Plot and small-watershed scale runoff from two reclaimed surface-mined watersheds in Alberta

Abstract

In_ltration excess overland~ow has been identi_ed as the dominant~ow pathway in recently reclaimed surface mined watersheds as a result of compaction and sorting during the reclamation procedure[ Therefore\ there could be a fairly direct relationship between runo} generated from the hillslopes to that measured at the watershed outlet[ A 2!year study was initiated in 0882 to determine how well surface runo} at a watershed scale could be predicted from 0!m 1 runo} frames placed on hillslopes in two reclaimed surface!mined watersheds in central Alberta[ Runo} from the hillslope frames suggests outlet discharge should be high from the 2=3!ha Sandy Subsoil Watershed and much less for the 8=7!ha West Watershed\ but the opposite occurred[ Most of the hillslope runo} from the Sandy Subsoil Watershed in_ltrated once it reached the channel and depression storage played an insigni_cant role in determining runo}[ In contrast\ most of the runo} from the West Watershed originated from rain falling directly on the saturated channel "depression storage# or near!channel saturated areas\ rather than the hillslopes[ Neither watershed runo} magnitude nor timing could be predicted from the same parameters for hillslope runo} frames for either reclaimed watershed[

Erodibility of low‐compaction steep‐sloped reclaimed surface mine lands in the southern Appalachian region, USA

“…Improving reclamation approaches on surface coal mining sites in mountainous regions is necessary in order to reduce environmental impacts from excessive erosion (Carroll et al ., ; Harms and Chanasyk, ; Nicolau, ; Fox, ; Espigares et al ., ). In the United States, surface mining reclamation is mandated under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA), U.S. Public Law 95‐87, and regulated by the US Department of Interior (1977), Office of Surface Mining (OSM).…”