Wildfires in Wyoming and across the West are creating bigger impacts on snowpack supplying farms, energy production and drinking water for millions of downstream users, according to a new study.

Steven Fassnacht, professor of snow hydrology at Colorado State University and the report's co-author, said the 2020 Mullen Fire in southern Wyoming and Cameron Peak Fire in Colorado were both very large fires destroying forests in places which have historically not seen fires spark or spread.

"They were burning at this high elevation where the snowpack is deep," Fassnacht observed. "They burned up there not because of a lack of snow; they burned because of a lack of rain in the summer."

Researchers found snow in wildfire-burned locations is now melting roughly three weeks earlier than normal, and Fassnacht explained as climate change expands fire zones into more snow areas, water managers and others may need to make adjustments. Increasing storage capacity can help capture melting snowpack, and managers can also re-time water releases from reservoirs to be in sync with time-sensitive users including farms.

Instead of less-than-precise tools such as snow courses and SNOTEL stations to estimate annual water supplies, Fassnacht urged managers to tap technologies including LIDAR, which works like radar using light instead of radio waves to measure snowpack, and new modeling, which can better calculate actual water volumes.

"We need to use multiple tools from our toolbox to better manage the water," Fassnacht emphasized. "One is the storage, and two is the information of how much is there, and how much is actually coming into the system?"

After the Cameron Peak fire, the city of Fort Collins was forced to cut off water coming down the mountain because it was filled with ash and soot. Wildfires also can increase landslides in watersheds, which Fassnacht pointed out can harm fish habitat and water quality for downstream users.

"Especially municipalities, especially for residential water use downstream of any of these fires," Fassnacht asserted. "The ash is very difficult to treat in water treatment plants."

World Water Week is underway, as leaders forge discussions on the global water crisis. Supply issues aren't as urgent in North Dakota, but that doesn't mean conservation is an afterthought.

Dani Quissell - executive director of the North Dakota Water Education Foundation - said the state is lucky to sit on a more predictable water supply, namely the Missouri River, when compared to elsewhere in the U.S.

But she acknowledged that droughts in recent years serve as a reminder for state & local governments, and residents, to not take this precious resource for granted.

At home, she said basic conservation tips still apply.

"Being mindful on when we're letting the tap run where you're filling a pitcher," said Quissell, "and then you walk away for a minute to go let the dog out or something, keeping in mind that that water is running over and right down the drain."

She said that mindfulness should also come into play with other daily practices, like brushing your teeth.

As for policymakers, Quissell encouraged strong communication across various agencies - to ensure water supplies are prioritized when mapping out commercial and residential development.

Surging demand and uneven regulations have plagued western states as key water sources dry up.

Quissell argued that North Dakota closely monitors water use around the state. As climate change threats take shape, she said that has to be the approach moving forward.

"It's a mindset to have in wet periods and dry periods," said Quissell. "I think you build those habits over the long term. I think it's important to be thinking about being a good steward of the resource to have available for our children and our grandchildren."

Agriculture is one sector that has come under scrutiny for how it uses up water for food production. But Quissell said innovation and technology have helped to address that problem.

For homeowners irrigating their lawns, she urged them to run sprinklers at dusk or pre-dawn. That way, the water won't quickly evaporate in the midday heat.



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A new report finds pollution violations at wastewater treatment plants have been a problem in more than half of Idaho's communities.

The Idaho Conservation League's annual study of the state's sewage treatment plants says 58% violated Clean Water Act standards during 2023.

Will Tiedemann, the regulatory conservation associate with the Idaho Conservation League, said his organization didn't find much change between 2022 and 2023.

"It was kind of the status quo as continued from last year," said Tiedemann. "There were still a significant number of facilities across Idaho who violate. And of that, you know, it's usually ten, eleven, twelve facilities who make up the lion's share of that."

Tiedemann said his organization continued to study not just violations but loads over limits, or the severity of the violation.

Three facilities, in Driggs, Parma and Preston, accounted for about a third of total violations. On the positive side, 47 cities and towns did not report any violations in 2023.

Tiedemann said violations typically occur because of elevated levels of phosphorous or nitrogen from an excess of nutrients.

He noted that excess nutrients can create problems for water bodies, such as algae blooms.

"There are real world consequences," said Tiedemann, "for the environment and for recreation and for human health."

Tiedemann said violations occur more often in smaller communities - and there's a reason for that.

"Large cities in Idaho have a tax base to where they can have more advanced treatment systems," said Tiedemann. "They have more things to treat but they kind of have an outsized availability of resources to address that. But lots of smaller towns in Idaho don't always. They have limited budgets."

The Biden Administration is investing $105 million in water conservation and efficiency projects meant to shore up drought resilience, including more than $5.5 million for projects in Larimer, Montezuma, Montrose and Otero counties.

Zachary Hoylman, assistant state climatologist, said protecting water resources now and in the future will be critical for the nation's farmers and ranchers.

"Conservation is a really important piece of building resiliency," Hoylman explained. "Especially in an era of increasing variability in the climate system and longer term changes to the climate system."

The projects will optimize water deliveries to agricultural users, mitigate the risks of ditch failures by installing pipes, and install smart water meters. Shovel-ready projects in 11 states including Colorado are projected to save more than 111,000 acre-feet of water annually. One acre-foot is equal to more than 325,000 gallons of water, enough to cover a football field with one foot of water.

Hoylman pointed out there are many benefits to improving water transport efficiencies but it is also important to consider broader impacts. If you transport water by pipe instead of by ditch, it may be more efficient but it could also be taking water away from wetlands and waterfowl habitat.

"We can't only think about the human, socio-economic system," Hoylman argued. "There is really important feedback between the way that we divert water and the implications for ecology and ecosystems as a whole."

The investment taps funding allocated in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021. The Bureau of Reclamation is investing a total of $8.3 billion over five years for water infrastructure projects, including rural water, water storage, conservation and conveyance, nature-based solutions, dam safety, water purification and reuse, and desalination.


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