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Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SUCCESS STORY
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Reclaiming Mined Areas Improves Coal Creek and the Crystal River
Waterbody Improved Forty years of laLf'scale c°al mining !n a"areaicharac,flzed ^
7 r	extremely unstable, steep slopes resulted in widespread erosion
and debris flows that degraded water quality and stream habitat throughout Colorado's Coal Basin.
As a result, Coal Creek (including its tributaries) to the confluence with the Crystal River—a total of
22.3 miles—was placed on the state's Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list in 1998 for failing to
support its aquatic life designated use due to exceedances in total recoverable iron associated with
excessive sediment loadings. Implementation of best management practices (BMPs) to address the
mining-related problems resulted in improved water quality. Monitoring in 2002 showed that Coal
Creek and its tributaries met water quality standards and supported the aquatic life designated use. As
a result, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), Water Quality Control
Division removed Coal Creek from the CWA section 303(d) list in 2004.
Problem
Coal Basin is just west of the historic town of
Redstone in western Colorado (Figure 1). The nearly
27-square-miie watershed is drained by Coal Creek,
a tributary to the Crystal River. The free-flowing
Crystal River is the largest tributary of the Roaring
Fork River. The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) identified
the Crystal River as eligible for federal Wild and
Scenic River designation in 2002.
Mining in Coal Basin started in the late 1800s and
continued on and off until 1991. In 1956, several
new mines were opened and many tunnels and
wide haul roads were cut into the mountainsides,
leaving large piies of waste rock and coai refuse.
Large-scale coal mining activities on steep,
unstable and highly erosive slopes significantly
altered the Coal Basin landscape. Little vegetation
existed on the area's steep slopes prior to mining
and reclaimed portions of mine sites were often
poorly vegetated after mining. These areas might
have regularly contributed to sediment loading in
Coal Creek and its tributaries Historical water qual-
ity data indicated that total recoverable iron levels
exceeded the 1,000 parts per biiiion (ppb) chronic
numeric criterion for support of the aquatic life use
designation. As a result, in 1998 Coal Creek and
tributaries were placed on Colorado's CWA section
303(d) list of impaired waters for total recoverable
iron associated with excessive sediment loadings.
Project partners implemented a reclamation plan
Figure 1. I he Coal Creek (blue) and Crystal River (red) watersheds
are in western Colorado.
and the water body was removed from the CWA
section 303(d) list.
Project Highlights
Project partners, led by the Colorado Division of
Reclamation, Mining and Safety (DRMS), focused
on five major areas of reclamation in a series of
projects from 1994 to 2002: roads, mine bench
lillllldci
Summit
Redstone
Delta /
Saguache
Rio Blanc
< airfield
Mesa
White River
National Forest
< Irand
Gunnison JOuiffee
J Coal Creek and
Crystal River Watersheds
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slopes, mine entries,
the mine facilities area
and reconstruction
of the Dutch Creek
(a tributary of Coal
Creek) channel, and
refuse piles and other
miscellaneous sedi-
ment control projects.
A number of BMPs
were implemented to
reclaim the impacted
areas. Efforts included
culvert removal with
installation of rolled
dips; slope reduction
Figure 2. An erosion control	anc' broadening at
BMP used to slow water flow mine entrances and
along an old mining road.	waste piles; reveg-
etation by hand and
hydro-seeding and seeding by helicopter; slope
reduction and broadening with re-vegetation at
mine entrances; and demolition of mine facilities
(Figure 2). These efforts reduced sediment loads to
the Coal Creek system and to the Crystal River and
improved both the ecological value of the water-
shed and its water quality.
The Coal Basin and Crystal River Area Restoration
Project continues to be a multi-phase, multi-year
effort; a second phase focusing on establishing
vegetative cover was implemented in 2004. The
local partnership also continues to be involved
in implementing pilot restoration efforts, further
identifying priority areas of concern, and conduct-
ing public outreach and engagement.
Results
The initial project achieved ecological improve-
ment by mitigating and significantly restoring an
area heavily impacted by coal mining The first of
the project's goals—to minimize iron-laden sedi-
ment generation from outslopes and roads—was
achieved by in-situ slope stabilization through
revegetation. Quantitative analysis of sediment
yield data collected in 1999 (pre-construction) to
2007 indicates a nearly 50 percent overaii reduction
in sediment delivery (Figure 3).
The second goal of the project was to attain a
measurable decrease in iron concentrations in Coal
Creek. Data collected in Coal Creek and Crystal
River in 2002 indicated attainment of all assigned
standards, including the 1,000 ppb chronic numeric
criterion protective of aquatic life use for total recov-
erable iron. On the basis of these post-restoration
project data, the Coal Creek segment (Waterbody
ID COUCRF09 _ 6400) was removed from the CWA
section 303(d) list in 2004 and reported to be in
good condition.
Partners and Funding
Restoration partners included USFS, DRMS and
the CDPHE's Nonpoint Source Program, Nearly
$4 million were spent by DRMS in reclamation
bonds funds. (Reclamation bonds are posted by a
mining company to provide funds to ensure that the
regulatory authority can reclaim a site if the permit-
tee fails to do so.) The reclamation efforts were
supported by two CWA section 319 projects (a total
of $260,600).
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