NATIONAL COAL AREA HYDROLOGY REPORTS

THE COAL HYDROLOGY PROGRAM OF THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY AS IT PERTAINS TO SUPPORT OF PUBLIC LAW 95-87

Kilpatrick, F. A., 1984, Coal Hydrology Program of the U.S. Geological Survey: 1984 Symposium on the Geology of Rocky Mountain Coal, Proceedings: North Dakota Geological Society, Bismarck, North Dakota 58502, 80-88pp.

INTRODUCTION

In 1974, a cooperative hydrologic studies program was established between the U.S. Geological Survey (Survey) and the Bureau of Land Management (Bureau) to aid the latter in the acquisition of data and preparation of Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and assessments required for Federal coal leases.

In fiscal year 1975, the Survey was funded by Congress to investigate the relationship between coal development and water resources, primarily on Federal lands. This complemented and supplemented the work being done for the Bureau but also addressed more basic research needs. In particular, studies of the geochemistry of coal and coal spoils were initiated to assess water-quality impacts.

In 1977, Public Law 95-87, Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA), was enacted and served to place environmental constraints on all coal through the permitting process. SMCRA stipulated that a State or Federal agency would supply the hydrologic information necessary to describe the hydrology of the general area of mining; furthermore, that each mining permit applicant would make an analysis of the potential hydrologic consequences of the proposed mine operation and that the regulatory agency, Federal or State, would perform a probable cumulative impact analysis of all anticipated mining in the area. Thus, as a result of the Act, the Survey received significant increases in funding in 1979 and 1980 for hydrologic data acquisition and dissemination, particularly for work in the heavily mined areas of the East.

The passage of the Act set national policy regarding the control of the surface impacts on water resources and the need to assess and mitigate these potential impacts is spelled out in the Act. One section, (507(b)(11)), requires the "appropriate Federal or State agency" to provide "hydrologic information on the general area" to the mining permit applicant. The Congress recognized that this requirement could not be met by existing hydrologic data systems and therefore, authorized over seven years beginning in Fiscal Year l979, a total of approximately $40 million to the Water Resources Division (WRD) to be used in acquiring and disseminating the necessary hydrology information in support of the Act. Particularly significant is that the program now addressed coal mining related hydrology nationwide on both Federal and private lands.

Deficiencies in hydrologic data were most widespread in the eastern coal areas because of the emphasis in previous years on Federal coal. Furthermore, the intensity of mining and number of mines in the East posed a much greater permitting load on regulatory authorities as well as on the Survey to supply supporting hydrologic data. Initial efforts in the eastern States have been concentrated on surface-water data networks due to the complexity of ground water in the Appalachian coal areas. It is expected that site-specific ground-water data eventually will be available from monitoring requirements imposed on mining permittees. The program which was implemented in the East took two approaches:

  1. additional water-quality and sediment data were collected at continuous recording surface-water stations and a limited number of new stations were installed on small drainage area streams, and

  2. several thousand synoptic sites were established on small streams draining the coal areas.
Synoptic measurements are those taken intensely over a broad area at a set time to give "snap shot" of hydrologic conditions. For example, many measurements are made quickly over a large area during a period of low flow to reveal the severity of underground mine drainage to compare with a similar set of measurements made during a period of runoff to measure the effects of surface mining which would be more pronounced during periods of rainfall.

PRODUCTS

The principal products of the Survey's Coal Hydrology Program are reports which convey to the mining industry and to regulatory and management agencies, data and knowledge of the hydrology of coal mining. As mentioned earlier, a primary responsibility of the Survey in support of the Act was to acquire and disseminate hydrologic information on the general areas of mining. To accomplish this objective, a series of 62 "coal area" reports was planned to provide an overview of the hydrology of the major coal areas of the Nation. The areas covered by these coal reports are shown on the accompanying map (filename COAL-MAP).

The reporting units are major regional hydrologic sub-basins and correspond to areas of actual and potential coal mining. As shown in the figure, 57 of the reports are currently completed. Five of the reports are unscheduled due to low priority and lack of funds. The reports are based on existing data and include much of the water-quality data collected as part of the monitoring program. These reports rely heavily on map presentation of data. They typically contain the following types of information on the area being described.

1. General features include:

2. Water-use and stream classifications.

3. A description of the hydrologic networks including surface and ground water where such exist.

4. Hydrologic data and information on surface-water quantity such as:

5. Information on surface-water quality includes:

6. Information on ground water includes:

(a) source, recharge, and movement (b) water-level fluctuations (c) availability (d) quality

7. Water-data sources and references to other information that may be useful in appraising the hydrology of the data.

EXAMPLES OF COAL AREA REPORTS

Destroy, M. G., Skelton, J., and others, 1983, Hydrology of Area 38, Western Region, Interior Coal Province, Iowa and Missouri: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations 82-1014.

Herb, W. J., and others, 1983, Hydrology of Area I, Eastern Coal Province, Pennsylvania: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations 82-223.

Slagle, S. E., and others, 1983, Hydrology of Area 49, Northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountain Coal Provinces, Montana and Wyoming: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigation 82-682.

Wangsness, D. J., and others, 1983, Hydrology of Area 30, Eastern Region, Interior Province, Illinois and Indiana: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigation 82-1005.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

For details about obtaining copies of specific coal area reports and related hydrologic data contact:

Office of Assistant Chief Hydrologist for Water Information U.S. Geological Survey, WRD 441 National Center Reston, Virginia 22092 Telephone: (703) 648-5699

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