In the News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Lake Tahoe, CA/NV — Wednesday, July 15, 2026: The Tahoe Water for Fire Suppression Partnership commends the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works for advancing S.4949, the Water Resources Development Act of 2026 (WRDA 2026), and thanked Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) and his professional staff for their work to secure [...]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Lake Tahoe, CA/NV — Monday, January 26, 2026: The Tahoe Water for Fire Suppression Partnership today celebrated the enactment of the Fiscal Year 2026 federal appropriations “minibus” funding package, marking a major milestone for Lake Tahoe’s wildfire resilience and emergency preparedness efforts. Included in H.R. 6938, the Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy [...]
California Special Districts Association - Virtual Tour In 2023, the California Special District Association highlighted the Tahoe Water for Fire Suppression Partnership's work to advance legislation and support for water infrastructure projects for fire suppression. This 60-Minute recorded virtual tour highlights the challenges and opportunities regarding water infrastructure for firefighting that face [...]
Tahoe Tap Podcast Join hosts Mike Peron and Rob Galloway for another exciting episode of Things, Adventure, and People, where we dive deep into all things Tahoe! In this episode, we kick off with a local news roundup, covering the top stories from around the Tahoe region. Then, we shift gears to focus on the Tahoe [...]
News Coverage
Why did fire hydrants go ‘dry’ for crews fighting the Palisades Fire? https://ktla.com/news/local-news/why-did-fire-hydrants-go-dry-for-crews-fighting-the-palisades-fire/
Homeowners struggled to save their properties along with firefighters, who found that water pressure was running low in many places. Officials said the city's hydrant system was not designed to fight wildfires on the scale seen in Los Angeles. NBC News' Gadi Schwartz reports.
Fire hydrants ran dry as Pacific Palisades burned. L.A. city officials blame ‘tremendous demand’ https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-08/lack-of-water-from-hydrants-in-palisades-fire-is-hampering-firefighters-caruso-says
L.A. County lacked resources to hold back destructive wildfires. Here’s the latest https://www.latimes.com/california/newsletter/2025-01-09/l-a-county-lacked-resources-to-hold-back-destructive-wildfires-heres-what-is-happening-essential-california
November 15, 2024 The LA Times coverage of the Mountain Fire in Southern California included this article on the loss of water pressure and inadequate water infrastructure resources during the fire fight. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-11-15/water-pressure-became-an-issue-fighting-the-mountain-fire-how-bad-was-it Read the LA Times story here
New York Times - March 16, 2024 Chile’s Deadliest Wildfire Is Said to Have Been Made Worse by a Lack of Water Poor water pressure and dry hydrants posed major obstacles to fighting the February fire that killed scores of people along the country’s Pacific Coast. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/16/world/americas/chile-wildfires-water-drought.html
As Inferno Grew, Lahaina’s Water System Collapsed https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/13/us/lahaina-water-failure.html
Associated Press - September 30, 2023 https://apnews.com/article/fire-maui-kula-hawaii-water-pumps-epa-285a21f64d20d2a58a5c420f5a04a218
The Guardian - August 17, 2023 Why was there no water to fight the fire in Maui? https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/17/hawaii-fires-maui-water-rights-disaster-capitalism