ASABE Technical Library - Abstract

Abstract. The leading land use change in central Appalachia is due to surface mining and reclamation, which relies on valley-fill construction to facilitate spoil material placement. Recent research presented the use of geomorphic landform principles in an innovative reclamation technique for valley fills in Central Appalachia. The hydrologic impact of reclaiming valley fills using geomorphic landform principles have been identified but not quantified at the landscape scale. The objective of this study was to estimate the hydrologic impact within a watershed in Central Appalachia if the valley-fill reclamation method was changed from conventional to geomorphic landform design. The current (2011-2020) hydrologic response for the two reclamation scenarios were predicted using Hydrologic Simulation Program-FORTRAN (HSPF) in conjunction with Better Assessment Science Integrating Point and Nonpoint Sources (BASINS) for a watershed in Central Appalachia. Hydrologic response predictions were completed by changing the land use parameters of the valley-fill areas to mimic the proposed land use conditions of the resulting reclamation method. Prediction simulations resulted in -0.27 to -1.1 percent differences in evaluated metrics (total flow, lowest 50% flow, highest 10% flow, mean storm volume, and mean storm peak flow) within the study watershed for geomorphic valley-fill reclamation compared to traditional reclamation methods. These results suggest that implementing geomorphic principles in valley-fill design may reduce peak flows in this region where flooding is often a concern.