In this section you will learn about approaches that can be used to adapt to the identified impacts of climate change by the 2050s on groundwater resources and mine water outbreak.

These approaches are intended to build resilience and limit negative impacts presented by the changing climate. The regional assessment addresses the main issues, including generic risks and larger scale processes. The sub-regional sections then address particular locations; these are also picked up in the Local Area summaries.

 

top

 

The possible risk to groundwater resources in the Chalk and Corallian Limestone aquifers due to declining groundwater levels and increased drought requires that continued monitoring be carried out which, along with careful exploitation of the aquifers, will alert resource managers as to any future diminution as a result of climate change. As part of the management of abstractions in the Chalk aquifer in East Yorkshire, some boreholes already have control level restrictions whereupon they cease abstraction when water levels reach a specified threshold, which allows the groundwater spring-fed streams to flow over longer periods and protects the environment. There may in future be a need to consider stricter licensing, particularly at times of lowest river flow, to enable streams to continue flowing. Similarly, the possible risk of groundwater-fed surface floods from the Chalk aquifer will need to continually be assessed, especially after periods of sustained heavy rainfall. The only element of the impact assessment meriting further investigation is the possibility of reductions in slope stability where sand and gravel aquifers intercept steep valley sides. It is suggested that an inventory of areas at risk be drawn up, by a combination of interpretation of existing geological information and brief walkover surveys of parts of the major river valleys (focusing particularly on areas in which possible slope failures would have the potential to damage infrastructure such as major roads). On this basis, it ought to be possible to identify which, if any, of the identified areas would benefit from preventative engineering works (e.g. enhanced slope drainage; localised re-profiling).

Adaptation to any potential increased risk of mine water outbreak is difficult given the number of existing discharges in the region and unpredictable nature of outbreak events. Current Coal Authority pumping operations in the region and plans for expansion with rebounding groundwater levels in the east of the South Yorkshire coalfield will continue to limit outbreak risk in these areas.  Monitoring of some discharges is also undertaken by the Coal Authority and as such sites indicators of outbreak (e.g. rapidly rising groundwater levels behind point of discharge) should facilitate preventative works to be undertaken where deemed essential. 

The Coal Authority’s rolling programme of coal mine water remediation will also see some of the most polluting sites (e.g. Sheephouse Wood, Jackson Bridge), where there are existing outbreak occurrences, undergoing remedial schemes (e.g. pumping schemes to drain water to a newly commissioned treatment system). These should prevent both the future risk of outbreak and pollution impact at these sites.

Continued monitoring of the dispersal and fate of metal-bound contaminants in historically metal-mined river basins will facilitate determination of any longer term trends in contaminant delivery to potentially sensitive floodplain areas. These may well identify reductions in contaminant delivery due to increased erosion of uncontaminated sediments and subsequent instream dilution under future climate change.

top

 

 

| North Yorkshire | West Yorkshire | Humber | South Yorkshire |

 

Continued monitoring and careful exploitation of the Sherwood Sandstone and Corallian Limestone aquifers will alert resource managers as to any future diminution as a result of climate change.

Collation and review of data relating to metal mine water discharges and potential outbreaks (e.g. from the EA and mine heritage groups) will assist in highlighting the specific areas at highest risk of outbreak.

Continued assessment of the sediment-bound contaminant dynamics in the heavily mined river basins will assist in identifying the direction and magnitude of any changes in floodplain contamination as a result of climate change. 

 

top

Continued monitoring and careful exploitation of the Permian aquifer and Millstone Grit will alert resource managers as to any future diminution as a result of climate change.

An inventory of areas susceptible to slope failure as a result of groundwater discharge on steep valley sides (from geological maps and walkover survey) would assist in highlighting where any remedial works (e.g. slope re-profiling or additional drainage) are required.

The Jackson Bridge discharge is the best example of the nature of the outbreak risk in the county.  Feasibility studies for remediation of the discharge have already been commissioned by the Coal Authority and the planned installation of a remedial plant should limit the occurrence (through remedial pumping / drainage works) and impact (through water treatment) of the mine water.

Current Coal Authority groundwater level monitoring in areas of ongoing rebound, pumping operations (e.g. at Caphouse and Wooley) and the expansion of these pumping operations as necessary should minimise the risk of major outbreak from the Coal Measures in eastern and central parts of the county.  

 

top

Continued monitoring and careful exploitation of the Chalk aquifer will alert resource managers as to any future diminution as a result of climate change. As part of the management of abstractions in the Chalk aquifer, some boreholes already have control level restrictions whereupon they cease abstraction when water levels reach a specified threshold, which allows the groundwater spring-fed streams to flow over longer periods and protects the environment. There may in future be a need to consider stricter licensing, particularly at times of lowest river flow, to enable streams to continue flowing. Similarly, the possible risks of groundwater-fed surface floods will need to continually be assessed, especially after periods of sustained heavy rainfall.

 

top

Continued monitoring and careful exploitation of the Sherwood Sandstone aquifer will alert resource managers as to any future diminution as a result of climate change.

An inventory of areas susceptible to slope failure as a result of groundwater discharge on steep valley sides (from geological maps and walkover survey) would assist in highlighting where any remedial works (e.g. slope re-profiling or additional drainage) are required.

Feasibility studies and system design for remediation of the Sheephouse Wood discharge have already been commissioned by the Coal Authority and the planned installation of a remedial plant should limit the occurrence (through remedial pumping works to divert water away from it’s current drainage adit to a new treatment facility) and impact (through water treatment) of the mine water.

Some of the other discharges are already subject to remedial efforts, such as Bullhouse (where the discharge is diverted through an abandoned quarry to serve as a settlement lagoon and subsequent wetlands) which has protected some 5km of the upper reaches of the River Don; and the passive treatment system (settlement lagoons and reedbeds) at Silkstone near Barnsley.  These remedial efforts will significantly reduce (or possibly prevent) any impact of potential outbreak at these sites.
The Coal Authority currently monitors groundwater levels in the Coal Measures in areas of ongoing rebound.  The pumping operations in West and South Yorkshire are planned to be expanded to limit surface outbreak and upward migration of rebounding mine water to the east of the Coal Measures outcrop.  A new pumping station has been recently commissioned at Stafford, near Dodworth, Barnsley on the outcrop a few kilometres from the western edge of the coalfield for such purposes.

 

top

 

Adit A tunnel designed to extract materials, such as minerals or coal, from underground, or to drain existing mines by sloping slightly upwards from the entrance. Adits are therefore self-draining.

 

Aquitard A saturated body of rock that impedes the movement of groundwater.

 

Artesian An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer containing groundwater that will flow upwards at a well or discharge at the surface without the need for pumping.

 

Baseflow the proportion of stream flow that comes from groundwater and not surface runoff.

 

Confined aquifer Aan aquifer lying below an aquitard, such that there is no unsaturated zone between the base of the aquitard and the groundwater within the aquifer.

 

Gypsiferous Gypsum (CaSO4) rich strata

 

Hyporheic zone The region beneath and adjacent to the stream bed where shallow ground water and surface wasters mix.

 

Karst / karstified Typically carbonate-rich strata that have been shaped by the dissolution of soluble bedrock (e.g. limestone). Many karstic regions are characterised by caves, disappearing streams and swallow-holes (sinkholes).

 

Permeability A measure of the ability of a given rock to transmit water. This can be through fractures and pores (spaces between rock) or through the fine-grained mass of material comprising the rock itself (termed the rock matrix).

 

Saline intrusion Movement of sea water into a coastal aquifer which previously contained fresh groundwater, usually due to the artificial lowering of groundwater head by pumping.

top