2016-02-03_PERMIT FILE - C1981038 (2)

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42.04 APPLICATION FOR PERMIT FOR SIIRFACE OR UNDERGROUND MINING ACTFVITIES =- MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR INFORMATION ON ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES. 2.04.8 Climatological Information. (1) Climatic Characteristics of the North Fork Valley The official climatology station for the North Fork area is Paonia 1 SW, elevation 5,580 feet mean sea level, and is cur- rently-located at the residence of Robert Lund approximately one mile down valley from the town of Paonia and one-half mile south of the river. The station is generally surrounded by pastures, orchards and alfalfa fields. The Paonia station was established in April, 1892, on the east side of town. It was deactivated in September, 1898 and reac- tivated in December, 1905 at the same location, where it con- tinued operation until June, 1930. Between June, 1930 and May, 1957 it was located at three different sites on a 6,200 foot mesa south of town. In 1957 it was moved to the Pan American Greenhouse southeast of downtown, elevation 5,685 feet msl, where it remained until September, 1969. At that time it was moved again to a site 0.1 miles south of Minnesota Creek on the east edge of town, elevation 5,693 feet msl where it remained for four years. It was moved to its present Loca- tion in October, 1973. • The frequent station relocations make it impossible to obtain reliable long-term climatology from this station. However, since the elevation changes have been only about 100 feet since 1957, the data for these years may be comparable. Data for the period 1957-1975 are summarized in Tables 2.04-14, 15, and 16 in the CLimatology Appendix, Volume 9. The nearest station to the Paonia 1 SW station is located about 30 miles west in Delta, Colorado. This station was es- tablished in 1888, but good continuous records were not kept until 1907. It was situated at the same location until 1954 when it was moved a short distance (elevation 5,125 feet msl - no change). This station was relocated and re-established at Scotty's Campground and Motel in October, 1976. A comparison of the data from Paonia and Delta indicates sig- nificant climatological differences. While the two stations are only about 30 miles apart and 500 feet different in eleva- tion, the average annual precipitation at Paonia is more than twice that at Delta. Unofficial stations at ranches and farms in the North Fork Valley area indicate that the geographical distribution of precipitation is highly variable and strongly . Revised 10(01(87 58