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H O L LAND &HART P A ri126 2017 <br /> p ' <br /> Page 2 <br /> As described in further detail below, the Miller Pit appears to be in compliance with all <br /> requirements for well permitting and augmentation under Colorado statutes. Generally, a gravel <br /> pit that was excavated after December 31, 1980, and which exposes groundwater, must have a <br /> well permit issued by the State Engineer's Office and, where applicable, be covered by either a <br /> judicially-approved plan for augmentation or a substitute water supply plan approved by the <br /> State Engineer. See, e.g., C.R.S. § 37-90-137(11)(a). <br /> In this case, a well permit for the Miller Pit operation was issued to Robert Miller in <br /> 1989 as Permit No. 35808-F. A copy of the well permit is attached as Attachment A. <br /> Additionally, the Miller Pit is a covered structure under the plan for augmentation decreed on <br /> January 29, 1998 in the Application for Water Rights of Rick Hunt, Case No. 92CW106, Water <br /> Division 1 (the "Augmentation Plan Decree"). A copy of the Augmentation Plan Decree is <br /> attached hereto as Attachment B. <br /> The Miller Pit is described in the Augmentation Plan Decree as "an open sand and gravel <br /> mining pit according to the terms and conditions of the Mined Land Reclamation Permit <br /> Numbered M-82-112." See Attachment B, paragraph B.I at page 4. The Decree further <br /> provides that the Miller Pit "will be a portable excavation within the 80 acres described herein at <br /> no time will more than once acre of ground water be exposed." See id. It is our understanding <br /> that significantly less than one acre of ground water is currently exposed at the Miller Pit. <br /> Accordingly, the Augmentation Plan Decree appears to cover the current scope of operations at <br /> the Miller Pit. <br /> An augmentation plan requires a legally-available source of replacement water, or <br /> "augmentation water." The augmentation water supplies identified in the Augmentation Plan <br /> Decree for the Miller Pit include wastewater effluent supplied by the Town of Elizabeth (the <br /> "Town"). See id., at paragraph B.2. This augmentation water was originally provided under a <br /> 15-year water lease agreement with the Town executed in 2004. An updated Lease Agreement <br /> between Mr. Hunt and the Town was subsequently entered in 2010. A copy of that Lease <br /> Agreement is attached as Attachment C. The Lease Agreement provides for the lease of up to <br /> twenty acre-feet of augmentation water annually, and automatically extends for additional one- <br /> year terms unless terminated by either party. Records provided by the Town further indicate that <br /> the Lease Agreement is currently in effect and that lease payments have been received through <br /> 2016, and invoiced for payment in 2017. <br /> Production and water accounting data for the Miller Pit, prepared on behalf of Schmidt, <br /> indicates that water losses through product washing and evaporation totaled 1.914 acre-feet in <br /> 2016, which is well within the amount provided for under the Lease Agreement with the Town. <br /> The accounting is attached as Attachment D. <br />