Fires in and around Los Angeles continue to rage as gusting Santa Ana winds drive the flames through brush and into neighborhoods. Two major blazes, the Eaton Fire and the Palisades Fire, have combined burned almost 40,000 acres since last week. Another fire, the Auto Fire, erupted Monday evening in Ventura County. The fires have killed at least 24 people.

The extraordinary scale and speed of the blazes have overwhelmed responders, even in a region with a long history of fighting wildfires. That was evident last week as firefighters worked to contain the Palisades Fire when they found that some of the fire hydrants in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood ran dry.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the 114 water tanks that supply the city’s water were full before the fires ignited. But when the blazes ignited, firefighters were using so much water for so long, faster than the tanks could refill. That made it hard to keep the water flowing, particularly at higher elevations.

“Four times the normal demand was seen for 15 hours straight, which lowered our water pressure,” Janisse Quiñones, CEO and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, told the Los Angeles Times.

Water, however, is always a political issue in Los Angeles. The region has contended with water scarcity since it was founded, yet has also faced extensive flooding during intense downpours. City officials and local politicians were quick to criticize the city’s underinvestment in its water infrastructure.

However, the fires have also become another reason to litigate a long list of grievances with California’s decisions around water: taking down dams, not building enough reservoirs, protecting a tiny fish. It’s important to understand that factors have little relevance to the ongoing fire response. “I think some of the conversation is so unrelated to fire hydrants in LA it’s hard to know where to start,” said Faith Kearns, a water and wildfire researcher at the Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University.

Nonetheless, California is facing threats to its water infrastructure that will only intensify after the flames die down. The fires are already degrading drinking water in the afflicted region and will continue to impede the recovery. And as the climate........

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