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After wildfires, scorched trees could disrupt water supplies

Workers Ethan Markes, left, and Andy Vicars, right, dig up a leaking water pipeline damaged by falling debris at the site of the 2021 Caldor Fire, Tuesday, April 5, 2022, near Grizzly Flats, Calif. As climate change fuels the spread of wildfires across the West, researchers want to know how the dual effect might disrupt water supplies. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson) Burned trees stand at the site of the 2021 Caldor Fire, Monday, April 4, 2022, near Twin Bridges, Calif. As wildfires intensify across the West, researchers are studying how scorched trees could lead to a faster snowmelt and end up disrupting water supplies. Without a tree canopy, snow is exposed to more sunlight. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson) Burned trees stand near patches of melting snow at the site of the 2021 Caldor Fire, Monday, April 4, 2022, near Twin Bridges, Calif. As wildfires intensify across the West, researchers are studying how scorched trees could lead to a faster snowmelt and end up disrupting water supplies. Without a tree canopy, snow is exposed to more sunlight. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson) Burned tree bark and other debris sit on melting snow at the site of the 2021 Caldor Fire, Monday, April 4, 2022, near Twin Bridges, Calif. As wildfires intensify across the West, researchers are studying how scorched trees could lead to a faster snowmelt and end up disrupting water supplies. Without a tree canopy, snow is exposed to more sunlight. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson) Snow hydrologist Anne Nolin holds a sample of dirty snow at the site of the 2021 Caldor Fire, Monday, April 4, 2022, near Twin Bridges, Calif. As wildfires intensify across the West, researchers are studying how scorched trees could lead to a faster snowmelt and end up disrupting water supplies. Without a tree canopy, snow is exposed to more sunlight. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson) Snow hydrologist Anne Nolin, left, and graduate student Arielle Koshkin, right, prepare to collect data on snow at the site of the 2021 Caldor Fire, Monday, April 4, 2022, near Twin Bridges, Calif. As wildfires intensify across the West, researchers are studying how scorched trees could lead to a faster snowmelt and end up disrupting water supplies. Without a tree canopy, snow is exposed to more sunlight. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson) Researchers collect data near a patch of snow at the site of the 2021 Caldor Fire on Monday, April 4, 2022, near Twin Bridges, Calif. As wildfires intensify across the West, researchers are studying how scorched trees could lead to a faster snowmelt and end up disrupting water supplies. Without a tree canopy, snow is exposed to more sunlight. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson) Graduate student Arielle Koshkin, left, takes notes as snow hydrologist Anne Nolin, right, measures snow reflectivity at the site of the 2021 Caldor Fire Monday, April 4, 2022, near Twin Bridges, Calif. As wildfires increase in severity and frequency across the West, researchers are studying how charred bark shedding from scorched trees may be further disrupting water supplies by contributing to an acceleration of snow melt to rivers, possibly leaving less water flowing in the summer when it's most needed. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson)