Scale Invariant Impacts of Valley Fills on Hydrology

Abstract:

Mountaintop removal mining and valley fill (MTM/VF) is a dominant driver of land cover change, impacting 6.8% of the largely forested 4.86 million ha Appalachian coal fields region. Recent catastrophic flooding and documented biological impairment downstream of MTM/VF has drawn sharp criticism of this practice. Despite its extent, scale, and continued use since the 1970’s, the impacts of MTM/VF on hydrology is poorly understood. The goal of this research is to quantify the hydrological impacts of this practice in a headwater and a mesoscale catchment at storm, seasonal, and annual timeframes. Results show a general trend in the conversion of forests to mines, and significant decreases in maximum streamflow and variability, and increases in base flow ratio attributed to valley fills and deep mine drainage. Decreases in variability are shown across spatial and temporal scales having important implications for water quantity and quality.