Diverse professionals, researchers, policymakers and others interested in water quality will gather in Durango on August 30 to September 2 to share perspectives and expertise about mining and its impacts. Trout Unlimited is bringing the semiannual Rocky Mountain Mining & Reclamation Conference back to Durango, for the first time since 2016.
Trout Unlimited (TU), a national nonprofit focused on healthy rivers and clean water, is the conference’s new host organization, after many years of supporting and participating in the event. Formerly named the San Juan Mining & Reclamation Conference, the gathering was created by nonprofits focused on watershed health in the San Juan Mountains, including Mountain Studies Institute and the Uncompahgre Watershed Partnership. Past conferences have been in Leadville, Ouray, Silverton, Telluride, and other historic mining towns.
As described on the RMMRC.org website, the aim is “to discuss the science and policy of preserving and restoring water quality at mine sites and mine lands remediation. The result is new partnerships on restoration and remediation projects, improved processes, and state-of-the-art best practices that foster both economic and environmental health.”
The last time the conference was in Durango in August 2016 was during the one-year anniversary of the Gold King spill. Approximately three million gallons of acidic water spilled into Cement Creek from a collapsed mine adit near Silverton and flowed into the Animas River, causing a major environmental emergency in 2015.
While mine site reclamation was always difficult and costly before that incident, new mine reclamation projects to restore water quality became even more difficult to approve and fund. TU was the lead organization behind 2024 federal legislation, the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act, that is enabling fifteen pilot mine reclamation projects to be implemented nationwide.
This year’s Mining & Reclamation Conference theme is “Rocky Mountain Resilience – Reclaim, Reprocess & Re-imagine Mining.” The theme is aimed at producing discussion and innovation about the foundational connections of water and watersheds, and how people may be inspired by nature itself in their endeavors for extracting and re-using resources, akin to the planet’s perpetual water cycle.
The first evening of the conference on Sunday, Aug. 30 provides a meet and greet reception with a keynote address by Colorado School of Mines’ Dr. Molly Morgan at The Powerhouse in Durango. The conference offers a full day of concurrent technical talks and evening exhibitor happy hour on Monday, Aug. 31 at Fort Lewis College. Then, Tuesday, Sept. 1 features field tours to historic mine sites and reclamation areas, and an evening reception and dinner at the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum. The conference finishes on Wednesday, Sept. 2 with a half day of technical talks and closing remarks at Fort Lewis College.
Technical sessions will include presentations concerning mining, mine lands remediation, nonpoint-source pollution, and water quality, with the goal of improving mining and reclamation practices, and addressing water-quality impairment in the Rocky Mountain West.
More information for the conference is available at www.rmmrc.org. Registration is at rmmrc.org/register.
