Restoration of surface-mined lands with rainfall harvesting

Technical Report · Wed Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1982

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6623565· OSTI ID:6623565

Sauer, R. H.; Rickard, W. H.

Strip mining for coal in the arid western US will remove grazing land as energy demands are met. Conventional resotration usually includes leveling the spoil banks and covering them with top soil, fertilizing, seeding and irrigation with well or river water. An overview of research on an alternate method of restoring this land is reported. From 1976 through 1981 studies were conducted on the use of water harvesting, the collection and use of rainfall runoff, to restore the vegetative productivity of strip mined lands in arid regions. These studies tested the technical and economic feasibility of using partially leveled spoil banks at strip mines as catchment areas to collect and direct runoff to the topsoiled valley floor where crops were cultivated. Information was collected on the efficiency of seven treatments to increase runoff from the catchment areas and on the productivity of seven crops. The experiments were conducted in arid areas of Washington, Arizona, and Colorado. It was concluded that water harvesting can replace or augment expensive and inadequate supplies of well and river water in arid regions with a suitable climate. These studies showed that some treatments provided adequate runoff to produce a useful crop in the valleys, thus making this alternative approach to restoration technically feasible. This approach was also potentially economically feasible where the treatment costs of the catchment areas were low, the treatment was effective, the crop was productive and valuable, and earthmoving costs were lower than with conventional restoration involving complete leveling of spoil banks. It was also concluded that water harvesting can be made more effective with further information on catchment area treatments, which crops are most adaptable to water harvesting, the optimum incline of the catchment areas and climatic influences on water harvesting.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 6623565
• Report Number(s): PNL-4538; ON: DE83005890
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010900 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Environmental Aspects
510500* -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Site Resource & Use Studies-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ARIZONA
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
COAL
COAL MINES
COLORADO
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CROPS
DATA
ENERGY SOURCES
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
FEDERAL REGION IX
FEDERAL REGION VIII
FEDERAL REGION X
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HARVESTING
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INFORMATION
LAND RECLAMATION
MASS TRANSFER
MATERIALS
MINES
MINING
NORTH AMERICA
NUMERICAL DATA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PRODUCTIVITY
RAIN WATER
RUNOFF
SPOIL BANKS
SURFACE MINING
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
USA
WASHINGTON
WATER