Hydrology and Earth System Sciences
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences
HESS
Articles | Volume 30, issue 13
Articles | Volume 30, issue 13
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-4367-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-4367-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 30, issue 13
Research article
 | Highlight paper
 | 
15 Jul 2026
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 15 Jul 2026

Wildfire-induced disruptions to evapotranspiration, runoff, and water-balance closure across California's water supply watersheds

Ziying Han, Han Guo, Michael L. Goulden, and Roger C. Bales

Related authors

Coordination of rooting, xylem, and stomatal strategies explains the response of conifer forest stands to multi-year drought in the southern Sierra Nevada of California
Junyan Ding, Polly Buotte, Roger Bales, Bradley Christoffersen, Rosie A. Fisher, Michael Goulden, Ryan Knox, Lara Kueppers, Jacquelyn Shuman, Chonggang Xu, and Charles D. Koven
Biogeosciences, 20, 4491–4510, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4491-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4491-2023, 2023
Short summary

Cited articles

Abatzoglou, J. T. and Williams, A. P.: Impact of anthropogenic climate change on wildfire across western US forests, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 113, 11770–11775, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1607171113, 2016. 
Avanzi, F., Rungee, J., Maurer, T., Bales, R., Ma, Q., Glaser, S., and Conklin, M.: Climate elasticity of evapotranspiration shifts the water balance of Mediterranean climates during multi-year droughts, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 4317–4337, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-4317-2020, 2020. 
Bart, R. R., Ray, R. L., Conklin, M. H., Safeeq, M., Saksa, P. C., Tague, C. L., and Bales, R. C.: Assessing the effects of forest biomass reductions on forest health and streamflow, Hydrol. Process., 35, e14114, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.14114, 2021. 
Baur, M. J., Friend, A. D., and Pellegrini, A. F. A.: Widespread and systematic effects of fire on plant–soil water relations, Nat. Geosci., 17, 1115–1120, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01563-6, 2024. 
Beyene, M. T., Leibowitz, S. G., and Pennino, M. J.: Parsing weather variability and wildfire effects on the post-fire changes in daily stream flows: a quantile-based statistical approach and its application, Water Resour. Res., 57, e2020WR028029, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR028029, 2021. 
More articles (45)
Download
Editorial statement
The manuscript addresses a topic of potential broad societal relevance. The analysis of long-term wildfire impacts on hydrologic processes in major California water-supply basins may be of interest beyond the immediate research community, particularly in Mediterranean regions
Read more
Short summary
Large wildfires are reshaping California’s water-supply forests. Using 40 years of satellite and river data, we found that severe fires greatly reduce vegetation water use, sometimes increasing runoff during dry years. Recovery varies widely across basins and can take many years. The work shows that wildfire can disturb the entire water budget and highlights the need to include fire effects when planning for future water resources.
Read more
Share