ABSTRACT
Between 60" and 80" of the cumulative channel length in mountainous areas, such as eastern Kentucky, comprises headwater streams. Surface mining, and in particular mountaintop mining with its associated valley fills, poses a significant environmental risk to aquatic and terrestrial life through the direct conversion of headwater streams to uplands and the associated degradation of downstream receiving waters. In light of the importance of headwater streams, development of practical stream restoration techniques for mined lands is crucial in order to restore impacted headwater stream systems. Stream restoration efforts are predominately focused on waterways in agricultural and urban settings with a relatively limited number of projects on mined lands. Often employing natural channel design (NCD) techniques, stream restoration practitioners utilize reference reaches to design new channels with the appropriate dimensions, patterns, and profiles. The ability to successfully restore or recreate streams on mined lands is linked to the restoration of the streams' watershed, including uplands and riparian areas, and stream channel.
