Fire Destroyed This California Town’s Water System. But That Didn’t Slow The Effort To Rebuild

Five years after the Camp Fire, the town of Paradise is still replacing damaged water lines. But it’s been able to do it in a way that hasn’t slowed down reconstruction.

Photo: The Paradise Irrigation District published an online map that it regularly updated with water testing results across the system. (Courtesy: Paradise Irrigation District)

Mickey Rich can still remember the look on people’s faces when leaders of the Paradise Irrigation District announced that it would take at least three years to repair the town’s fire-ravaged water system.  

It was March of 2019, and nearly 300 people had turned out to hear the district’s plan for removing the toxic stew of cancer-causing materials that had leached into pipes during the deadliest fire in modern California history. 

“We saw the looks on their faces and the sighs and the anguished sound in the crowd,” said Rich, the district’s assistant manager. “And we went back to the table.” 

Five years after the fire, the water district is still ripping up damaged service lines and installing more advanced water meters aimed at preventing damage in the future. But that grim statistic hides a remarkable success story.

After the meeting, officials went back to the drawing board and came up with a new recovery plan that could take place in tandem with reconstruction efforts. Within four months of the meeting, they had begun restoring service to standing homes.

The water district also rolled out a testing and public information program so effective that recent surveys have shown residents trust Paradise more than they trust tap water in general. 

To get where it is today, the district had to battle state and federal agencies not just for funding assistance, but also for support in making the types of repairs it felt was necessary to ensure water was truly safe.

“It’s really making sure as a city or a district or whoever is in control, that you’re making decisions that you feel are right for your citizens,” said Kevin Phillips, who headed the Paradise Irrigation District in the aftermath of the fires.

An Unprecedented Disaster

In the immediate aftermath of the 2018 Camp Fire, which killed 85 people and destroyed more than 11,000 structures in Paradise alone, staff at the Paradise Irrigation District knew the water system had been damaged.

What they didn’t know was the extent, Phillips said.

Before it could do anything else, the district had to turn off the water at every single meter in town. Then it turned the water on slowly and began testing the system. It wasn’t until Dec. 18 — five weeks after the fire — that the district started getting […]

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