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The principal vegetation type on the Fish Creek AVF within the permit area is a <br />sagebrush meadow community dominated by silver sagebrush with a number of <br />sedge and rush species contributing significantly to the community. All of these <br />species are hydrophytes typically associated with subirrigated conditions. <br />Rule 4.24.3(1) allows for interruption of farming on "undeveloped rangelands <br />which are not significant to farming...". The Division received a letter from one <br />of the surface owners, Mr. Edward Camilletti, on January 23, 1998, regarding the <br />significance of the Fish Creek AVF to farming in sections 10 and 15, T5N, R86W. <br />The Camellettis use these lands as undeveloped rangeland. The landowner <br />estimated that 1% of the ranch production is attributed to the Fish Creek AVF. <br />Twentymile Coal owns a significant portion of the lands in and adjacent to the Fish <br />Creek AVF. Twentymile Coal Company operates a cattle operation on these lands <br />and manages the land, through its ranch manager, Trout Creek Ranch, as <br />undeveloped rangeland. TCC does not utilize the Fish Creek AVF as cropland. <br />TCC projects that impacts to the Fish Creek AVF will not significantly impact the <br />cattle operation. <br />No farming activities are currently undertaken along Fish Creek in this area. <br />Subsidence did not preclude the farming of this area. <br />The Fish Creek AVF was the only AVF approved to be undermined as a result of <br />Permit Revision No. 6 (PR -06). No stream pirating or loss of flow was <br />experienced during the mining approved by PR -06. Mining proposed with PR -11 <br />is projected to lower the ground surface and may actually increase the likelihood of <br />sub -irrigation allowing for improved productivity of upland sites. <br />2. The proposed mining operations will not cause material damage to the quantity <br />and quality of surface and ground water that supply the alluvial valley floor. <br />The only significant degradation of the stream water from TC's mining operations <br />has been caused by pumping of underground mine water into Fish Creek and <br />Foidel Creek. Data in TC's annual hydrology reports document this degradation. <br />Pumping occurs at two sites 115 (Fish Creek borehole) and 109 (portal area). The <br />pumping loads the streams with dissolved solids, mainly sulfate. The operator has <br />maintained stream water quality below the material damage threshold by limiting <br />the pumping rates at both sites and treating the pumped water at one of the sites, <br />115. The operator will continue to limit pumping rates and treating water as in the <br />past; therefore, mine pumping can be expected to not cause material damage to the <br />quality of surface or alluvial water. <br />Water in Fish Creek could see a slight increase in sediment load as subsidence <br />creates slight changes to the stream channel gradient and minor erosion occurs at <br />the head cuts in the stream. This increase in sediment load is anticipated to be no <br />more than the sediment increase observed during spring runoff and after large <br />Foidel Creek Mine 43 February 25, 2016 <br />