OVERVIEW OF THE IMPACT OF MINING ON THE ... - IIED pubs

of amenity or deterioration in water quality, and can extend over both small and
large areas; Other water users are likely to experience moderate loss of amenity,
and may need to implement remedial treatment of the water before use.
Low Impacts are considered to be important but are easily controlled by routine
management actions; Impacts can be experienced as low-intensity nuisances over
a relatively large area, or as minor disturbances over a smaller area; Other water
users are unlikely to experience significant loss of amenity and seldom need to
implement remedial actions before using the water.
Very low Impacts likely to consist of minor disturbance to aquatic ecosystems or local water
resources; Impacts often temporary in nature or, where they occur continually,
extend over a very small area.
Negligible Impacts are unlikely to have a measurable or discernable effect on water resources
or water quality, often due to the innocuous nature of the waste material or to the
lack of mobility of the waste material in a specific geographic area.
An additional important consideration was the need to provide some assessment of the associated impacts of
mining and minerals processing on water resources and water quality. Here, particular attention was paid to
other emissions such as dusts, explosive residues, metal vapours, gases and fumes, which often settle out onto
land surfaces and are then washed into nearby watercourses during rainstorms. In addition, the disposal and
discharge of sanitary waste from mines also poses potential problems for water resources and especially water
quality. Virtually all of these associated impacts can be controlled effectively by the use of appropriate
technologies and management systems.
1.4 The availability of water
1.4.1 Introduction
Throughout the world, water is recognized as the most fundamental and indispensable of all natural resources and
it is clear that neither social and economic development, nor environmental diversity, can be sustained without
water. Today, virtually every country faces severe and growing challenges in their efforts to meet the rapidly
escalating demand for water that is driven by burgeoning populations (Biswas, 1993; Gleick, 1998; Ashton &
Haasbroek, 2001). Water supplies continue to dwindle because of resource depletion and pollution, whilst
demand is rising fast because population growth is coupled with rapid industrialization, mechanization and
urbanization (Falkenmark, 1994, 1999; Rosegrant, 1997; Gleick, 1998). This situation is particularly acute in the
more arid regions of the world where water scarcity, and associated increases in water pollution, limit social and
economic development and are linked closely to the prevalence of poverty, hunger and disease (Falkenmark,
1989; Gleick, 1998; Ashton & Haasbroek, 2001).
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