to assess the impact of severe fires on water quality and streamflows.

The study will also help pinpoint areas where forest thinning, harvesting, and prescribed burning can reduce wildfire risks. However, Bourbonnais stressed the need for a balanced approach to avoid compromising hydrology while implementing wildfire mitigation measures.

The project, supported by a $300,000 contribution from the Columbia Basin Trust and $100,000 from the city, is projected to span two years. Its outcomes will inform future wildfire mitigation efforts and provide valuable planning tools that could benefit other communities facing similar challenges. The proactive stance taken by Kimberley underscores the importance of addressing wildfire risks to safeguard water supplies for the future.