Wildfires & Water Quality Policy
Wildfires and other natural disasters can have a significant impact on water quality and access. In response to these events, local officials and regulators need the latest science and real-time data to act quickly and accurately to assess water quality. Scientists need to understand how to provide data and information to water quality officials in a timely and efficient manner.
This May 2025 event, hosted by the Linde Center for Science, Society, and Policy, the Linde Center for Global Environmental Science, and the Resnick Sustainability Institute, brought together scientists and water-quality policy officials to discuss this important problem, and to learn more about how the Eaton and Palisades wildfires influenced water quality in Southern California.
Panel Discussion
Audience Q&A
Panelists
- Hannah Druckenmiller: Assistant Professor of Economics and William H. Hurt Scholar, Caltech
- Stacie Takeguchi: Chief Assistant General Manager, Pasadena Water and Power (PWP)
- Andrew Whelton: Professor of Civil and Construction Engineering and Environmental and Ecological Engineering at Purdue University
Moderated by Andrew Thompson, John S. and Sherry Chen Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering; Director, Ronald and Maxine Linde Center for Global Environmental Science; Executive Officer for Environmental Science, Caltech