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April 30, 2010 Permittee Address RE: Mining Operations with Exposed Ground water To Whom It May Concern: The Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety is responsible for ensuring that Sand and Gravel mining operators comply with the requirements of the Colorado Land Reclamation Act for the Extraction of Construction Materials (Act) and the Mineral Rules and R egulations of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board for the Extraction of Construction Materials (Rules). Among these requirements are provisions for the protection of water resources. The Act requires that reclamation plans must ensure minimization of disturbances to the prevailing hydrologic balance, including disturbances to the quantity of water in the area affected by mining and in the surrounding areas. § 34-32.5-116(4)(h). Rule 3.1.6(1)(a) requires compliance with Colorado water laws and regulations governing injury to existing water rights both during and after mining. Permits must specify how the permittee will comply with applicable Colorado water laws and regulations governing injury to existing water right rights. Rule 6.3.3(j); Rule 6.4.5(2)(c). After an extensive review, the Division determined that several operators may not have appropriate permit conditions to address certain reclamation liabilities arising from impacts to water resources. In September 2009 the Division of Water Resources (DWR) updated its Guidelines for Sand and Gravel Pits. These guidelines provide guidance on achieving compliance with state law regarding replacement of depletions from sand and gravel mining, thus the guidelines provide a benchmark for the prote ction of hydrologic balance required under the Act and Rules. As noted in the Guidelines, sand and gravel operations which expose groundwater without complying with state law create a reclamation liability by impacting available groundwater. State law requires that any person exposing ground water must obtain a well permit from the SEO pursuant to § 37 -90 -137(11). Because exposed groundwater results in out-of-priority water depletions, operations which expose ground water must also eventually obtain a water-court approved augmentation plan. Currently, several operators do not have either an augmentation plan or bonding to provide an alternative method to mitigate injurious stream depletions that result from mining-related expos ure of ground water. The Division has a statutory duty to ensure that lands affected by mining are reclaimed in a manner that complies with state law and to ensure that operators have sufficient bonding to achieve reclamation. In order to assist operators in achieving compliance with these requirements, the Division proposes that, by April 30, 2011, operators should contact the Division and agree upon a plan for achieving compliance.