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Parsons Mine SWSP June 30, 2017 <br />Plan ID 5822 Page 3 of 10 <br /> <br />Office of the State Engineer <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 821, Denver, CO 80203 P 303.866.3581 <br />www.water.state.co.us <br /> <br /> <br />The Alluvial Water Accounting System (AWAS) program developed by the Integrated Decision <br />Support (IDS) Group at Colorado State University was used to lag depletions from evaporation and <br />operational losses at the mine site to the Cache La Poudre River. The model requires the following <br />parameters: distance (X) from the centroid to the river, aquifer width (W), transmissivity (T), and <br />specific yield (S). The Parsons Mine was split into four different areas, designated Areas A, B, C and <br />D, as shown on the attached Figure 1, in order to more accurately determine the lagged depletions <br />from the site. The aquifer parameters used for each area are listed in the table below: <br />Aquifer Parameters – Depletion Areas <br />Area X (ft) W (ft) T (gpd/ft) S <br />A 2,176 9,823 85,000 0.15 <br />B 208 9,946 85,000 0.15 <br />C 297 10,816 85,000 0.15 <br />D 2,636 10,810 85,000 0.15 <br />As shown in the attached Figure 1, Phase 1A and Phase 1B are located within Area A, while Phase <br />1C is located within Area B. The total lagged depletions for the Parsons Mine site were determined <br />to be 66.07 acre-feet for this plan period. This amount includes lagged depletions resulting from <br />past consumptive use at the site that are projected to impact the river during this plan period. A <br />monthly breakdown of lagged depletions, both by area and in total, is shown in the attached Table <br />1. <br /> <br />Dewatering <br />No ground water has been exposed so far in the mining of Phase 1A or 1C. Once ground <br />water is exposed, all phases of the mine will be continuously dewatered for the entire plan period. <br />As long as the site is continuously dewatered, the water returned to the stream system should be <br />adequate to offset the depletions attributable to dewatering operations. MM is not planning to use <br />any dewatering credits for replacement purposes of depletions at the Parsons Mine or at any other <br />site under this SWSP. Totalizing flow meters must be installed at each discharge location and <br />meter readings must be reported on the submitted accounting. The meter readings will be used in <br />calculating the post-pumping depletions that must be replaced if dewatering ceases at the site. <br /> <br />Replacements <br />The operator proposes to provide replacement for this pit using consumptive use credits <br />from 12 shares of Whitney Ditch owned by MM delivered directly to the river for immediate credit <br />or delivered to a recharge pond (Parsons Mine Recharge Area, WDID 0302067) for lagged recharge <br />accretion credits. In addition, MM proposes to use water stored in the Heaton Reservoir under case <br />no. 2001CW193 as well as any excess fully consumable water leased from the City of Greeley <br />available after use for replacement purposes in MM’s combined SWSP for the Iverson Mine and the <br />35th Avenue Pit. <br /> The decreed source for the water rights under the Whitney Ditch (WDID 0300930) is the <br />Cache la Poudre River, and the decreed point of diversion for the Whitney Ditch is on the north side <br />of the Cache la Poudre River in the NW¼ of the SE¼ of Section 19, T6N, R67W, 6th P.M., Weld <br />County. During the period of this SWSP, MM will dry up a total of 130.8 acres attributed to the 12 <br />Whiney Ditch shares, as shown on attached Figure 2. MM’s 12 shares in the Whitney Ditch Company <br />were changed for a variety of uses including augmentation/replacement in case no. 2008CW65. <br />Case no. 2008CW65 relied on a ditch-wide analysis of the 320 total shares in the Whitney Ditch. <br />Based on a study period of 1950 through 1995, the Court found that the average annual gross river