Post-wildfire well testing

Medford's city distribution wasn't directly burned by the 2020 Almeda Fire (the burn footprint stopped at Phoenix), but East Medford's outer rural ring overlaps the broader Bear Creek corridor that the fire affected. The September 2020 Obenchain Fire to the north also burned in the Eagle Point / Butte Falls direction, with potential effects on outlying Medford-area wells.

For any well in either burn footprint that was sampled once in 2020 or 2021 and not re-tested since, OHA explicitly recommends re-testing — wells can develop new contamination over time as nearby septic failures and surface chemicals migrate in long after the fire (OHA — Wildfire-Impacted Well Testing).

The Almeda Fire ignited at Almeda Drive in north Ashland on September 8, 2020 (IJPR — Almeda Fire: One Year Later). Most of the city's distribution system stayed online, but homes near the ignition zone and along the burn corridor share the broader regional well-water risk.

Reeder Reservoir's forested watershed also sits in fire-prone country — the long-term concern is a future watershed fire that drives turbidity, metals, and post-fire contaminant carryover into the city's surface water source. Annual well testing for properties outside city limits, plus household-level RO, is the right hedge.

Eagle Point sits at the southern edge of the September 2020 South Obenchain Fire burn area. Outlying rural parcels east and north of the city — toward Butte Falls and Prospect — are inside or adjacent to the burn footprint and deserve fresh testing if not re-sampled since 2020 or 2021.

The OHA wildfire well testing program covered bacteria, nitrate, arsenic, lead, and BTEX (OHA — Wildfire-Impacted Well Testing) — but coverage was time-limited. Any well sampled once in that window is worth re-testing now.

Talent is the documented case in our service area. The September 8, 2020 Almeda Fire destroyed roughly one-third of Talent, melted PVC service lines across the burn footprint, and triggered an 18-month Oregon DWS post-fire VOC sampling program with 51-52 samples, 18 detections, and 3 MCL exceedances (Oregon DWS Post-Wildfire VOC Sampling).

The OHA free testing program covered bacteria, nitrate, arsenic, lead, and BTEX for wildfire-impacted domestic wells (OHA — Wildfire-Impacted Well Testing) — but coverage was time-limited and many wells haven't been re-tested since 2020 or 2021. Any rural Talent well sampled once in that window is worth re-testing now, particularly for BTEX and total coliform.

Phoenix sits in the same Almeda Fire footprint as Talent. Thousands of structures lost, melted PVC service lines, and a system-wide pressure loss that triggered a boil-water advisory on September 11, 2020 (KOBI5 — Phoenix Boil Water Advisory).

RVCOG's ongoing Almeda water-quality monitoring program covers Phoenix alongside Talent, Ashland, and surrounding jurisdictions (RVCOG — Almeda Fire Monitoring). For any well in the Phoenix burn footprint that hasn't been retested in the last 12-18 months, a fresh BTEX plus bacteria/nitrate/arsenic/lead panel is the right baseline.