Multiscale Analysis of Hydrology in a Mountaintop Mine-Impacted Watershed

In the Appalachian region of the eastern United States, mountaintop removal mining (MTM) is a dominant driver of land‐cover change, impacting 6.8% of the largely forested 4.86 million ha coal fields region. Recent catastrophic flooding and documented biological impairment downstream of MTM has drawn...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the American Water Resources Association 2014-10, Vol.50 (5), p.1257-1272
Main Authors: Zegre, Nicolas P., Miller, Andrew J., Maxwell, Aaron, Lamont, Samuel J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
change detection
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
Hydrology
Hydrology. Hydrogeology
Knowledge
land-cover change
Mountaintop removal mining
rainfall-runoff modeling
Stream flow
streamflow
transfer functions
trend analysis
Water resources
Watersheds
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Summary:In the Appalachian region of the eastern United States, mountaintop removal mining (MTM) is a dominant driver of land‐cover change, impacting 6.8% of the largely forested 4.86 million ha coal fields region. Recent catastrophic flooding and documented biological impairment downstream of MTM has drawn sharp criticism to this practice. Despite its extent, scale, and use since the 1970s, the impact of MTM on hydrology is poorly understood. Therefore, the goal of this study was a multiscale evaluation to establish the nature of hydrologic impacts associated with MTM. To quantify the extent of MTM, land‐cover change over the lifetime of this practice is estimated for a mesoscale watershed in southern West Virginia. To assess hydrologic impacts, we conducted long‐term trend analyses to evaluate for systematic changes in hydrology at the mesoscale, and conducted hydrometric and response time modeling to characterize storm‐scale responses of a MTM‐impacted headwater catchment. Results show a general trend in the conversion of forests to mines, and significant decreases in maximum streamflow and variability, and increases in base‐flow ratio attributed to valley fills and deep mine drainage. Decreases in variability are shown across spatial and temporal scales having important implications for water quantity and quality. However, considerable research is necessary to understand how MTM impacts hydrology. In an effort to inform future research, we identify existing knowledge gaps and limitations of our study.
ISSN:1093-474X
1752-1688
DOI:10.1111/jawr.12184