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C. Hunting will not be allowed within the permit area. <br />D. Coors will establish raptor perches in the area if deemed advisable by the <br />Division of Wildlife. There is a colony of burrowing owls in the area and <br />small -eared owls are sited frequently. Depending on the area, there appears to <br />be only a moderate infestation of burrowing animals in the reclamation at this <br />time, and the numerous cottontail rabbits have not migrated to the reclamation <br />from their present close proximity to the shop/office and its human activity. <br />Daylight raptors have been seen migrating through the permit area, but are <br />only occasionally observed perched on fence posts or power poles. <br />E. Coors seeding plan is fled in L-4. It is hoped that this seed mix will improve <br />both the domestic and wildlife range habitat. (See letters on pages 129 and <br />129a of this Section.) See also Section 2.04.11, Fish and Wildlife Resource <br />Information. <br />3. Protection of Hydrologic Balance <br />Detailed descriptions, maps and cross-sectional drawings regarding the quality <br />and quantity of surface and subsurface water at the Keenesburg Mine is <br />summarized in Section 2.04.7, Hydrological Description, and at Appendix I of <br />previous permit submittals. The focus of this permit renewal (five year plan) is <br />on reclamation, to the exclusion of further mining operations. The previous mine <br />pits ("A" and "B") have both been reclaimed to at least five feet above the ground <br />water level, and are lined with the clay spoils to create an impervious barrier <br />between the ground water and the ash/mine waste rock which is being deposited <br />in those pits. <br />The sub -surface water gradient, to the extent that it exists in the spoil, still tends <br />to slope to the east. Recharge of the spoil aquifer appears now to be limited to a <br />single source, infiltration by precipitation, since the pit areas have been isolated <br />and any standing water cannot communicate to the subsurface water interval. <br />There is still no indication that any significant recharge from the Ennis Draw <br />fluvial ground water system exists. Subsurface water elevations in the wells <br />existing in Ennis Draw, adjacent to the Keenesburg Mine site, are significantly <br />higher than in either spoil monitoring well, as confirmed by both Appendix I-2 of <br />previous permit submittals and the more recent data found in the Annual <br />Hydrology and Reclamation Reports. The lack of recharge of the spoil aquifer <br />system by the subsurface waters in Ennis Draw is thought to be the result of <br />limiting the eastern extent of the mining operation (not penetrating the area of <br />Ennis Draw itself). <br />No appreciable effect on the hydrologic balance of the area is anticipated as a <br />result of the mining and/or reclamation operations, and water levels in the mined <br />area are expected to eventually recover to approximately their original levels <br />following the cessation of mining operations (McWhorter). Water quality <br />125 06/15 <br />