Our Environment - Mining and the Environment: From Ore to Metal - page 304

This is particularly so in many parts of Asia where particularly high rates of population
growth and industrialization are occurring. Not surprisingly, mining activities with nota-
ble impacts on water quantity and quality have and always will generate controversy, be it
the industry as whole as in Mexico where mining contributes about 2% to the nation-wide
water depletion (Shomaker 2005), or individual mines such as the Ok Tedi mine in PNG
or the Freeport Mine in Papua, both of which utilize riverine tailings disposal.
The UN Conference on the Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992 (Earth
Summit), was instrumental in placing water at the centre of the sustainable develop-
ment debate. Public authorities now recognize the vital importance of water as a natural
resource. It is also understood that water has not only economic value, but social, religious,
cultural, and environmental values as well. Water management now sits at or near the top
end of any environmental authority's agenda.
The International Conference on Water and the Environment in Dublin, also held in
1992, sets out four principles - the Dublin Principles - to guide water management:
●

Mining activities with notable
impacts on water quantity and
quality have and always will
generate controversy.

Water has not only economic
value, but social, religious, cultural,
and environmental values as well.

Principle 1: Fresh water is a finite and vulnerable resource, essential to sustain life,
development and the environment.

●

Principle 2: Water development and management should be based on a participatory
approach, involving users, planners, and policymakers at all levels.

●

Principle 3: Women play a central part in the provision, management, and safeguard-
ing of water.

●

Principle 4: Water has an economic value in all its competing uses and should be rec-
ognized as an economic good.

The WHO drinking water guidelines (WHO 2006) often serve as the main reference in
developing national water quality standards. The guidelines also provide information on
water quality and health, and on effective management approaches.

What is the Local Water Resource?

Local water resources are highly variable, both spatially and temporally. Accommodating
competing water demands against variable supply is difficult, and the need for manage-
ment increases as more of the resource is relied on for extraction and use. The available
total water resource can be defined as the difference between total inflows and outflows to
surface and groundwater in a given time period, for a defined area, plus the net volume of
water in storage at the start of the time period under consideration. Total inflows include
total surface water flows and deep drainage to groundwater (groundwater recharge) and
transfers into the water system (both surface and groundwater), for a defined area. Total
outflows are the opposites; they represent water losses for a defined area.
The water balance will only provide insights into local water resources if sufficient data
are available. More often than not the water balance will only highlight the known data
and help identify information gaps. From the water balance, a picture of water availabil-
ity (or scarcity) in the host region will emerge. Water balances for different time intervals
will be required for this understanding. For example, the average annual balance may be
insufficient to reflect daily water availability.
Equitable and sustainable management of shared water resources requires responsible
contributions from all beneficiaries, particularly true for a new mining venture becoming
a new and significant player in the host region's hydrologic cycle. The appropriate
management response is to quantify existing water cycles in the project area and its usage
in sufficient detail to evaluate any changes imposed by the mining project ( Case 7.3 ).

More often than not the water
balance will only highlight the
known data and help identify
information gaps.