Faced with mega fires, water managers adopt new principals
In early February 2024 the Mountain Counties Water Resources Association adopted new forest management principles with the goal of solving the ongoing problem and severe effects of California’s mega wildfires. “Over 100 years of suppressing wildfires and changing climate have produced overgrown forests and catastrophic mega wildfires that are impacting communities, degrading California’s headwaters’ water quality, water infrastructure and forest resources in Sierra Nevada watersheds, (ultimately) creating a toxic smoke health hazard throughout the state,” MCWRA’s website reads. “These severe mega wildfires release tons of greenhouse gases and eliminate the ability of forests to absorb and store atmospheric carbon,” the website continues.
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