Because of the fire’s sheer sprawl and geographic complexity, one of the first tools they turned to was geographic information systems (GIS) in figuring out which areas would be most amenable to being treated for erosion control, one of the after-effects of wildfire.
The State Water Board’s Division of Information Technology (DIT) quickly developed a GIS solution that comprised more than a dozen elements, according to veteran geologist Clint Snyder, assistant executive officer of the Central Valley Water Board. His explanation was relayed to Techwire through State Water Boards spokesman Blair Robertson.
According to Snyder, DIT’s overlays included:
- Base maps
- Fire perimeter
- CalWater Hydrologic PWS boundaries
- Federal lands boundaries
- CalFire dozer lines
- Water Board field team assessment data
- CalFire damaged-structure data
- Drinking water intake location information
- Parcel data
- Floodplain data
- Storm water data
- Class I, II and III streams
- U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) debris flow model predictions
- USGS segment probability
- U.S. Forest Service burn severity maps
- Percent slope
The Water Boards then used that GIS to work with multiple agencies including Shasta County, the city of Redding, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Geological Survey to identify the most critical areas to deploy erosion control best management practices (BMPs), Snyder said. Those areas were then mapped.
“The Water Boards used the final map as the basis for grant funding and subsequent contracting with the Western Shasta Resource Conservation District to deploy BMPs over 1,640 acres deemed most suitable for erosion-control treatment,” Snyder said.
