Abstract This study focuses on the nexus between coal mining and water storage, analyzing the strategies to reduce the negative effects of exhausted/abandoned mining sites on catchments where water reservoirs are located. Sediment management represent a key point to promote sustainable water resources development and it is strictly connected with the proper management of land use change, especially in the areas devoted to mining activities. The presence of a reservoir represents a major challenge because these structures are threatened by the rapid loss of storage volume due to excessive sedimentation. The case of San Cipriano reservoir in central Italy represents an ideal set to explore the effects of mining on water storage because it is located at the outlet of a catchment strongly influenced by one of the most important lignite mine in central Italy. The Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is used to evaluate different scenarios of mine decommissioning, aiming at supporting the identification of the best strategies to avoid reservoir sedimentation. Two scenarios of environmental restoration of the mining area are evaluated. In the first case, the ongoing reforestation with native plants like oaks and deciduous trees is analyzed. In the second scenario the authors focus on the evaluation of a wider landscape restoration project (including reforestation and river bodies rehabilitation) recently drafted by local institutions. The results provide a quantitative evaluation of the effectiveness of the proposed strategies in reducing the impacts of existing mining sites from a hydrological perspective. In particular, the analyzed scenarios show that afforestation and river restoration lead to a strong reduction of sediment yield while downward trend occurred for water yield.

中文翻译：

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采矿活动对土壤可蚀性和水库淤积的影响：采矿退役策略评估

摘要 本研究侧重于煤炭开采和蓄水之间的关系，分析了减少废弃/废弃矿区对水库所在集水区负面影响的策略。沉积物管理是促进水资源可持续开发的一个关键点，它与土地利用变化的适当管理密切相关，特别是在专门从事采矿活动的地区。水库的存在代表了一项重大挑战，因为这些结构受到过度沉积导致的蓄水量迅速损失的威胁。意大利中部的 San Cipriano 水库是探索采矿对储水影响的理想选择，因为它位于受意大利中部最重要的褐煤矿之一强烈影响的集水区出口。土壤水评估工具 (SWAT) 用于评估矿山退役的不同情景，旨在支持确定避免水库沉积的最佳策略。评估了矿区环境恢复的两种情景。在第一种情况下，分析了正在用橡树和落叶树等本地植物重新造林。在第二种情况下，作者侧重于对当地机构最近起草的更广泛的景观恢复项目（包括重新造林和河体修复）的评估。结果提供了从水文角度对拟议战略在减少现有矿区影响方面的有效性的定量评估。特别是，分析情景表明，植树造林和河流恢复导致产沙量大幅减少，而产水量则呈下降趋势。