A PROCESS FOR DEVELOPING AND EVALUATING DESIGN OPTIONS FOR LARGE-SCALE WATERSHED REMEDIATION

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in partnership with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Division of Mines and Reclamation, is conducting a study to evaluate the applicability of various restoration solutions to the overall degradation of the ecosystem of the Monday Creek Watershed in southeastern Ohio. Extensive portions of the watershed have been subjected to underground and surface mining since the mid-1800s and a number of stream reaches in the watershed are sterile and unable to support diverse, aquatic life due to acid mine drainage. In addition to the Corps and the ODNR, seven other federal, state and local agencies are actively involved in the project including West Virginia University (WVU). WVU's primary role in the project was to develop and use a computer model called the Total Acid Mine Drainage Loading (TAMDL) model to simulate the evolution of stream water quality affected by acid mine drainage. WVU then used the data from the model to design passive and active treatment structures to meet the remediation goals. The objectives of this paper are to explain how the model works, its strengths and weaknesses, and its results.