A Hydrologically Networked Watershed Model for Evaluating Amd Treatment Scenarios

Abstract

Abstract.A GIS-based decision support system was developed to aid in restoration planning by integrating various chemical and ecological modeling components that the West Virginia Water Research Institute has developed over the past five years. Using the popular GIS platform of ArcMap, computer code was written in Visual Basic .Net environment to develop an extension for GIS to visually illustrate remediation and alternative outcomes. Building upon the existing 1:24,000 segment level or "reachshed" delineation of watersheds for all of WV and a network model to examine pass through issues, the user is able to compare treatment options and locations for building spatially explicit AMD restoration plans. The advantage of the system is its straightforward mass-balance water quality model and logical decision alternative matrix with costs and ecological benefits. It is possible to visually iterate and illustrate outcomes downstream of various treatment/restoration scenarios. The result is a spatially explicit cumulative watershed modeling framework for quantifying stream conditions at multiple scales.

A Landscape Analysis of Surface Coal Mine Permits in the Coal River Watershed of West Virginia

“…This was accomplished using the Mass Balance Accumulator toolbar, which is a spatial decision support system created to help decision makers more effective in their ability to solve different water quality issues (Strager et. al.…”