# Comparison of Storm Response of Streams in Small, Unmined and Valley-Filled   Watersheds, 1999–2001, Ballard Fork, West Virginia

# U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report   02-4303

# Prepared in cooperation with the Office of Surface      Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement

# By Terence Messinger

# A pdf is available for this report.

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## Abstract

During storms when rainfall intensity exceeded about 1 inch per hour, peak   unit runoff from the Unnamed Tributary (surface-mined and filled) Watershed   exceeded peak unit runoff from the Spring Branch (unmined) Watershed in the   Ballard Fork Watershed in southern West Virginia. During most storms, those   with intensity less than about 1 inch per hour, peak unit (area-normalized)   flows were greater from the Spring Branch Watershed than the Unnamed Tributary   Watershed. One storm that produced less than an inch of rain before flow from   the previous storm had receded caused peak unit flow from the Unnamed Tributary   Watershed to exceed peak unit flow from the Spring Branch Watershed. Peak unit   flow was usually similar in Spring Branch and Ballard Fork. Peak unit flows   are expected to decrease with increasing watershed size in homogeneous watersheds;   drainage area and proportion of the three watersheds covered by valley fills   are 0.19 square mile (mi²) and 44 percent for the Unnamed Tributary Watershed,   0.53 mi² and 0 percent for the Spring Branch Watershed, and 2.12 mi² and 12   percent for the Ballard Fork Watershed.

Following all storms with sufficient rainfall intensity, about 0.25 inches   per hour, the storm hydrograph from the Unnamed Tributary Watershed showed a   double peak, as a sharp initial rise was followed by a decrease in flow and   then a delayed secondary peak of water that had apparently flowed through the   valley fill. Hortonian (excess overland) flow may be important in the Unnamed   Tributary Watershed during intense storms, and may cause the initial peak on   the rising arm of storm hydrographs; the water composing the initial peaks may   be conveyed by drainage structures on the mine. Ballard Fork and Spring Branch   had hydrographs with single peaks, typical of elsewhere in West Virginia.

During all storms with 1-hour rainfall greater than 0.75 inches or 24-hour   rainfall greater than 1.75 inches during which all stream gages recorded a complete   record, the Unnamed Tributary yielded the most total unit flow. In three selected   major storms, total unit flow from the Unnamed Tributary during recessions exceeded   storm flow, and its total unit flow was greatest among the streams during all   three recessions.

Runoff patterns from the mined watershed are influenced by the compaction of   soils on the mine, the apparent low maximum rate of infiltration into the valley   fill compared to that in the unmined, forested watershed, storage of water in   the valley fill, and the absence of interception from trees and leaf litter.   No storms during this study produced 1-hour or 24-hour rainfall in excess of   the 5-year return period, and streamflow during this study never exceeded a   magnitude equivalent to the 1.5-year return period; relative peak unit flow   among the three streams in this study could be different in larger storms. Rainfall-runoff   relations on altered landscapes are site-specific, and aspects of mining and   reclamation practice that affect storm response may vary among mines.

## Contents

Abstract

Introduction

Purpose and Scope

Description of Study Area

Water Storage in and Movement through a Watershed

Vegetation

Soil

Mine Spoil

Study Methods

Storm Precipitation

Storm Response of Streams

Effects of Surface Mining Using Valley Fills and Mechanisms   of Water Flow

Summary

References Cited

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For addtional information contact:

 

District Chief

U.S. Geological Survey

11 Dunbar Street

Charleston, WV 25301

 

or visit our site on the World Wide Web at:

 

http://wv.water.usgs.gov

 

Copies of this report can be purchased from:

 

U.S. Geological Survey, 

Branch of Information Services

Box 25286, Federal Center

Denver, CO 80225-0286

 

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