The West Virginia Mine Pool Atlas project was a two-year study to evaluate abandoned coal mines as potential
groundwater sources. This study was funded by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.
Although West Virginia receives an average of 44.31 inches of precipitation per year and is considered to
have an abundant supply of water, much of West Virginia's precipitation runs off and leaves the state by way
of its many streams. One currently underutilized and frequently overlooked source of stored grondwater is
abandoned coal mines.