Laserfiche WebLink
West Elk Mine 2014 Annual Hydrology Report 2 <br />2.0 HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY OF WATER YEAR 2014 <br />During WY 2014, the total annual precipitation in the vicinity of the West Elk Mine was <br />slightly above average at the Paonia 1 SW (56306) meteorological station, and slightly <br />below average at the Overland Reservoir (59853/CO07K14S) and McClure Pass <br />(59743/CO07K09S) SNOTEL stations; compared to the historical total annual <br />precipitation data (WRCC, 2015; NRCS, 2015a, 2015b). <br />The snow water equivalent (SWE) is a measure of the amount of water in the snow pack. <br />During WY 2014, the SWE data were slightly below the historical annual averages at the <br />Overland Reservoir and McClure Pass stations (NRCS, 2015c, 2015d), resulting in near <br />average stream flows in the permit and surrounding areas. <br />2.1 Climatological Data <br />Precipitation and SWE data for the permit and surrounding area for WY 2014 were <br />derived from the following meteorological and SNOTEL stations: Paonia 1SW (56306), <br />McClure Pass (59743/CO07K09S), and Overland Reservoir (59853/CO07K14S) <br />(WRCC, 2015; NRCS, 2015a; NRCS 2015b; NRCS, 2015c; NRCS, 2015d). Figures 1, <br />2, and 3 depict the WY 2014 total monthly precipitation data compared to the 120 -year <br />historical average monthly precipitation data (1893 through 2012) for Paonia 1SW, the <br />33 -year (WY 1981 through WY 2013) historical average for McClure Pass, and the 24 - <br />year (WY 1990 to 2013) historical average for Overland Reservoir, respectively. The <br />total accumulated annual precipitation in WY 2014 was 16.74 inches at Paonia 1 SW, <br />33.2 inches at McClure Pass, and 29.8 inches at Overland Reservoir (Figures 1 to 3). <br />This corresponds to 109 percent, 98 percent and 99 percent, respectively, of the historical <br />average total accumulated annual precipitation values recorded at Paonia 1SW (15.39 <br />inches), McClure Pass (34.0 inches), and Overland Reservoir (30.1 inches) (WRCC, <br />2015; NRCS, 2015a ,2015b). <br />June 2015 HydroGeo, Inc. <br />