Warmer temperatures and earlier snowmelt runoff have been observed throughout mountainous areas of the western United States where ARD is common, but it is not known if these changes have triggered rising acidity and metal concentrations in other "mineralized" watersheds because of lack of comparable monitoring data, according to the research team.
CU-Boulder Professor Diane McKnight, a collaborator on the project, has generated much of the upper Snake River data through research projects conducted with her students since the mid-1990s. McKnight said students in her environmental engineering and environmental studies class like Caitlin Crouch -- a study co-author who received her master's degree under McKnight -- are highly motivated to understand ARD problems.
"Student can see that their research will have direct applications to addressing a critical issue for Colorado," said McKnight, professor in the civil, environmental and architectural engineering department and a fellow in CU's Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research.
In cases where ARD is linked directly with past and present mining activities it is called acid mine drainage, or AMD. Another Snake River tributary, Peru Creek, is largely devoid of life due to AMD generated from the abandoned Pennsylvania Mine and smaller mines upstream and has become a target for potential remediation efforts.
The Colorado Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety, in conjunction with other local, state and federal partners, is conducting underground exploration work at the mine to investigate the sources of heavy metals-laden water draining from the mine entrance. The new study by Todd and colleagues has important implications in such mine cleanup efforts because it suggests t
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| Contact: Diane McKnight Diane.McKnight@colorado.edu 303-492-4687 University of Colorado at Boulder Source:Eurekalert |