Underground mining contributes to mineral and energy resource development and yet leads to localised aquifer dewatering and probable eco-environment deterioration. With the exploitation scale and intensity becoming larger, the problem continuously occurs at mines and challenges potentially future mining projects. We are witnessing a growing need for further understanding mining-induced anomalous fluid flow and developing technologies effective in water environment conservation.

At present, surface and subsurface water migration assessment still faces many challenges that remain to be addressed considering the complexity of ground stress, rock media heterogeneity, multi-physics coupling, and water system circulation. The currently insufficient knowledge is to some extent because of lacking robust methodological supports from field measurement, experimental testing, and numerical modelling, although many developing approaches and algorithms have revolutionised the way of understanding and evaluating rock cracking, water-rock interaction and permeability enhancement mechanisms.

This Special Issue aims to bring together research articles and reviews from academia and industry researchers with original and innovative findings regarding the assessment of mining impact on localised hydrogeology and the development of mechanisms, models, methods and geotechnical countermeasures for addressing hydrogeological problems due to mine operations. We hope that the works collected in this Special Issue are conducive to updating our current understanding of the topic to provide best practice and form the basis for mine sustainability.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Hydrogeological pattern identification
• Aquifer depressurisation and surface-subsurface water interaction
• Rock fracturing and permeability enhancement mechanisms
• Mechanical and hydraulic properties of rocks during fracturing
• Water-rock interaction under multi-physical field coupling
• Experimental and/or numerical simulation of fluid flow in porous media
• Models and algorithms for assessing fracture propagation
• Rock mass failure and fracture conductivity assessment
• Strategies and measures for water protection in mining
• Water disaster prevention and control
• Eco-environmental problems due to water loss