When wildfires swept through Los Angeles in 2025, the flames revealed more than just scorched communities and hillsides — they exposed the increasing intersection between wildfire risk and urban water infrastructure. In response, UCLA’s Climate & Wildfire Research Initiative has launched the Urban Water Supply + Fire working group to tackle this issue head-on. Led by the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation (LCI) in partnership with the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources’ California Institute for Water Resources, the working group will serve as a research and policy coordination network focused on developing research and policy solutions to challenges related to water supply infrastructure, resilience, and post-fire recovery.  

Other water management and wildfire news:

• The San Diego Union-Tribune: Opinion: Wildfires in California: A preventable tragedy​