PBS NewsHour reported that wildfires leave behind charred trees and scorched vegetation that affect the streams and rivers providing drinking water to much of the country. The report, written by Martha Bellisle of the Associated Press, is available on the outlet's site at PBS NewsHour's coverage of wildfires and water supplies.
According to the PBS NewsHour summary, new studies show that contamination could remain for more than a decade. The summary does not say how long contamination lasts in any particular waterway.
The Hill also carried the Associated Press report by Martha Bellisle, under a headline that differs from the PBS NewsHour version only in spelling the country as US rather than U.S. Its summary matches the PBS NewsHour summary word for word, describing charred trees, scorched vegetation, and streams and rivers that supply drinking water to much of the country. The Hill's version is available at The Hill's report on wildfire contamination.
Neither PBS NewsHour nor The Hill, in the summaries available for this story, names the specific fires, waterways, communities, or studies involved, and neither gives a location for the findings.
The two outlets do not conflict on the points they summarize, which are the effect of charred trees and scorched vegetation on drinking water sources and the possibility that contamination could last more than a decade. According to both summaries, the reporting comes from the Associated Press.
This account relies on the PBS NewsHour and The Hill summaries rather than the full Associated Press text, which neither summary reproduces.
Sources: PBS NewsHour: Bigger and more-frequent wildfires threaten water supplies across the U.S.; The Hill: Bigger and more-frequent wildfires threaten water supplies across the US.