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Modern mining methods can drastically change landforms in the project area. Traditional reclamation grading methods often do not address all the criteria that must be met for the desired post-mining land use including water quality standards, in-stream uses, vegetation diversity and other reclamation criteria. Inability to meet or mitigate for these changes caused by the proposed reclamation landform can even stop mining activity from proceeding. A new, natural approach to landform grading called GeoFluv TM (Bugosh, 2003) offers a cost-effective alternative for sustainable mineral development than can satisfy the reclamation criteria and is the heart of the Natural Regrade computer software module (Bugosh, 2006). Monitoring results of land surfaces and storm water discharge quality, including runoff that meets NPDES discharge limits before reaching sediment treatment ponds, at constructed projects strongly support the effectiveness of the GeoFluv design method at meeting the reclamation criteria (NMED, 2007). The objective of this paper is to summarize subjective observations of reclamation landforms constructed according to the GeoFluv design and the related objective data from large projects over approximately a seven year period to provide a status report of the effectiveness of the method for minimizing erosion and meeting water quality goals.

The fluvial geomorphic approach to land reclamation is a means of creating the landforms to which the land would naturally tend to erode under the climatic conditions, soil types, and slopes present at the site. The resulting slopes and stream channels are stable because they are in balance with these conditions, and are a reclamation alternative to uniform slopes with terraces and down-drains. Reclamation landscapes created using fluvial geomorphic principles provide stability against erosion with runoff waters that meet water quality criteria, and support a diverse vegetative community. These landscapes offer the benefits of lower initial cost and no long-term maintenance costs. This award-winning fluvial geomorphic approach was successfully introduced to the largest mining company in the world at their New Mexico operations, where the landscapes have remained stable through extreme storms. Now this innovative fluvial geomorphic approach (presented as a symposium shortcourse at the 2003 Billings Reclamation Symposium/ASMR Annual Meeting) has been computerized. This "user friendly" computer design software allows many users without advanced training in fluvial geomorphology to use this approach to create stable landscapes. The fluvial geomorphic landscape computer-design software replaces lengthy and tedious manual calculations and allows rapid evaluation of many landscape design alternatives. This allows the user to easily select the optimum landscape design for his needs. The computer design software allows the user to view topographic maps and three-dimensional images of the resulting landscape design. The computer automation is useful for designing reclamation, or for evaluating proposed reclamation designs for bond estimation. Computer automation helps users quickly and cost-effectively designs and build reclamation landscapes from spoil piles to seeded reclamation.

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