ASSESSING LONG-TERM SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL VARIABILITY OF WATER QUALITY IN THE SUGARLOAF MINING DISTRICT, LEADVILLE, COLORADO, USA

Data-driven approaches to characterizing the magnitude of metal loading sources and resulting water quality trends in a watershed is crucial for successful remediation. Historic mining in the Sugarloaf mining district near Leadville, Colorado, has resulted in degraded water quality of the Lake Fork Creek, and subsequently upper headwaters of the Arkansas River. Negative impacts on downstream aquatic ecosystems have led to remediation of abandoned mine workings and water quality monitoring in the Lake Fork watershed since the 1980s. Several decades of water quality data provide a unique opportunity to analyze long-term spatial trends of water quality and assess the effects of acid mine drainage mitigation efforts within the watershed. We are presenting a long-term dataset including water quality field parameters and metals concentrations from twenty-five sites in the Lake Fork watershed. The distribution of metals across Lake Fork sub-basins is governed primarily by the presence or absence of abandoned mine workings, but display secondary spatial and temporal trends associated with sub-basin area and season.