Analysis of mine sites restoration strategies for soil and water resources protection

The objective of this study is to give quantitative evidence on the effectiveness of decommissioning strategies on water and sediment management. The selected case study is a former lignite mining site located in San Cipriano catchment (Tuscany, central Italy) that include a reservoir severely hit by silting problems. The Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to analyse current situation and to implement different LULC changes analysis. Since hydrometric gauge stations were not available in the catchment, the model calibration focused on sediment transport using observed silting volume in the reservoir, which has been estimated thanks to multiple bathymetric campaigns carried out over the years. Two environmental restoration scenarios have been analysed: the first is focused on the land use change with the afforestation of the former mining site with native plants; the second is a wider landscape restoration project that also includes river bodies rehabilitation.