English

Abstract

Abstract. Extensive coal mining in the Cheat watershed that started in the early 20 th century has left many streams and parts of the river severely degraded by acid mine drainage. Very little water treatment was conducted until 1977, when the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) was enacted to prevent degradation from water quality from existing mines and funds were created to restore the abandoned mine sites. This was accomplished through bonding and a tax on coal tonnage. Since SMCRA, several once-active sites have been forfeited to the state to pay for the remediation from the bonding program and several of these contribute to the overall problem. The AML fund from the coal tax addresses the pre-law or previous to 1977 sites by funding reclamation on sites that have no legally responsible party. The headwaters that had escaped damage from mining began seeing the effects of acid precipitation in the late 20th century from Midwest coal fired power plants and many streams lost all alkalinity because of poorly buffered soils. Poor water quality from these streams contributed to the degradation of the river. Because of these activities, much of the lower 25 miles of the watershed were without significant aquatic life by the early 1980s. Reclamation started in the watershed in the early 1980s and many projects have been completed. Not all of the projects addressed AMD; however, water quality has steadily improved over this period and some stream segments have shown significant increases in aquatic life in the past few years. This watershed has been the focus of state and federal agencies, watershed and conservation groups, and efforts are ongoing to further improve the water quality. The Cheat hosts a multitude of recreational activities and this makes continued restoration a high priority.