GOLDEN, Colo., Oct. 30, 2012 – A study by Colorado School of Mines researchers demonstrates beetle-killed trees in Colorado’s forests are affecting the quality of municipal drinking water in the region. The study was recently published online in Nature Climate Change.

In “Water-quality impacts from climate-induced forest die-off” by Mines graduate student Kristin Mikkelson and faculty members Eric Dickenson, Reed Maxwell, John McCray and Jonathan Sharp, the research notes higher contaminant levels of harmful disinfection by-products and total organic carbon at water-treatment facilities using mountain-pine-beetle-infested source waters than those using water from control watersheds.

The study stresses the need to include water quality to the list of potential impacts as climate change continues to alter ecosystem dynamics.

See the article preview at nature.com.

Related: Mines awarded NSF grant to research pine beetle devastation on water resources

Contact:
Karen Gilbert, Director of Public Relations / 303-273-3541 / KGilbert@mines.edu
David Tauchen, Public Relations Specialist / 303-273-3088 / DTauchen@mines.edu