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The 2025 Los Angeles fires revealed some of the region's critical vulnerabilities, making clear the need to explore the relationship between water supply and wildfire dynamics. 

To address this critical issue, UCLA’s Climate & Wildfire Research Initiative (CWRI) is launching a new Urban Water Supply + Fire working group to function as a research and policy coordination network.

This innovative collaboration, chaired by Greg Pierce, co-executive director of Luskin Center for Innovation (LCI), aims to develop research and policy solutions to challenges related to water supply infrastructure, resilience and postfire recovery. This effort formalizes a forum where UCLA can come together and coordinate efforts with the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources’ California Institute for Water Resources.

CWRI’s new Urban Water Supply + Fire working group will be co-led by Faith Kearns, LCI affiliate and expert on water, wildfire and climate based at Arizona State University; Edith de Guzman, UC Cooperative Extension water equity and adaptation policy specialist with LCI; and Erik Porse, director of the California Institute for Water Resources. Together, this group of experts will work to advance actionable knowledge and policy recommendations to address these challenges over the next two years.

“The 2025 wildfires exposed significant vulnerabilities at the intersection of water supply and wildfire resilience,” said Pierce. “Thanks to the foresight of CWRI in prioritizing this critical issue, we are now able to bring together the expertise of LCI and UCANR to help address these complex challenges in Los Angeles and other wildfire-prone regions across California.”

Multiple workshops are planned and UC ANR is committed to supporting Californians and policymakers to promote disaster prevention and recovery.

The effort is supported through the California Institute for Water Resources, a statewide hub for water resources research and extension in California. It will serve as a platform for advancing strategies to improve water system resilience, wildfire preparedness, and recovery efforts in California. Over this time, the working group will serve as the central hub of activities of a broader engaged research effort covering the following pressing issues:

• Strengthening drinking water infrastructure resilience,
• Addressing equity in the cost of new investments,
• Ensuring water quality and community trust after fires, and
• Navigating the relationship between wildfire risk, vegetation and water supply in urban areas.

Modeled after the National Science Foundation’s Research Coordination Network, the Urban Water Supply + Fire working group aims to advance research in emerging or developing areas of science and education by fostering communication, collaboration and coordination among diverse groups of scientists, engineers and educators across disciplines, organizations and borders. The working group also will focus on policy, producing a dynamic and impactful mix of written products and engaging activities.

For examples of its related work, see FAQs and this March 2025 Nature Water article.