Biophysical closure criteria without reference sites: evaluating river diversions around mines

Authors

Melanie L. Blanchette, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
Mark A. Lund, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publisher

LUT Scientific and Expertise Publications

School

Mine Water and Environment Research Centre / Centre for Ecosystem Management / School of Science

RAS ID

25002

Comments

Blanchette, M. L., & Lund, M. A. (2017). Biophysical closure criteria without reference sites: Evaluating river diversions around mines. In Proceedings of the 13th International Mine Water Association Congress - Mine Water & Circular Economy (pp. 437 – 444). Available here

Abstract

The use of ‘reference’ sites to rehabilitate mined lands often creates unrealistic targets, resulting in environmentally underperforming sites. Previously, we proposed a more achievable approach to mine closure by comparing the bio-physical characteristics of rehabilitated sites to overall ecosystem variability (i.e., the ‘system variability’ approach), rather than specific target reference sites. We tested this model by evaluating the bio-physical state of river diversions around two mined areas in Australia’s Hunter Valley. The model clearly identifies how diversion sites differ from non-diverted sections of river, providing a practical example of model application.

Access Rights

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