How fire survivors can prep their properties for rain

The El Niño climate pattern is here and, in Southern California, that can mean heavy rain in the winter — which is why experts say now is the time to prepare and make sure you’re signed up for emergency alerts. But for the thousands of people who lost their homes and businesses in the Eaton and Palisades fires, there are some additional concerns.

With no trees or vegetation with roots to hold soil together, open dirt lots are prone to flooding and erosion. That soil can still be contaminated with toxic metals, which can wind up downstream with rain.

But there are ways survivors can prepare their properties, according to experts LAist spoke with, including understanding how water is flowing in your area, applying organic mulch to bare soil, and diverting water from structures and foundations.

Organic composted mulch ftw

Natalie Levy, a soil scientist with the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, has been studying how organic mulch can help prevent erosion and reinvigorate soil on fire-scarred properties in Altadena since last year.

In a pilot project, she and a group of 14 Altadena property owners applied 1 to 2 inches of compost "erosion-control blankets" to their lots. The mixture needs to be a combination of fine-screened compost and larger, coarser, composted mulch.

"Think of this coarse composted mulch as a protective blanket," Levy said. "Your strategy here is you're reducing rainfall hitting bare soil directly.  We're really trying to slow the movement of water down and give it more opportunity to infiltrate."

The larger pieces of mulch dissipate the energy of rainfall, while the finer compost can break down and help nourish the soil over time, Levy said.

The pilot analyzed 14 properties before and after significant rains last year. Levy found the properties with organic mulch had less erosion.

"Instead of a mass of soil that had fallen off of the edge of the parkway, we saw very clean curbs and less actual sediment in that storm drain," Levy said.

Lydia Whitlock was one of the participants in the pilot. A UC Master Gardener, she wanted to find more natural ways to clean her soil and prevent erosion after her home burned in the Eaton Fire. She worked closely with Levy and later contacted local native plant and nature-based stormwater capture experts, Hardy Californians, who connected her with a local landscaper to spread 645 tons of organic mulch across more than 128,000 square feet of her and her neighbors' properties.

A truck dumps organic composted mulch on Lydia Whitlock's property in Altadena.

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Courtesy Lydia Whitlock

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"Seeing how tended for and cared for the land looked as opposed to how it had looked as just bare dirt, it really felt like, oh, I'm taking a step towards coming back home," Whitlock said.

She was especially pleased with a neighbor’s property across the street, which had a steeper slope.

"After the first rains post-mulch, we noticed that she had almost no soil movement whatsoever," Whitlock said.

The county paid for the mulch to be applied for this pilot, but Whitlock said she hopes there's a broader effort and additional support from local authorities ahead of the rainy season, which officially starts mid-October. Many of the lots covered in the pilot have now been uncovered as rebuilding continues, Whitlock said.

"It was encouraging to get this done," she said, "but at the same time, 14 lots feels like a drop in the bucket compared to how many still-empty dirt lots there are around Altadena."

Other ways to prepare your property 

Meanwhile, Parker Davis, founder of Hardy Californians, said there are other affordable ways to prep your property ahead of potential significant rain. The group has been working closely with fire survivors on natural soil remediation strategies, as well as erosion control and water capture.

In most cases, on properties with moderate to minimal sloping, he said, residents shouldn’t be all that concerned.

"In general, the moderately-sloped [properties], they can help themselves," Davis said.

However, Davis emphasized, people right against recently burned hillsides do need to prepare for more significant mudflows and potential evacuations.

"People should really start preparing now," he said. "Crews are going to get busy, and once things get wet, then there's not a whole lot you can do about it."

Here are some other ways to prepare your property, according to Davis:

• Filling and placing sandbags now
• Staggering chain link fences on sloped properties can help capture debris
• Creating channels to redirect water from construction areas (though be sure to coordinate with neighbors if you can’t direct to a public storm drain)
• Apply jute on exposed soil under mulch on hillsides. That can also be used in combination with natural material wattles (some are made with plastics, which Davis doesn’t recommend, as it can contaminate soil and water)