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2017 AHR McClane & Munger Canyon Mines Page 4 <br />one source of recharge to the perched aquifer. The water then infiltrates the <br />coal seam which has become saturated over time. This assumption is supported <br />by the previously documented cyclical nature of water inflow corresponding with <br />periods of precipitation. <br />Future Water Inflow <br />When mining resumes development will be to the south where the coal seam is <br />relatively dry. Since most of the water generated in the mine comes from the <br />sealed areas in the north, the water inflow should be relatively constant or slowly <br />decreasing. <br />As shown on Figure 4.2-3, the saturated strata appear to outcrop in the valley <br />formed by the north split of Munger Canyon. Since the strata in the area dip at <br />four percent to the northeast, water may be infiltrating the seam along the valley <br />bottom. Any water infiltrating the strata at this location will flow down dip until the <br />aquifer is totally saturated unless there is an area where water may escape. The <br />elevation of the saturated zone would approximate the elevation of the outcrop <br />(5,600 ft) if no water flows out of the strata at a lower elevation. There are no <br />known springs or seeps that would allow escape of the water from the zone of <br />saturation so it can be expected the coal seam will be saturated near the outcrop <br />elevation. <br />Munger Canyon Mine <br />The Munger Mine has been sealed and the disturbed areas were graded and <br />seeded in 2007. There was no water encountered in mine; therefore, there has <br />been no effect on the hydrologic regime of the area. The current mine workings <br />are shown on Figure 4. <br />Precipitation <br />Precipitation data is shown on Tables 2 & 3 and was acquired from Kevin Hyatt <br />with the BLM (970-244-3030). During the water year, the BLM's recording <br />device did not record data correctly for 8 months out of the year. Available data <br />is included for reference. <br />Effect of the Mine on the East Salt Creek Regime <br />Surface Water <br />Due to the limited disturbance of the mines there is little chance any significant <br />effect on the quantity or quality of the surface waters near either mine sites has <br />occurred. As the Division notes in its approval package for the Munger Canyon <br />Mine, the total area that will be disturbed by both mine sites amounts to 0.12 <br />percent of the area of the East Salt Creek drainage basin above the mines. <br />Due to low flow conditions, samples were only taken at SW -1 during second <br />quarter of 2016. No samples were taken at SW8 during the water year. Results <br />are shown in Table 4. Historically, results from the samples collected from East <br />