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drains the eastern portion of the permit area. Minnesota Creek enters the North Fork of the <br /> Gunnison River near Paonia. The overall drainage exhibits a dendritic drainage pattern with <br /> steep channels. Horse Creek, South Prong of the East Fork, and Deep Creek are perennial <br /> streams. Lick Creek, Upper Dry Fork, upper Sylvester Gulch and Gribble Gulch are ephemeral <br /> streams. Minnesota Reservoir controls much of the flow in the lower Dry Fork of Minnesota <br /> Creek, and Beaver Reservoir controls the flow in the East Fork of Minnesota Creek. Lone Pine <br /> Gulch has no evidence of recent flow; therefore, no gaging station has been constructed. Even <br /> when all of the six gaged watersheds were found to be flowing, Lone Pine Gulch showed no flow <br /> or evidence of flow. Raven Creek flows through the extreme northeast corner of the permit area, <br /> but a stipulation of federal coal lease COC-67011 expressly forbids mining activities to expand <br /> the affected area into the riparian zone of the creek. <br /> There are three different types of springs within the permit area: alluvial, colluvial, and bedrock <br /> springs. A study of the groundwater system at the West Elk Mine by Mayo &Associates found <br /> 83 different springs within the existing permit area in 1999. From the identified springs, 65% of <br /> the cumulative discharge volume comes from superficial springs in alluvium and/or colluvium. <br /> Only 5% of the discharge comes from units of the Upper and Lower Coal member. The flow <br /> rates of these springs are highly seasonal with peak flows occurring during wet weather <br /> conditions. <br /> Reservoirs and stock ponds also occur within or near the permit area. Minnesota Reservoir, on <br /> the Dry Fork of Minnesota Creek, is centrally located within the coal permit area. Beaver <br /> Reservoir on the East Fork of Minnesota Creek is located near the southwestern boundary of the <br /> permit area. <br /> In addition to the storage reservoirs in the area of the West Elk Mine, a total of 61 stock water <br /> impoundments have been identified in or adjacent to the permit area as of 2006. Map 37 of the <br /> permit document shows the locations of the known stock water ponds. These ponds generally do <br /> not represent adjudicated water rights or perennial flows. Within the Gunnison National Forest, <br /> the ponds are managed for seasonal use by the U.S. Forest Service. <br /> Exhibit 32B of the permit application describes wetlands and riparian areas in the permit area. <br /> There are estimated to be approximately 77 acres of wetlands (as defined by the U.S. Army <br /> Corps of Engineers) in the permit area. Most of the wetlands are found in drainage channels, <br /> although there are small, isolated wetlands on the hillsides where springs and seeps locally <br /> emerge as a result of landslides/sumps. There are an estimated 104 acres of riparian areas in the <br /> permit area. <br /> Climatological Information - Rule 2.04.8 <br /> Information regarding climate characteristics can be found in Section 2.04.3 and 2.04.8 of the <br /> PAP. <br /> The mine site lies within the North Fork valley near Somerset, Colorado. At the mine site, the <br /> valley is narrow and steep sided and follows a general east-west orientation. Considerable <br /> topographic variation across the mine site, and west central Colorado in general, results in <br /> marked fluctuation in seasonal and average precipitation and temperature values for the entire <br /> area. <br /> 20 <br />