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Final report: research on the hydrology and water quality of watersheds subjected to surface mining.

Amerman CR; Bonta JV; Harlukowicz TJ; Hall GF; Smeck NE

Denver, CO: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, Contract J0166054, Contract J0166055, 1984 Jan; :1-35

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10004294

An investigation was begun in 1976 on the impact of surface mining and reclamation on the hydrology and water quality of surface and subsurface waters. The study was conducted in the Ohio coal surface mining region and considered three different coalbeds of Pennsylvanian age. The basic research unit at each site consisted of a watershed of less than 50 acres with an accompanying sediment pond and instrumentation for monitoring climatic variables. The watershed was instrumented to monitor ground water levels and surface water flow and to collect samples of both for water quality analyses. Each site was monitored throughout an approximate 5-year period that included a pre-mine subperiod, a mining and reclamation subperiod, and a subperiod consisting of the initial years of the postreclamation condition. After regrading of spoil was complete at one of the sites, a number of 72.6-Ft-long plots were instrumented on spoil and topsoiled areas. Four different slopes were used to study erosion processes and the effectiveness of reclamation treatments on the establishment of vegetative cover on a reclaimed surface. The treatments consisted of different topsoil and different mulching depths. Concurrent with the watershed and plot studies, an investigation was conducted on the economics of complying with reclamation laws in Ohio and the development or adaptation of surface and subsurface hydrology simulation models for conditions in the region under study.

Surface mining; Hydrology; Water pollution; Monitoring; Watersheds; Runoff; Ground water; Water wells; Water flow; Precipitation; Meteorology; Mathematical models; Sediments; Land reclamation; Erosion; Slopes; Ohio; Mulches; Water levels

19840101

CP; Final Contract Report

Contract

1984

PB85-149292

A04

OFR 210-84, Contract-J0166054; Contract-J0166055

DRC

Denver, CO: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, Contract J0166054, Contract J0166055

OH; PA; CO

U. S. Department of Agriculture/Ohio State University