Wildland Fire Impacts on Watersheds

Wildland fires are an inevitable component of most terrestrial ecosystems in the United States. Historical land management practices and current development have modified these ecosystems so that modern wildland fires are more widespread and catastrophic than ever before. Extended periods of drought, particularly characteristic of the western United States, increase the probability of major wildland fires. These fires leave whole landscapes unprotected by vegetation, resulting in significant hydrologic hazards in affected watersheds that last many years after a fire.

Exponent is skilled in the evaluation of wildfires and the geologic and hydrologic hazards that result from them.

Our services include:

• Evaluation of burn limits, burn intensity, and degree of vegetative recovery
• Air photo analysis
• Remote sensing analysis
• Land use and flood hazard studies
• Sediment yield analysis
• Geologic mapping
• Debris flow and landslide hazard analysis.

Exponent can evaluate the hazards resulting from wildfires and provide remedial solutions tailored to the local site conditions.

With the growing population and development boom in the western United States, new construction is impinging ever closer to areas susceptible to wildland fires. Exponent can assist developers and governmental agencies in planning for wildfires and dealing with their aftereffects in the urban–wildland interface.

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