(a) Nothing in this chapter may be construed to affect the right of a person to protect the person's interest in water resources affected by a surface coal mining operation.
(b) An operator shall replace the water supply of an owner of an interest in real property who obtains all or part of the owner's supply of water for domestic, agricultural, industrial, or other beneficial use from an underground or surface source, if the supply has been affected by contamination, diminution, or interruption proximately resulting from the operator's surface coal mining operation.