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<br /> <br /> 6 <br />in order to verify the PHC conclusions concerning impacts to the Colorado River. <br /> <br />There are two tributaries to the Colorado River that are associated with the Loadout. Reed Wash, <br />a perennial stream with a drainage area of thirty square miles and which flows due to irrigation <br />water and precipitation events, cuts through the middle of the permit area from northeast to the <br />southwest. Loma Drain, also a perennial stream, handles runoff from precipitation events and <br />irrigation water around the town of Loma to the northwest and flows generally north to south <br />across the western edge of the permit area and adjacent area. Surface water monitoring stations <br />are depicted on Map 08 of the permit for both drainages. They are designated as US-RW and DS- <br />RW for Reed Wash and as US-LD, DS-LD and L-DS-LD for Loma Drain. Exhibit 3 of the <br />Loadout permit application package contains the baseline surface water monitoring data. <br /> <br />Flow rates in both tributaries reflect the irrigation season, with high flow rates recorded in the <br />second and third quarters and low flow rates recorded in the first and fourth quarters. The <br />baseline surface water data for Reed Wash show that a low flow rate of 11.5 cfs occurred in the <br />first quarter of 2010, with a high flow rate of 176 cfs having occurred in the second quarter of <br />2010. The data also show that there was no perceptible flow rate loss between the upstream <br />monitoring station and the downstream monitoring station on Reed Wash. <br /> <br />The same pattern for flow rates applies to the Loma Drain as well. Baseline surface water data <br />for the upstream site US-LD and both downstream sites DS-LD and L-DS-LD show that high flow <br />rates occurred in the second and third quarters while low flow rates occurred in the first and fourth <br />quarters. The baseline data show that a high flow rate of 31 cfs at the US-LD and DS-LD sites <br />occurred in the second and third quarters of 2010 and 34 cfs in April of 2011 at the L-DS-LD site. <br />The low flow rate of 1.75 cfs occurred in the fourth quarter of 2010 for US-LD and DS-LD. Again, <br />there was no apparent flow rate loss between the upstream (US-LD) and downstream (DS-LD) <br />monitoring stations on the Loma Drain. Since the surface water monitoring dates for L-DS-LD <br />are not the same as those for US-LD and DS-LD, a direct comparison of flow rate loss could not <br />be made. <br /> <br />The baseline surface water quality data show the general inverse relationship between flow rate <br />and values for total dissolved solids and conductivity. The data also show the general direct <br />relationship between flow rate and values for total suspended solids. For the Reed Wash baseline <br />surface water data, a high conductivity value of 4,300 µmhos/cm and a high total dissolved solids <br />value of 3,950 mg/1 occurred for the first quarter of 2010 when the flow rate was low, while the <br />high total suspended solids value of 274 mg/1 occurred in the second quarter of 2010 when the <br />flow rate was high. <br /> <br />For the Loma Drain baseline surface water data, a high conductivity value of 5,200 µmhos/cm <br />and a high total dissolved solids value of 4,760 mg/1 occurred in the fourth quarter when the flow <br />rates were low, while the high total suspended solids value of 508 mg/1 occurred in April of 2011 <br />for L-DS-LD when the flow rate was high. <br /> <br />There were no discernible trends in conductivity, total dissolved solids and total suspended solids <br />between the upstream and downstream monitoring stations on Reed Wash and the Loma Drain.