Connoquenessing Creek Watershed Conservation Plan - Western ...

Connoquenessing Creek Watershed Conservation PlanChapter 3. Water ResourcesSMCRA, as well as the anti-degradation component of the Clean Water Act (Environmental LiteracyCouncil, 2002).Water QualityWater Quality MonitoringThe Connoquenessing Watershed Alliance has a volunteer water quality monitoring program that isactive throughout the watershed, including the Slippery Rock Creek subwatershed. In 2001, the Alliancewas awarded $8,305 through Pennsylvania’s Growing Greener program to purchase equipment andsupplies necessary to expand the program (White, 2001). The monitoring of surface waters is regular,systematic, and ongoing. Tests are conducted for pH, specific conductivity, dissolved oxygen, alkalinity,sulfates, nitrates, temperatures, flow volume, and macroinvertebrates.Water quality monitoring of groundwater should also be conducted, since a majority of the surfacewater is derived from groundwater discharge. Detection of pollution in the groundwater before it isdischarged to surface water sources would enable proactive treatment exploration. This may also aid inthe identification of pollution sources through early detection, and allow for prioritized treatment andremediation strategies to be implemented.Major Sources of ImpairmentAbandoned Mine DrainageAMD is a significant cause of impairment throughout the watershed, but in Little Connoquenessingsubwatershed in particular. Unlike many other sources of pollution, AMD does not result from theaddition or introduction of a chemical pollutant or foreign material into the water system. AMD is formedwhen mining activities fracture bedrock that is situated over coal seams, allowing rain, groundwater, andoxygen to come into contact with the seam and surrounding bedrock. This contact causes chemical andbiological reactions resulting in contamination of the water with the dissolved metal byproducts of thosereactions, including iron, manganese, and aluminum. Acid is formed when sulfur-oxidizing bacteria in therock helps convert inorganic sulfur to sulfate and sulfuric acid. If there are insufficient neutralizingcompounds, the water will become acidic. The polluted waterdischarges into streams and groundwater through mineopenings, springs, and seeps. When the water is exposed tooxygen in the air, the metals will precipitate, or drop out ofthe solution as solids, creating even more acid and coatingstream bottoms with silt-like metals. High levels of iron andaluminum can poison fish and threaten drinking watersupplies (Fripp, Ziemkiewicz, & Charkavorki, 2000). Thesiltation from the metals and the altered pH can also affect thesurvivability of aquatic macroinvertebrates, which form thePassive AMD treatment system atLutherlynbase of the food chain, and thus the basis of a healthy,functioning stream ecosystem.Underground mining refers to practices that extract coalby tunneling into the earth. The most common underground mining method utilized is the room and pillarmethod. Using this method, an opening at the surface is used to reach the coal seam. Rooms are cut intothe coal bed, leaving a series of pillars or columns of coal to help support the mine roof. Surface mininginvolves extracting deposits of mineral resources close to the surface. A common surface mining methodis strip mining, which removes the layers of rock, or overburden, directly over the coal seam.3-17