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Among the earliest gold discoveries in the Colorado gold rush were placer deposits discovered in 1859 at the headwaters of the Arkansas River near Granite. By late 1860 most of the streams had been prospected, and numerous gold placers were reported along the Arkansas River to Buena Vista and beyond. The deposits along the Arkansas River and Cache Creek near Granite probably were the most productive, producing about 49,000 troy ounces of gold. Placer Mining within Cache Creek commenced in the early 1900s using Cache Creek stream water for processing purposes. Since mining commenced over 100 years ago, surface water quality data suggests the alluvial host rock is not acid producing or toxic to human health or receiving biological communities. Hydrology 4 The Arkansas River Basin is the largest river basin in Colorado covering an area of 28,268 square miles or 27% of the surface area of the state (Colorado Water Conservation Board 2006). The headwaters of the Arkansas River begins near Leadville at an elevation of more than 14,000 feet and drops to 3,340 feet as it travels through southeast Colorado to the Colorado/Kansas state line. In Chaffee County, the main tributaries include: Clear, Pine, Cottonwood, Browns, Trout, and Ute Creeks and the South Arkansas River. The Arkansas River developed following the Laramide Orogeny and subsequent creation of the Rio Grande rift in central Colorado and New Mexico. Surface runoff from the eastern side of the rift flowed towards the center of the basin, forming the Arkansas River. Originally the river flowed south and met with the Rio Grande in the San Luis Valley. Volcanic activity later blocked the river near Poncha Pass and caused the river to flow east towards the Great Plains (Colorado State Parks 2002 as cited in Topper et al. 2003). The water quality in the Arkansas River headwaters has been affected by the mining activity in the Leadville Area. Several reservoirs and lakes in the Upper Arkansas Basin store water from transtnountain sources and local sources to meet the demand for expanded water use in the region, and thereby protecting stream depletions (Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District 2009). These include: Twin Lakes and Turquoise Lake reservoirs that primarily hold waters transferred from the Colorado River Basin and diverted through the Busk- Ivanhoe, Boustead and Twin Lakes tunnels. Cache Creek drains through Lost Canyon and discharges to the Arakasas River near the historical town of Granite. There is no public surface or groundwater quality or quantity data for Cache Creek that characterizes surface water flow or quality characteristics. There are no Division of Water Resource recorded groundwater wells. CY) 4) 4 RP Topper, Ralf et al, 2003 Ground Water Atlas of Colorado, Colorado Geological Survey, Denver, Co ck. December 28, 2014 Colorado Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety Gold Basin Mine, Inc. Gold Basin Mine Granite, Colorado