Assessing the Freshwater Quality of a Large-Scale Mining Watershed: The Need for Integrated Approaches

Abstract

Water quality assessments provide essential information for protecting aquatic habitats and stakeholders downstream of mining sites. Moreover, mining companies must comply with environmental quality standards and include public participation in water quality monitoring (WQM) practices. However, overarching challenges beyond corporate environmental responsibility are the scientific soundness, political relevance and harmonization of WQM practices. In this study, a mountainous watershed supporting large-scale gold mining in the headwaters, besides urban and agricultural landuses at lower altitudes, is assessed in the dry season. Conventional physicochemical and biological (Biological Monitoring Water Party-Colombia index) freshwater quality parameters were evaluated, including hydromorphological and land-use characteristics. According to the indicators used, water quality deterioration by mining was absent, in contrast to the effects of urban economic activities, hydromorphological alterations and (less important) agricultural pollutants. We argue that mining impacts are hardly captured due to the limited ecological knowledge of high-mountain freshwaters, including uncharacterized mining-specific bioindicators, environmental baselines and groundwater processes, as well as ecotoxicological and microbial freshwater quality components. Lessons for overcoming scientific and operational challenges are drawn from joint efforts among governments, academia and green economy competitiveness. Facing a rapid development of extractive industries, interinstitutional and multidisciplinary collaborations are urgently needed to implement more integrated freshwater quality indicators of complex mining impacts.

Grey Clustering Method for Water Quality Assessment to Determine the Impact of Mining Company, Peru

“…However, further downstream the point G5 is a monitoring point from Mashcon River located near to an urbanized area, and has low water quality because of the impact of direct sewage discharges. Besides, it can be verified by observing its high COD value [19].…”

Aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages in rivers influenced by mining activities

“…3 b–h) and show their association with heavy metals. Studies carried out in a mining area in Cajamarca, Peru 67 , indicated the impact of sewage on macroinvertebrate assemblages, but with no apparent influence of mining pollution, according to the biomonitoring procedures used (Biological Monitoring Working Party Colombia, which is focused on organic pollution). Consequently, these biomonitoring tools were seemingly unsuitable for identifying mining impact on those assemblages.…”

Evaluation of the Effect of Gold Mining on the Water Quality in Monterrey, Bolívar (Colombia)

“…Likewise, the level of cadmium (Appendix A-Tables A1 and A2), also exceeded the minimum values established by the regulations for water for human consumption; studies have been reported where the exposure of L. sativa to this metal causes toxic and harmful effects that decrease its growth as the concentration of Cd, and thereby its adsorption, increases [59][60][61]. Just as the presence of heavy metals and cyanide has toxic implications in the plant and animal model, in the same way, it will affect the health of the human being [62,63].…”