2017-08-04_INSPECTION - M2008082

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PERMIT#: M-2008-082 INSPECTOR'S INITIALS: ECS INSPECTION DATE: August 1,2017 OBSERVATIONS This was a complaint inspection conducted by DRMS at the Morton Lakes site. DRMS received written complaints on July 19 and July 29 from Bill and Christina Cook alleging impact to an off-site surface water pond adjacent to the Cook residence as a result of mining activity in the Morton permit. This inspection was conducted by Eric Scott of DRMS. The DRMS representative met with permittee consultant Mike Hart and mine supervisor Joe Lamanna at the site at approximately 0915. The pond referred to in the complaint is, when completely full, approximately 670 feet long, 100 feet wide and approximately 3-4 feet deep. The outlet of the pond is the steel culvert shown in photo 2 that would allow water to pass through the earthen dam that both creates the pond and provides access to the Ruiz property. This pond and several other much smaller stagnant ponds (photo 6), lie in a "slough" drainage formed by a historic channel of the South Platte River. This drainage is shown by the cyan line on the attached overview map. The slough flows from south to north and appears to be fed by seasonal surface water flow from wetland areas west of Hwy 85 upstream of the Morton permit, direct precipitation, and storm water discharge from the adjacent developments of Ft Lupton. The slough drainage, or at least the portion of it where it re- enters the Platte, is referred to as the Holton Seep Ditch. A review of historic photos of the area indicate that the amount of water in the subject pond is subject to large fluctuations based on seasonal inflow and precipitation. However, the pond was totally dry at the time of this inspection and appears to have been dry for some time (photo 1). Prior to the field inspection, DRMS and the permittee representatives discussed the complaint and the activities currently taking place within the permit between the Platte River and Highway 85. The permittee provided information to substantiate their position that all water rights associated with the Holton Seep Ditch were conveyed to the permittee as part of the surface use agreement entered into between Holton and the permittee. It is unclear at this time if any other entities hold water rights on this drainage other than those associated with the Holton Seep. Property ownership maps obtained from the Weld County Assessor's site and provided to DRMS by the permittee have been included with this report for reference. The pond referenced in the complaint lies on property owned by Ramon Ruiz and Laura Birmingham as seen on the attached property ownership maps. It should be noted that the property owners underlying and adjacent to the dry pond do not have any water rights associated with the pond or slough drainage in question. DRMS inspected the Morton Lakes site Phase 3 and Phase 4 areas located on the eastern side of the permitted area. Current activity in these areas consists of mining in the unlined Phase 3 area, and stripping of the Phase 4 area. A slurry wall was recently completed around the Phase 4 area to isolate it from the alluvial aquifer. The Phase 3 area is unlined as it is intended to be backfilled with excess fines and overburden material immediately following mining of the area. Information provided by the permittee indicates that backfilling of the Phase 3 area should be underway during November/December of 2017, and that pumping of the Phase 3 area should cease by the end of January of 2018. If there is, in fact, any impact to the pond from the mining activity approximately 1000 feet NW of the pond in Phase 3, it will be temporary. During the inspection no water was observed flowing into the permit area from the upstream wetland to the south (photo 4), and the ditch along the east boundary of the permit was dry (photo 5). The only source of water for the dry pond at this time appears to be direct precipitation and storm water runoff. Page 2 of 4