Managing California Wildfires through Soil Moisture during Summer Months
Proposal Technical Project to be presented on 5/2/2021
To:
California State Fire Prevention CAL Fire
Deputy of the Governor’s Office
From: Wildfire Management Co.
Domenico Gioffre, Mechanical Engineer,
Youseph Elmasry, Mechanical Engineer
Xavier Davis, Mechanical Engineer
Christian Jose, Mechanical Engineer
This proposal is submitted to California State Fire Prevention, CAL FIRE, and the Deputy of the Governor’s Office.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Introduction
1.1. Problem Statement
1.2. Background
1.3. Needs Statement
1.4. Objective
2. PROPOSED TECHNICAL APPROACH
3. EXPECTED PROJECT RESULTS
3.1 Overview
3.2 MEASURES of SUCCESS
4. SCHEDULE
1.0. Introduction:
1.1 Problem Statement:
Wildfires that have plagued California in recent years. California’s wildfires have been uncontainable in the past few years due to droughts and record-breaking heating levels. This is because soil and vegetation becomes dehydrated, making them fuel for fire.
To get a better understanding of how this works, we cite an example we found on an article on California wildfires on thealtantic.com: “boil some ravioli. Put the heat on high. After about 10 minutes, the pasta will go limp and start to break apart. Keep boiling. When the pot holds a shallow puddle of water and a pile of soggy debris, keep going. Don’t turn down the heat until the last bubbles of water sizzle and vanish. Then—and only then—the lump of ravioli will start to singe and burn and smoke.” Bringing this back to wildfires, what happens is that during the summer months in California, the temperature is extremely hot, essentially all the moisture available in the vegetation and soil is evaporating. Eventually, when everything is all dried up, the dead vegetation begins to burn, and there is no moisture in the soil to inhibit the burning.
The problem increases exponentially due to the droughts in California, but also largely due to extreme temperatures. In 2019 and 2020, California was ranked as the state with the highest risk for wildfires with an estimate of over 2 million properties at risk (iii.org). California wildfires burnt over 4.2 million acres of land in 2020 alone, the most during the modern era. On top of destroying ecosystems, wildfires contribute to air pollution over a large area..
1.2 Background:
Currently, with the help of the U.S. Forest Service, California’s government plans to reduce the intensity of wildfires with the prescribed burning of 1 million acres each year. This is the process in which specialists purposefully light small portions of a forest on fire to reduce the amount of fuel for wildfires as well as encourage growth for plants and trees.
This project does not seek to replace prescribed burning, but rather act as a supplement to prevent unintentional and destructive wildfires.
1.3 Needs Statement:
- El Dorado County will not have the economic resources to support this effort, we will have to request funding from the Governor’s office.
- Grants from:
- California Department of Parks and Recreation
- Eric Rodriguez, Mayor of San Mateo, California
- Jared Blumenfeld, Secretary of California Environmental Protection Agency
- Day Valley: John Laird (Secretary of California Natural Resources Agency)
1.4 Objectives:
- The purpose of this proposal is to obtain permission to implement our irrigation system in the Pleasant (or Day) Valley area as well as a grant to cover our materials and labor costs.
- Since our system requires the use of water sources from the surrounding towns, we will also obtain permission from their elected officials to direct water towards our pipelines. The insurance that a wildfire will not drive out the residents of this town outweighs the occasional increase, albeit small, in water consumption.
- If our results prove that an irrigation system reduces unintentional fires in an acre of land, we can implement this system in other high-risk areas that are hot zones for fires.
- Proposed Technical Approach
2.1 Location and Purpose of first test run:
Pleasant Valley, El Dorado County, California
- This location is more inhabited than the other wildfire locations and will likely have its own irrigation or plumbing system in place which we can utilize to lower our workload in collecting water from the sea.
- We will use an acre of public land located in Day Valley
2.2 System Design:
(system graphic still in works, for now an idea of the infrastructure is presented)
Layout:
The rough sketch shows a main pipeline flowing through the length of the acre used for the test run. From the mainline, smaller irrigation pipes extend outward through the area of the acre to sprinkle water across the acre.
The mainline will be connected to the water distribution system of nearby towns Aptos, Watsonville, Corralitos, and Amesti, and on a scheduled or requested basis, receive waterflow from their systems.
Function:
The rain season in California begins in December and is concentrated in January and February, ending in February. Knowing this, we will begin irrigating the fields a month after the end of the rain season, which may vary but will usually be the beginning of April.
The water will be irrigated into the fields with the purpose of keeping the field moist enough to at least keep the grass alive. This amount of moisture has not yet been determined and is still being looked into. (more on this: Is Soil Moisture Related to Wildfire? – Fisher – 2015 – CSA News – Wiley Online Library)
Drip Irrigation will be used to reduce the amount of water needed as it eliminates loss from evaporation and runoff.
The objective is to keep the soil from losing enough moisture that they cannot inhibit wildfires in any way, which is discussed more in the study linked above. This test run will go on for the summer months until the heat begins to drop, signalling the end of the wildfire season.
2.3 Implementation:
After the test run is completed, we will use the data that we have collected in Day Valley and implement the system in other high risk towns that are likely to evacuate if a wildfire were to strike their area. There, our system will be strategically placed to surround the outskirts of the town and act as a barrier against a potential wildfire.
- Expected Project Results
3.1 Overview:
Upon completion of Mini-Soak, Day Valley will be much more fire-hardy. This in conjunction with state efforts to fire proof homes, will make Day Valley much safer. Day Valley will achieve this goal by having several irrigation channels that maintain adequate moisture levels. The channels will use drip irrigation to reduce water needed for the project.
The local area will be able to rebuild from past fires, and bring back tourists and residents, generating revenue for the area.
3.2 Measures of Success:
The measure of success is determined by the occurrence of fires in the area being irrigated. All this data is already recorded by CAL FIRE. This data includes the timeframe of wildfire activity that has occurred in past fires, which will be compared to the impact of future wildfires after our irrigation. If the area being irrigated sees a drop in fire occurrences and duration, then the program worked.
Schedule
This project is expected to be finished in time for Summer 2022
| Task | Start Date | End Date |
| Get approval and funding | 6/1/2021 | 9/1/2021 |
| Create job postings The employees we need include construction workers We also want to hire an Environmental Engineer to study and modify the design if necessary | 9/1/2021 | 9/2/2021 |
| Order materials from supplier | 9/1/2021 | 10/1/2021 |
| Plan the scheduled prescribed burning with Governor Newscom | 9/2/2021 | 9/8/2021 |
| Hire workers This time period includes reading resumes and hosting interviews. Orientation will occur during the final week of hiring. | 9/8/2021 | 10/1/2021 |
| Construct pipeline and irrigation system according to architectural design | 10/7/2021 | 5/1/2022 |
| Install moisture sensors and develop automated system | 5/10/2022 | 5/20/2022 |
References
Jared Blumenfeld source:
https://calepa.ca.gov/about/bios/blumenfeld/
https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/prescribed-fire
Audience Profile Sheet 1
| Reader’s Name: | Jared Blumenfeld |
| Reader’s Job Title: | Secretary of California Environmental Protection Agency |
| Kind of Reader: | Primary__X____ Secondary______ |
| Reader’s Level of Education: | High Educational Background |
| Reader’s Professional Experience: | From 2009 to 2016, he served under former President Barack Obama as Regional Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the Pacific Southwest, a region that includes California, Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii, the Pacific Islands and 148 tribal nations. |
| Reader’s Job Responsibilities: | Oversees state’s efforts to fight climate change, protect air and water quality, regulate pesticides and toxic substances, etc.. |
| Reader’s Personal Characteristics: | Responsible |
| Reader’s Cultural Background: | White Male |
| Reader’s Attitude Toward the Writer (you): | We hope that they will view us as individuals who are passionate about preventing the impact of wildfires |
| Reader’s Attitude Toward the Position you’re applying to: | Looking for anyone willing to assist in the development of wildfire preventions |
| Reader’s Expectations for an employee in that position: | |
| Reader’s Expectations about the Résumé and Job Letter (as documents): | |
| Reader’s Way of Reading the Document: | Skim it _____ Study it __X___ Read a portion of it ___ Which portion? Modify it and submit it to another reader____ |
| Reader’s Reading Skill: | High Level |
| Reader’s Physical Environment: | His Office |
