Arizona Geological Society

Postfire Debris-Flow Research at the Arizona Geological Survey Efforts to Improve Hazard Assessments and Mitigation Options

  • 01 Oct 2024
  • 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM
  • Hexagon Office at 40 East Congress Street, Suite 150, Tucson, Arizona 85701

Registration

(depends on selected options)

Base fee:
  • Members RSVP here. Registration requires online prepayment via credit card. Confirmation will not be complete without prepayment. Please cancel by 6 p.m. on the Sunday prior to the meeting, if you are unable to attend - no shows and late cancellations will result in the forfeiture of their payment, if AGS is unable to sell your dinner.
  • Non-members RSVP here. Registration requires online prepayment via credit card. Confirmation will not be complete without prepayment. Please cancel by 6 p.m. on the Sunday prior to the meeting, if you are unable to attend - no shows and late cancellations will result in the forfeiture of their payment, if AGS is unable to sell your dinner.
  • Free to Student members. Full-time students may join online free - click "Join or Renew" Please cancel by 6 p.m. on the Sunday prior to the meeting, if you are unable to attend.

Registration is closed


Arizona Geological Society

2024 Speaker Series

Tuesday,  1 October 2024 | 5:30 - 8:00 PM

Location:  Hexagon Mining Division Office

40 East Congress Street, Suite 150, Tucson, Arizona 85701


Parking: On the street or parking garage (Old Pueblo Parking)

Social Hour with Sandwiches from Beyond Bread (5:30-6:30 PM), Presentation (6:35 PM)

For those planning to attend the event, please register by 6:00 PM on Sunday,  September 29, 2024

For those unable to attend, here is a

MS Teams URL for Remote Viewing

Remote Broadcast begins at 6:35 PM

(streaming URL)

The Arizona Geological Society thanks Hexagon

for generously providing the venue and drinks


Postfire Debris-Flow Research at the Arizona Geological Survey

Efforts to Improve Hazard Assessments and Mitigation Options

Ann Youberg and Rebecca Beers

Arizona Geological Survey

Abstract - In Arizona, and across the western US, wildfires have increased in size and severity and, due to invasive vegetation and drought, have encroached into ecosystems that historically did not sustain large, high severity fires (e.g., the Sonoran Desert, the Pacific NW).  Concurrent, increased development into the wildland-urban interface (WUI), where the built and natural environments intermingle, has placed more people at risk from wildfires and from postfire floods and debris flows. Wildfires consume vegetation and alter soil hydrologic properties, increasing runoff, erosion and the susceptibility of burned watersheds to postfire floods and debris flows. Postfire debris flows in Arizona are typically triggered by short-duration, high-intensity convective rainfall during monsoon storms. Because the monsoon season (June 15 – September 30) immediately follows peak fire season (April – June), there is little time following a fire for communities to mitigate the risks from post-fire floods and debris flows.


Post-Pipeline Debris Flow in Weatherford Canyon, north of Flagstaff, Az.  AZGS geoscientist in center of photo for scale.

Photo courtesy of Rebecca Beers 2022

In this talk, we’ll first discuss how wildfires impact the landscape to increase the likelihood of postfire debris flows and floods, the transient nature of fire impacts on the landscape, the challenges of mitigating these hazards in areas where fire season and monsoon overlap, and projects the AZGS and Geosciences are conducting to address these issues.  We’ll close with an ongoing case study assessing the effectiveness of novel mitigation strategies deployed in northern Arizona.  

Speakers:  

        

Ann Youberg (l) Senior Research Scientist

and Rebecca Beers (r) Research Scientist



Hexagon Mining Division Office - 40 East Congress Street,

Suite 150, Tucson, Arizona 85701


Copyright © 2013 Arizona Geological Society
                                   Contact: info@arizonageologicalsoc.org
Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software