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  <br />11  <br />  <br />  <br />6.5 Material Damage Conclusion <br />This assessment was implemented to evaluate whether irrigation water contains salinity values <br />which are causing materials damage to Cox, Elkhorn & Streeter, and Proctor fields on Goodspring <br />Creek. In addition, implementation of the study included collection of data and additional analysis <br />to support the material damage findings. A composition evaluation was implemented and revealed <br />that irrigated fields are not managed monocultures, rather field are composed of a combination <br />of alfalfa and pasture grasses, along with other grasses and forbs. Therefore, this site-specific <br />data was used in the material damage calculation. A soil study was also implemented to <br />investigate whether salt accumulation has been occurring in the irrigated fields. Laboratory results <br />do not demonstrate elevated salinity across the irrigated fields. Finally, crop yields from 2001 to <br />2020 were investigated to determine whether a diminishing trend could be identified. However, <br />the crop yields are more closely related to quantity of water received, which was variable from <br />year to year because irrigation water applied to the target fields are junior water rights. Based <br />on all the supporting studies and the calculated material damage assessment presented in Section <br />6.3 found that the crop yield reductions were not significant, in accordance with the Mined Land <br />Reclamation Board report from 1988. <br /> <br /> <br />