Surface Mining and Water Quality

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how there is a chronology of water policies that concentrates on various uses and implicates specific laws as to what methods best insure water quality. Of particular concern is what happens when mines drain into waterways and what the policy makers are doing to assure clean water. By exploring the policies dealing with this issue, the author hopes to learn more about the mining system as a whole, understand what happens to water as affected by mines, and assess the policies that surround this issue.

From the Paper:

"The second major policy that was enforced to protect waters from mining contamination was the Federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). The Act was initiated in effort to minimize the adverse effects of mining on hydrology by maximizing the recharge capacity of mine sites. Recharging the capacity of a mine site maximizes the capability of a stream to return to its pre-mining conditions. To implement the recharge capacity provision of the SMCRA, a regulatory authority must first determine whether there is a useable ground water supply in the area to be mined."

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