BOARD02441 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

26 SAN JUAN RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL RESOLUTION No. .01- MARCH_,~OOI , , DRAFT: 03/15/01 j WHEREAS, the San Juan Resource Conservation and Development Council ("Council") was organized to lead local efforts for improving the economic and social conditions of the San Juan resource area in La Plata, Montezuma, Dolores, Archuleta and San Juan Counties through development, conservation and proper use of the resources of the area; and . WHEREAS, serious metals contamination from historic mining practices in the Red Mountain and Silverton Mining districts has been ide~tified and analyzed for remediation feasibility by the Animas River Stakeholders Group (I'ARSG"). Mineral Creek in the Silverton area is currently on the State of Colorado's 303 (d) lisl of stream segments out of compliance with State water quality standards and has been desigbated as having the highest cleanup priority. Through sampling water quality and mine waste sites in Upper Mineral Creek, ARSG has detennined Kohler Tunnel drainage contributes the largest amounts of aluminum, cadmium, copper, and zinc to the Animas River watershed of any single source. Accordingly, the ARSG has given Kohler Tunnel drainage the highest prioritY: for remediation; and i I WHEREAS, the Kohler Tunnel drains water ~elieved to be entering the San Antonio Mine. Recent geophysical investigations indicate a high potential that the Carbon Lake Ditch ("Ditch"), a trans-basin diversion which diverts from Mineral Creek, is leaking water into the I mine workings. Mine maps show that open stopes exist directly under the Ditch. Once water enters a mine, the process of acid rock drainage begin,s and metals and acids are leached out of the rock, enhanced by a bio-catalytic process in an aetobic environment; and I WHEREAS, treatment of Kohler Tunnel acid ~ine drainage would be extremely expensive and would need to be carried on in perpetuity. Although passive wetland treatment might be successful, renewal of the medium and disP9sal of accumulated wastes would cost over one half million dollars per year. Active treatment, r~uiring a power supply, and the additional costs of infrastructure, power, and maintenance woul~ also produce a large amount of waste which would need to be disposed; and , I . WHEREAS, rather than treating the water dispharged from the Kohler Tunnel, a more practical approach would be to eliminate the source o:fthe water that infiltrates the mine, making perpetual treatment unnecessary or greatly reducing t/1e extent of required treatment. Conveying the entire 15 c.f.s. of the Carbon Lake Ditch water rights in a pipeline, however, would also be . very costly and mechanically difficult at best, given the extreme environmental conditions of this high elevation, alpine ditch; and; and , WHEREAS, ARSG proposes "that the Council purchase 80%, or preferably all, of the water rights in the Carbon Lake Ditch and, under a slparate agreement, donate these rights to the Colorado Water Conservation Board ("CWCB") for nstream flow use in the Mineral Creek Basin. This purchase and donation would reduce wa er infiltration into the mine workings, provide enhanced flows to Big Horn Creek and Mine~al Creeks and restore the natural hydrological regime ofthe area; and '