b'INFOGRAPHICFORESTS provide an enormous amount There are many negative consequences of res, of high-quality waterForest Fires and including loss of biodiversity, degradation of air quality, for drinking, agriculture,Wildre Impact Cl DOC and the release of large amounts of carbon. Aquatic and industry. It is crucial toDrinking Water environments can also be devastated once rain begins understand how wildres impacton Water Quality4 falling on land that has been scorched by re.water quality and how water professionals are picking up theFire can release mercury from soil and trees. 11 This would result in contamination of the aquatic pieces after recent res. environment and the food chain. Debris causes increased sedimentation and can turn 2 1 Particles can clog sh gills. 22 pristine waters black.When forested areas of watersheds burn, water quality can be impaired for years3Fire destroys vegetation and makes soil hydrophobic.after the re has been contained, putting3 Runoff can damage watersheds and stream channels.the communities the forest serves at risk. 1Dissolved organic carbon can mix with chlorine at 5 4 drinking water plants.1 This mixture can result in the formation of carcinogenic disinfection byproducts. 18 people freshwaterHABs can degrade water quality in reservoirs that serve as drinking water 80 resources insources, and lead to large sh kills due to decreased dissolved oxygen levels. 1 0 millionof the3 5 A rapid inux of nutrients can cause HABs.3the U.S. in over 68,000 U.S. communitiesoriginate in rely on forested lands to capture11 forests.and lter their drinking water.3,,440000 water systems $ But the process of ecological succession and the rate at which it occurs varies in each 3 public drinking- $ Picking upVegetation, including trees, will eventually return to the burned landscape after a re. in the U.S. are located in watersheds155 billion1 ecosystemsome systems are more adapted to re than others. To aid in the forests recovery the Piecescontaining National Forest Service lands.was invested by New York Cityand to protect critical resources such as drinking water, land managers may choose to:These serve over 66 million Americansto protect its watershed and in 33 states.1 avoid the cost of an $8$10 billion ltration plant.3 Dredge waterMonitor water Plantbodies to removequality and trees sediment sediment characteristics3 % 12SOURCES Divert sooty waterPrevent mud,Remove debris 31 U.S. Forest Service, Forest Servicefrom treatmentdebris, and ashthat could fuel 1 Information on Water Resources plant intakes from enteringfuture res%3 2s.1% st water supplies o ref t ohfWorld Resources Institute, e y wbo d Global Forest Watch Water Metadata Documentrldserewatershe rea is cov 3 World Resources Institute,d a National Infrastructure - Investing in Forested LandscapesSOURCES 1 Yale, How Wildres Are2Eos, Five Environmental3Journal of Pollution for Source Water Protection in the United StatesPolluting Rivers and Consequences of Effects & Control, WaterThreatening Water SuppliesAustralias FiresQuality Impacts of Forest Fires12 MISSION: WATER'