When we think of forests, several incredible benefits probably come to mind. Forests offset greenhouse gas emissions through their natural carbon storage capacity, they provide habitat for wildlife, increase biodiversity, and offer unparalleled recreational opportunities.

In Michigan, forests are a major economic engine, contributing over $26 billion to the state economy in 2022.

And now researchers at Michigan State University are highlighting an invisible, outstanding benefit: These forests play a crucial role in supplying and disinfecting our drinking water.

Uncovering the connection between forest and water

The study was led by Emily Huff, associate professor in the UM Department of Forestry, and her colleagues Asia Dowtin, Emily Huizenga and Jo Latimore.

“Billions of people around the world depend on forests to filter their drinking water and provide clean water,” the researchers noted.

“The immense value of drinking water can be a strong argument for the conservation and sustainable management of forests. However, people are often unaware of this ecosystem service of forests, namely the provision of clean drinking water, which can lead to a deterioration of this service.”

Focus of the study

The team wanted to investigate how stakeholders assess the ability of forests to provide clean drinking water.

The stakeholders in this study were divided into seven groups: water users, water utilities, forest owners, industry partners, policy makers, local authorities and non-profit organizations.

“In general, most people understand that where there are forests, there is cleaner and more abundant water. However, they have not recognized the functional connection that protecting forests leads to cleaner drinking water,” Huff explained.

This failure is due to a lack of awareness about the origin of drinking water in households and the significant contribution of forests to its cleanliness.

Ecological connection between forests and clean water

“We’ve come to the conclusion that this is partly because Michigan is very diverse in terms of where water comes from and where it flows in different watersheds. There’s a lot of focus on overall Great Lakes water quality, but perhaps less on drinking water,” Huff said.

Although more than 150 million people in the United States rely on forests to filter their drinking water, many are unaware of these ecological connections.

In Michigan, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, 56% of residents rely on surface water for drinking, while the remaining 44% use groundwater.

Therefore, the state’s extensive forest areas play a crucial role in ensuring the availability and purity of water supply.

Forests: Nature’s water filtration system

Forests act as a natural filtering system and protect our water in several ways. Their canopies cushion the impact of heavy rain on the forest floor, reducing erosion and thus limiting pollution of nearby water bodies.

When rainwater penetrates the soil and becomes groundwater, forest roots absorb nutrients and filter them further.

“In 2016, it was only a few years since the Flint water crisis began, and Michigan’s drinking water supply was already a crisis and something we needed to pay more attention to,” said Mike Smalligan, forest management coordinator for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Smalligan said he wants forests and the Michigan DNR to play a bigger role in the drinking water discussion. An initiative called “Forest to Mi Faucet” was created to explain how forests in Michigan protect drinking water.

Forest to Mi Faucet also helps find ways to reduce water treatment costs in communities through forest filtration, protects communities from land use changes, teaches landowners how to responsibly manage their forests, and promotes strategic tree planting.

Awareness, action and conservation

“Healthy forests protect clean drinking water, and healthy forests are sometimes actively managed for the production of forest products,” Huff said.

“There are methods of clearing forests where the quality and quantity of water play a role. And ultimately, where the forest stands are, they are far superior to any other land use in terms of water quality and quantity.”

Looking ahead, Huff and her team see an opportunity to create a market that compensates landowners and forest managers for the water-based ecosystem services their forests provide.

“That would essentially mean that money would flow from the consumer or utility upstream to the forest owners or managers, so that the forests would be protected through a system where the beneficiaries – the water users – would pay the forest owners or managers money to keep their lands forests,” Huff explained.

The study was published in Journal of the American Water Resources Association.

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