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JAMES A. BECKWITH <br />FONTANARI OBJECTIONS AND COMMENTS / SNOWCAP BOND APPLICATION SL -I I / PG. 12 <br />mining activity. As the successor -in -interest to all Powderhorn Coal Company's water rights, <br />Snowcap is the holder of Colorado Well Permit 33210-F and a decreed water right (Case No. <br />86CW90) relating to the ground water flowing through the Roadside Mine. (Fontanari <br />Exhibits 23 and 24) <br />Investigation has revealed that the surface flow in Rapid Creek (in which Fontanari <br />has an unconditional decreed water right) has been diminished by coal mining conducted <br />under Rapid Creek and the groundwater flowing through the Roadside Mine. Specifically, <br />Snowcap has allowed the groundwater to flow through the Roadside Mine without application <br />of that water to any beneficial use for over 18 years. Regulation of groundwater management <br />is under the State Water Engineer's exclusive jurisdiction, as detailed below. Fontanari has <br />given notice to Snowcap of his intent to seek judicial relief from the 5th District Water Court, <br />in Glenwood Springs. Balancing the DRMS Rule with the exclusive jurisdiction of the State <br />Water Engineer requires that SL -11 at the very least not be granted, if not denied, until after <br />the 5th District Water Court renders its final decision. <br />1. Relevant background and reports. <br />Snowcap's Mine Dewatering System is gravity -driven, and allows groundwater flowing <br />from higher elevations within the mine to lower elevations within the mine to be discharged <br />into the Colorado River at Outflow 016: located on the north side of U.S.I-70 (the meter being <br />located on the south side of I-70). A detailed plan and profile plan of the 016 Drain was filed <br />by Powderhorn Coal with DRMS, entitled Mine Dewatering Plan and Profile, dated May <br />2009. (Fontanari Exhibit 25) Underground mine water enters an 8" diameter drainpipe in <br />the mine at an approximate elevation of 4629 feet. Drain water does not exit the drain until it <br />reaches an elevation of 4758 feet. In other words, drain water does not flow out of the mine <br />until the water in the mine is approximately 129 feet deep. The 129 feet of water in the mine <br />causes water to back up into the mine tunnels for thousands of feet horizontally and causes <br />hydrostatic pressurization within the mine tunnels which will migrate through cracks and <br />fissures. The migration of water vertically above mine tunnels may exacerbate tunnel <br />collapses and subsequent subsidence. <br />In its prior Decision on Bond Release S1-08 ("SL -08 Decision"), DRMS recognized that <br />inflow of ground water inflows to the Roadside Mine average between 100 and 300 GPM <br />from 1986 through 2000. (SL -08 Decision; Pg. 29-30) The S1-08 Decision acknowledges <br />that this "steady" inflow rate "is produced from the underground formation (groundwater <br />seepage) into the mined out workings, which is recharged at the surface some distance up <br />gradient from the mine". (Id. at Pg. 30; Emphasis Added) This ground water is discharged <br />from Outfall 16 into the Colorado River, outside of the Rapid Creek basin, which reduces the <br />quantity of water available to water users within the permit area and adjacent areas, in <br />violation of Coal Rules 2.05.6(3)(a)(ii) and (iii). The SL -08 Decision further acknowledges <br />