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Upper Animas River Basin Abandoned Mine Lands Initiative

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• Data Collection
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  • Abandoned-Mine-Land Initiative
  • Effects of mining
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Upper Animas River Basin Abandoned Mine Lands Initiative

Study Area: Upper Animas River Watershed, San Juan County, southwestern Colorado
Period of Project: October 1996-September 2002
Project Number: CO310
Project Chief: Kirby Wynn
Cooperator: USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology Program

BACKGROUND:

The USGS Abandoned Mine Lands Initiative (AMLI) is developing and demonstrating scientific knowledge and technologies that will help Federal land management agencies clean up contamination in areas near abandoned hardrock mines across the Nation. The Initiative is being conducted in two pilot watersheds, the Upper Animas River Basin in Colorado and the Boulder River watershed in Montana, where the USGS is partnering with the U.S. Forest Service, BLM, NPS, EPA, and State agencies in Colorado and Montana.

OBJECTIVES:

1. To define background (premining) conditions.
2. To define baseline (current) conditions.
3. To identify target sites that contribute most to environmental deterioration.
4. To characterize target sites and processes for contaminant dispersal.
5. To characterize ecosystem health and controlling processes.