Modeling Metals Pollution in Surface Waters

Metals pollution in surface waters is a widespread problem in the U.S. and worldwide, particularly in mountainous watersheds in the western U.S. impacted by acid mine drainage from hardrock mines.  Metals fate and transport modeling in streams and watersheds is sometimes needed for assessment and restoration of these surface waters. Although substantial work has been done on model development and several useful models are available, successful application of these models has been more limited.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency hosted a metals fate and transport modeling workshop in Denver, Colorado on February 13-14, 2007.  The workshop brought together a group of experts from across the country and abroad to discuss and share knowledge on the state-of-the-art methods for modeling metals fate and transport, data gaps, and future directions.  Participants included experts from government, academia, and consulting. The workshop focused on modeling metals in streams, rivers, and watersheds with a focus on high altitude areas impacted by mine waste in the western U.S. This presentation will provide an overview summary of this workshop. Included will be descriptions of the current state-of-the-science of modeling metals fate and transport in these systems and presentation of workshop conclusions and recommendations.