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SPDSS Phase 2 Peer Review Comments and Responses <br />Groundwater Component <br />Introduction <br />Written comments were received by two members of the Peer Review Committee (PRC) on draft <br />Technical Memoranda that summarize the groundwater data analyses. Their comments are <br />provided below, with our responses in italics. Other comments were provided during a PRC <br />meeting held on November 18, 2005. Responses to the verbal comments are summarized in <br />meeting minutes, which are attached. In many cases the comments made by PRC members were <br />incorporated into final versions of the Phase 2 Technical Memoranda, or were incorporated into <br />the Phase 3 data analyses and reporting for tasks that continued beyond Phase 2. <br />Comments and Responses <br />(A) Comments by Bob Raynolds, Denver Museum of Natural History <br />Task 42.2 -Bedrock Aquifer Configuration <br />1. Task 42.2 Section 1.2.1 Suggest you use the published stratigraphic diagram from Raynolds <br />(2002) as it more clearly shows the differentiation of the aquifers and the geological rock names. <br />The State has adopted the regulatory definition of the Denver Basin bedrock aquifers, as <br />provided in Senate Bill 85-5 and described in this Technical Memorandum. <br />2. Figure 3. Suggest you clarify as per sketch I showed you yesterday to make it more realistic. <br />The oval you have offered is not a "generalized cross section" as suggested by the text on page 4. <br />The study team feels that the figure included in the Technical Memorandum is adequate for the <br />purposes of depicting the legal and physical naming conventions of the aquifers. <br />3. While the area to the northwest is complex, it is well-known geologically, and it would seem <br />reasonable for you to cite an example of a set of maps that illustrate the configuration of the <br />Laramie/Fox Hills unit in this area, such as: <br />Kittleson, K.L., 2004, The effect of reverse faulting on the thickness, depth, and water quality of <br />the Laramie-Fox Hills aquifer in the western Denver Basin, Colorado; The Mountain Geologist, <br />v.41, p. 185-194. <br />The text has been revised to note that information on the characteristics of the Laramie-Fox Hills Aquifer <br />in this Complex Area can be found in the cited report. <br />4. Once you elected to use the State Engineer's assignment of aquifer boundaries you are forced <br />to work with a somewhat arbitrary data set. This is a direct result of the State's effort to legislate <br />stratigraphy and causes challenges to any user seeking geological patterns in the data. As an <br />examples of this, the peculiar looking map of the base of the Dawson (your figure 7) results from <br />erratic picks rather than from erratic geology. The uncertain picks will result in uncertain results <br />of any model based upon the data set. <br />