Surface Coal Mining Effects on Ground Water Recharge (1990) / Chapter Skim
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1. Introduction
1. Introduction
Pages 1-6
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. Surface mining of coal affects large areas in the United States (3 million hectares so far)
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and by rainfall-runoff relationships that may not be adversely affected by the mining operation if the land is properly restored and the vadose zones are sufficiently permeable to transmit the water to underlying aquifers. Desert alluvial fans in the southwestern United States have a high recharge capacity but very little actual ground water recharge because of the very low rainfall and high evaporation in those areas.
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A more practical approach would be to require that surface-mined areas be restored in such a manner that the factors controlling ground water recharge are returned to condition that produces ground water recharge at rates that are not lower than those that existed before mining _ 17 a Water quality considerations also are very important. Depending on the particular geologic materials and geochemistry, water percolating through "reconstituted" vadose zones will leach more chemicals than it did when it moved through natural formations.
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If coarser fill materials are placed on the mine floor and the finer ones on top, and if the fill is bowl-shaped or has a controlled outlet so that water can be stored in the coarse material, an "engineered" aquifer can be created. This is being done, for example, at the Starfire Mine in eastern Kentucky, where the engineered aquifer also is connected to the land surface with specially constructed rock shafts to enhance ground water recharge.
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. cost-effective approaches to determination of the pre-mining recharge capacity for both eastern and western Kentucky coal field regimes." Thus at OSM's request the Committee on Ground Water Recharge in Surface-Mined Areas was established to clarify issues associated with the requirement of restoring "recharge capacity." Therefore, as a result of the Kentucky Settlement Agreement, this report was prepared to resolve a scientific uncertainty, namely how to measure in an efficient, cost-effective way whether the "recharge capacity" restoration requirement has been implemented.
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-6addressed, it must be determined what "recharge capacity" means. Thus a somewhat detailed examination of the SMCRA language, its legislative history, and prior interpretation of the recharge capacity restoration provision follows in Chapter 2.
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