From my home in Los Angeles, I witnessed the devastation of wildfires earlier this year and how they underscored the rising urgency to modernize water infrastructure. … As wildfires grow more frequent and intense, it becomes even more urgent to adapt our water infrastructure to meet this new reality. Much of the nation’s water infrastructure is nearing the end of its lifespan. And yet, modernizing drinking and wastewater systems could exceed $744 billion in costs over the next 20 years. Between the urgent need to upgrade decades-old systems and the rising impacts of climate-driven weather extremes, the vast networks of pipes, treatment plants, and drainage systems across the U.S. are under immense strain.
–Written by Kirsten James, senior program director for water at the nonprofit sustainability organization Ceres.

Other water and climate impact analysis:

• KQED (San Francisco): Lessons from elsewhere: Managing San Francisco’s stormwater and sewage mess
• AP News: Report highlights how communities hardest hit by climate change can build resilient water systems
• Native News Online: Opinion: Forging law and Indigenous fire traditions
• Capitol Weekly (Sacramento, Calif.): Opinion: Three ways California can fight climate chaos after the wildfires​
• Public Policy of California: Factsheet: Headwaters and wildfire in California​