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STATE OF COLORADO <br />DIVISION OF RECLAMATION MINING AND SAFETY <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />1313 Sherman St Room 215 <br />Denver Colorado 80203 <br />Phone 303 8663567 <br />FAX 303 8328106 <br />AV Zod51031 <br />April 30 2010 <br />Aggregate Industries WCR Inc <br />1707 Cole Blvd Ste 100 <br />Golden CO 80401 <br />RE Mining Operations with Exposed Ground waterN <br />To Whom It May Concern <br />COLORADO <br />D I V I S I ON OF <br />RECLAMATION <br />MINING <br />SAFETY <br />Bill Ritter Jr <br />Governor <br />James B Martin <br />Executive Director <br />Loretta E Pineda <br />Director <br />The Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety is responsible for ensuring that Sand and Gravel mining <br />operators comply with the requirements of the Colorado Land Reclamation Act for the Extraction of <br />Construction Materials Act and the Mineral Rules and Regulations of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation <br />Board for the Extraction of Construction Materials Rules Among these requirements are provisions for the <br />protection of water resources The Act requires that reclamation plans must ensure minimization of <br />disturbances to the prevailing hydrologic balance including disturbances to the quantity of water in the area <br />affected by mining and in the surrounding areas 343251164h Rule 3161a requires compliancewithColoradowaterlawsandregulationsgoverninginjurytoexistingwaterrightsbothduringandafter <br />mining Permits must specify how the permittee will comply with applicable Colorado water laws and <br />regulations governing injury to existing water right rights Rule 633j Rule 6452c After an extensive <br />review the Division determined that several operators may not have appropriate permit conditions to <br />address certain reclamation liabilities arising from impacts to water resources <br />In September 2009 the Division of Water Resources DWR updated its Guidelines for Sand and Gravel Pits <br />These guidelines provide guidance on achieving compliance with state law regarding replacement of <br />depletions from sand and gravel mining thus the guidelines provide a benchmark for the protection of <br />hydrologic balance required under the Act and Rules As noted in the Guidelines sand and gravel <br />operations which expose groundwater without complying with state law create a reclamation liability byimpactingavailablegroundwater <br />State law requires that any person exposing ground water must obtain a well permit from the SEO pursuantto379013711BecauseexposedgroundwaterresultsinoutofprioritywaterdepletionsoperationswhichexposegroundwatermustalsoeventuallyobtainawatercourtapprovedaugmentationplanCurrentlyseveraloperatorsdonothaveeitheranaugmentationplanorbondingtoprovideanalternative <br />method to mitigate injurious stream depletions that result from miningrelated exposure of groundwaterTheDivisionhasastatutorydutytoensurethatlandsaffectedbyminingarereclaimedina manner <br />that complies with state law and to ensure that operators have sufficient bonding to achieve reclamation In <br />order to assist operators in achieving compliance with these requirements the Division proposes that byApril302011operatorsshouldcontacttheDivisionandagreeuponaplanforachievingcompliance <br />Office of <br />Office ofMinedLandReclamationDenverGrandJunctionDurangoActiveandInactive Mines