New advances and strategic considerations in coal mine water prevention and control technology during “14 th Five-Year Plan” period

The year 2026 marks the beginning of China’s “15th Five-Year Plan” period. Building on past achievements and advancing coal mine water disaster prevention and control work is a critical task for achieving high-quality development in the coal industry. Based on the statistical analysis of typical water disasters in coal mines of China during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, our research focuses on reviewing the major technological advancements made in water inflow prediction, water disaster exploration, and control. It also provides in-depth reflection and outlook on the future technological development directions. This work highlights the following key advancements during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period: ① Development of dynamic prediction methods for water inflow in mining faces; ② Valuable experiences and practices have been gained in the precise prevention and control of high-position separated layer water hazards; ③ The technologies and methods for active water reduction at the source are showing a diverse development trend; ④ The geophysical exploration technology within and between boreholes, as well as the seismic detection technology for mining/excavation, are showing a burgeoning development momentum; ⑤ Increasing integration of transparent geology into water disaster prevention, revolutionizing concepts and evaluation methods; ⑥ The concept of water disaster prevention and control management has been continuously improved, and the requirements for water disaster prevention and control work in coal mines from technical management and government regulatory have become more specific and comprehensive. Based on the summarizing six new advancements in water disaster prevention technologies, this study identifies the main current challenges and issues in coal mine water disaster prevention. Starting from the technical needs for water disaster prevention during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, it proposes considerations and suggestions in four technical directions: mine water source protection, intelligent prevention and control of water disasters, collaborative prevention and control of composite disasters, and the establishment of a technical standard system for water disaster management.