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<br />apply these water quality standards and classifications adopted by the WQCC through their own <br />programs after consultation with the WQCC and the WQCD [Water Quality Control Division]. <br /> <br />Groundwater which has been classified by the WQCC is described in Regulation 42 - SITE-SPECIFIC <br />WATER QUALITY CLASSIFICATIONS AND STANDARDS FOR GROUND WATER [2]. Section 42.3 of that <br />document gives the index of classified areas, and shows that only two sites in Moffat and Rio Blanco <br />counties have classified groundwater: the town of Meeker and the Oil and Gas fields of Northern Moffat <br />County (which lie northwest of Craig). All groundwater at the Colowyo Mine is, therefore, unclassified. <br /> <br />Standards for unclassified groundwater are specified in 41.5(C)(6)(a) of Regulation 41: <br />The “Interim Narrative Standard” … is applicable to all ground water, to which standards have <br />not already been assigned in the state, with the exception of those areas where the total <br />dissolved solids (TDS) are equal to or exceed 10,000 mg/l <br /> <br />Since monitoring data shows that TDS is generally well below 10,000 mg/L, and site specific standards <br />have not been adopted, the applicable water quality standard for groundwater at the Colowyo Mine is <br />the Interim Narrative Standard. <br /> <br />As stated in 41.5(C)(6)(b)(i), the Interim Narrative Standard requires that water quality: <br />…shall be maintained for each parameter at whichever of the following levels is less restrictive: <br />(A) Existing ambient quality as of January 31, 1994, or <br />(B) That quality which meets the most stringent criteria set forth in Tables 1 through 4 of “The <br />Basic Standards for Ground Water.” <br /> <br />As an implementing agency, DRMS has some discretion in the determination of “existing ambient <br />quality”, including the use of data generated more recently than January 31, 1994. In most cases <br />baseline monitoring data should be adequate for the purpose. <br /> <br />(Note that even if the classification as “Limited Use and Quality” were valid, the following statement <br />from section 2.0 of the AECOM report, which discusses applicable water quality standards, would still be <br />false: <br />According to the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission, groundwater standards do not <br />apply to water deemed to be of “Limited Use and Quality” <br />…since the Interim Narrative Standard would still apply, as discussed in 41.5 of [1]: <br />The standards specified in subsections A and C apply to all State ground waters, unless <br />alternative site-specific standards have been adopted for a specified area) <br /> <br />Regulatory requirement to establish Groundwater Points of Compliance <br /> <br />The language of Rule 4.05.13(1)(b) is unequivocal: <br />One or more points of compliance shall be established for any coal operation which, in the <br />judgment of the Division, has the potential to negatively impact the quality of groundwater for <br />which quality standards have been established by the Water Quality Control Commission. These