A former nurse and a mother claim the watchdog should have imposed conditions on the clinic.
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Wildfires threaten water quality for up to eight years after they burn
Years after wildfires burn forests and watersheds, the contaminants left behind continue to poison rivers and streams across the Western U.S. — much longer than scientists estimated.
A new study, published on June 23 in Nature Communications Earth & Environment, analyzed water quality in more than 500 watersheds across the Western U.S., and is the first large-scale assessment of post-wildfire quality.
The research was led by scientists from the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science (CIRES) at the University of Colorado Boulder.
“We were attempting to look at notable trends in post-wildfire water quality across the entire U.S. West, to help inform water management strategies in preparing for wildfire effects,” said Carli Brucker, lead author and former CU Boulder and Western Water Assessment PhD student.
The results showed contaminants like organic carbon, phosphorus, nitrogen, and sediment can degrade water quality for up to eight years after a fire. Water managers can use this data to help them plan for the future and respond appropriately when wildfires strike.
CIRES Fellow and Western Water Assessment Director Ben Livneh was the principal investigator and co-author of the study. Much of his research focuses on hydrology, or water supply, on a continental scale. When he realized he could use the same approach to understand large-scale trends in water quality, he was excited to test the method.
“There’s been a lot of work, for example, in the National Climate Assessment and the International Panel on Climate Change talking about changes in global water supply,” said Livneh, associate professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering. “But those assessments point to this gap in water quality assessments in a continental scale context, whereas people like me in physical hydrology have been thinking about the continental scale challenges for a while.”
Researchers have long known that fire ash and soil destruction contribute to degraded water quality. Yet, past research has largely been limited to state and municipal studies — cities and towns test water quality in local streams and rivers following large fires.
For the new study, the team analyzed more than 100,000 water samples from 500 sites: half from burned river basins and half from unburned. They measured levels of organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment as well as turbidity, or cloudiness, of each sample.
To understand wildfire-driven impacts, the team built data-driven models to measure how much contaminants changed in each basin before and after wildfires. In the final step, they compiled data to find the average across the burned basins for each pre- and post-wildfire year, and then compared those to the unburned basins.
The results showed watersheds take longer to recover after wildfires than previous studies found. Organic carbon, phosphorus, and turbidity are significantly elevated in the first one to five years post-fire. Nitrogen and sediment show significant increases up to eight years post-fire. Fire-driven impacts were worse in more forested areas.
“It can take two years, up to eight years, for the effect to be fully felt,” Livneh said. “Sometimes it can be a delayed effect, meaning, it’s not all happening right away, or sometimes you need a big enough storm that will mobilize enough of the leftover contaminants.”
Each watershed in the study felt the impacts differently. This is likely tied to where the fire struck — a fire closer to the river would be worse than an upstream fire. Different soils, vegetation, and weather also change the impact in each watershed, making it difficult to plan for the future.
“There’s a huge amount of variability in sedimentation rates,” said Brucker, who now works as a consultant. “Some streams are completely clear of sediment after wildfires, and some have 2000 times the amount of sediment.”
Despite variability across river basins, the study provides concrete numbers that give insight to water managers across the Western U.S. Researchers hope the results provide better direction on informing future planning efforts for increasing wildfire resilience.
“I’m hoping that providing concrete numbers is very impactful to water managers,” Brucker said. “You can’t fund resilience improvements on general concerns alone. Water managers need real numbers for planning, and that’s what we’re providing,” Brucker said.
Sadiq Khan Joins Labour Backlash As Rebellion Against Starmer’s Welfare Cuts Grows
Sadiq Khan has joined the growing Labour rebellion against Keir Starmer’s welfare cuts.
The mayor of London said the plans would mean “hardship” for thousands of disabled and vulnerable people in the capital and the government “must urgently think again”.
His dramatic intervention came as the number of Labour MPs backing a bid to scrap the cuts continued to grow.
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Ministers want to slash £5 billion from the welfare budget by making it harder for people to claim personal independence payments (PIP) and cutting the sickness-related element of universal credit (UC).
Starmer has insisted that the reforms will also see more support provided to help get people off benefits and into work.
But Khan said: “I have always said that more must be done to support people to go from relying on benefits to getting back into work. It’s vital for a healthy and prosperous London.
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“What we can’t do is take away the vital safety net that so many vulnerable and disabled Londoners rely upon. Having looked at the analysis of the government’s plans, the impact on London will be substantial, and for too many disabled Londoners it will destroy their financial safety net.
“The government must urgently think again. It must look again at the potential hardship these changes will force on thousands of vulnerable and disabled Londoners.”
MPs are set to vote on the government’s Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill next Tuesday.
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But nearly 130 Labour MPs have now signed a rebel amendment which would block the legislation.
If it is chosen by the Speaker, and if the opposition parties decide to support it, the government would lose the vote in what would be a massive humiliation for the PM.
Despite the growing anger, Starmer insisted he would not ditch the reforms.
He said: “We were elected to change what is broken in our country.
“The welfare system is broken and that’s why we will press ahead with our reforms.”
In a desperate attempt to quell the rebellion, cabinet ministers are phoning up MPs urging them to fall into line.
But one rebel told HuffPost UK: “It’s all a bit after the fact. They have no idea how badly this is going.”
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RuPaul’s Drag Race Star Reacts To Cardi B’s New Album Being Named After Her Iconic Quote
RuPaul’s Drag Race favourite Scarlet Envy has reacted to Cardi B using one of her most iconic quotes as the title of her new album.
In a promo interview for the sixth season of All Stars, Scarlet inadvertently created a much-quoted meme when she pondered: “Is it me? Am I the drama? I don’t think I’m the drama… maybe I am. Am I the villain? I don’t think I’m the villain.”
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On Monday, Cardi unveiled the album artwork and title of her much-awaited second album, which comes seven years after her debut release Invasion Of Privacy, and derives its name from Scarlet’s famous quote.
Now, while not everyone in the Drag Race family was impressed with the Bodak Yellow rapper for using one of the show’s quotes, it seems Scarlet herself was more than happy to have been Cardi’s inspiration.
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Popping up in the replies to the Grammy winner’s X post about her new album, Scarlet wrote: “You are the drama mamaaa.”
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Scarlet made her Drag Race debut in 2019, when she competed on the show’s eleventh season, finishing in 10th place overall.
After that, she was invited to compete on the sixth season of All Stars, as well as the second run of the BBC’s UK vs. The World Franchise, which is also judged by RuPaul.
Meanwhile, fans still have a bit of a wait on their hands for Cardi’s new album, which is due for release on 19 September.
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Her last album premiered in April 2018, winning the Best Rap Album at the following year’s Grammys, making Cardi the second woman – and first solo woman – to win the award after Lauryn Hill triumphed as part of the Fugees in 1997. Doechii later picked up the same award for her 2024 release Alligator Bits Never Heal.
While her album has been a long time coming, Cardi has still enjoyed plenty of chart success in the last seven years, with hits like Money, Up and the Megan Thee Stallion collaborations Bongos and WAP.
