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species commonly grown in the Yampa Basin would be expected to benefit from <br /> such shallow ground water. <br /> The principal vegetation type on the Fish Creek AVF within the permit area is a <br /> sagebrush meadow community dominated by silver sagebrush with a number of <br /> sedge and rush species contributing significantly to the community. All of these <br /> species are hydrophytes typically associated with subirrigated conditions. <br /> Rule 4.24.3(1) allows for interruption of farming on "undeveloped rangelands <br /> which are not significant to farming...". The Division received a letter from one <br /> of the surface owners, Mr. Edward Camilletti, on January 23, 1998, regarding the <br /> significance of the Fish Creek AVF to farming in sections 10 and 15, T5N, R86W. <br /> The Camellettis use these lands as undeveloped rangeland. The landowner <br /> estimated that 1% of the ranch production is attributed to the Fish Creek AVF. <br /> Twentymile Coal owns a significant portion of the lands in and adjacent to the Fish <br /> Creek AVF. Twentymile Coal Company operates a cattle operation on these lands <br /> and manages the land, through its ranch manager, Trout Creek Ranch, as <br /> undeveloped rangeland. TCC does not utilize the Fish Creek AVF as cropland. <br /> TCC projects that impacts to the Fish Creek AVF will not significantly impact the <br /> cattle operation. <br /> Technical Revision No. 14 (TR14) approved the undermining and subsidence of a <br /> small portion of Fish Creek due to longwall extraction in panels 5, 6 and 7 in the <br /> Southwest Mining District. No farming activities are currently undertaken along <br /> Fish Creek in this area. Subsidence did not preclude the farming of this area. <br /> The Fish Creek AVF was the only AVF approved to be undermined as a result of <br /> Permit Revision No. 6 (PR6). No stream pirating or loss of flow was experienced <br /> during the mining approved by PR6. <br /> 2. The proposed mining operations will not cause material damage to the quantity <br /> and quality of surface and ground water that supply the alluvial valley floor. <br /> The only significant degradation of the stream water from TC's mining operations <br /> has been caused by pumping of underground mine water into Fish Creek and <br /> Foidel Creek. Data in TC's annual hydrology reports document this degradation. <br /> Pumping occurs at two sites 115 (Fish Creek borehole) and 109 (portal area). The <br /> pumping loads the streams with dissolved solids, mainly sulfate. The operator has <br /> maintained stream water quality below the material damage threshold by limiting <br /> the pumping rates at both sites and treating the pumped water at one of the sites, <br /> 115. The operator will continue to limit pumping rates and treating water as in the <br /> past; therefore, mine pumping can be expected to not cause material damage to the <br /> quality of surface or alluvial water. <br /> Water in Fish Creek could see a slight increase in sediment load as subsidence <br /> creates slight changes to the stream channel gradient and minor erosion occurs at <br /> Foidel Creek Mine 39 August 4,2023 <br />