Uncovering a hidden resource for wildfire resilience: groundwater governance solutions to social-ecological challenges in a warming world

Navya Vikraman Nair, Tom Gleeson , Kristen Walters, Giuliano Di Baldassarre

Wildfires are intensifying worldwide and increasingly threaten cities and communities in the wildland–urban interface. While attention has focused on forests, fuels, and firefighting capacity, water systems are also under growing pressure during major fire events. Groundwater, accessed through decentralized wells across urban, peri-urban, and rural landscapes, remains largely overlooked in wildfire planning despite its potential to support firefighting, provide emergency drinking water, and buffer disruptions to surface water systems. We argue that groundwater should be treated not simply as emergency backup, but as a shared social–ecological resource requiring anticipatory governance. Using a social–ecological systems perspective, we identify key decision contexts where groundwater may be mobilized before, during, and after wildfire events. Integrating groundwater governance into wildfire resilience planning could strengthen water security, reduce inequities, and support communities learning to live with fire in a warming world.