The Susquehanna River Basin Commission, in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Baltimore District, Wednesday announced it has recently updated its online Mine Drainage Portal.
In the Susquehanna Basin, there are just under 2,000 miles of streams and rivers that are impaired by mine drainage, with some 1,300 mine drainage discharges.
The updated portal stores and displays water quality and land use data to assist agencies with locating and prioritizing sites for mine drainage reclamation and restoration.
The improvements to the portal include new underlying programming, the addition and updating of geographical and mapping information, and a more responsive framework for mobile devices while in the field.
“The upgrade to our portal is one example of how the Commission uses its annual appropriation from Pennsylvania to capitalize on technology and facilitate advancement of our shared goals, in this case the restoration of waters impaired by mine drainage,” said Commission Executive Director Andrew Dehoff.
As outlined in the Comprehensive Plan for the Water Resources of the Susquehanna River Basin, one of the Commission’s priority management areas is to improve the water quality of the Susquehanna River.
As mine drainage is a contributing factor to lower water quality in the Basin, the Commission created and maintains the Mine Drainage Portal to provide public access to data compiled as part of the Commission's efforts to assess and track impacts to water quality from mine drainage.
“Through our close engagement with the Commission, we have worked on many projects evaluating how to best manage water usage in the Susquehanna River, as well as improve the overall health of the watershed,” said Sharon Sartor, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, Planning Division, Technical Assistance Branch chief. “Through our Planning Assistance to States program, we were happy to be able to provide our technical services through a cost-share partnership to ensure the Mine Drainage Portal is as comprehensive and user-friendly as possible so that our partners have the best information in hand to be able to make tough decisions on where to invest resources to help degraded areas caused by mine drainage.”
Click Here to visit the SRBC Mine Drainage Portal.
For more information on programs, training opportunities and upcoming events, visit the Susquehanna River Basin Commission website. Follow SRBC on Twitter, visit them on YouTube.
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