Reclamation Success Indicators, Criteria and Policy for Energy Systems

Reclamation, an important step in the design and transition of energy systems, aims to return disturbed land and water systems to former or other productive uses and ensure their long term resilience. Quantitative measures of reclamation success are required to achieve diverse end land uses from agriculture, recreation and urban to natural areas. To date measures of reclamation success have focused on biophysical indicators such as vegetation and soil and most measures are set by regulators to balance environmental integrity with economic development. Resilience, the ability of an ecosystem to recover following disturbance, is not commonly incorporated into indicators of success, although in an increasingly dynamic environment it may be one of the most important indicators to address. This research will result in development of science based indicators of reclamation success for land and water systems that address the needs of stakeholders and the public and contribute to criteria and policy.

Researchers are:

Conducting research on the soil biological community, including microorganisms and invertebrates, as potential indicators of reclamation success relative to current measures.
Evaluating soil and vegetation indicators of salt affected soils to determine those most effective for developing self-sustaining and resilient systems.
Developing success indicators for water reclamation including water quality for intended uses and aquatic biota responses.
Investigating success indicators at the intersection of business, community and the natural environment and the development of regulatory institutions that build resilience in ecological systems.
Analyzing potential impacts of future energy systems and building on current reclamation knowledge to address them and achieve success.

PIs: Dev Jennings, M Anne Naeth, Mohamed Gamal El-Din, Vic Adamowicz, Scott Chang

HQP: Laura Bony, Maggie Cascadden, Amalesh Dhar, Kylie Heales, Stephanie Chute-Ibsen, Youngbin Joo, Abimbola Ojekanmi, Shandra Pandey, Sarah Wilkinson, Zhanji Zhang