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<br /> <br /> <br />2-3 <br />DRAFT for review purposes only. Use of contents on this sheet is subject to the limitations specified at the end of this docu ment. <br />Section 2 <br />Background <br />Mining operations at the Red Creek Quarry (RCQ) property are planned to include quarry operations <br />starting in the northwest corner of the six-section site, a crushing plant at the northwest corner, and <br />a conveyance corridor to transport the material via the 7-mile corridor to the Portland Plant. This <br />Baseline Water Investigation focuses on the quarry site in Sections 24 and 25, T20S, R68W in <br />Fremont County and Section 19, 20, 29, and 30, T20S, R67W in Pueblo County. <br />2.1 Major Land Features that Influence Water Quality and Quantity <br />The RCQ lies within the Great Plains physiographic region of Colorado and consists of Cretaceous <br />Seaway Sedimentary rocks (Barkmann et al. 2021). The Cretaceous sedimentary rocks of the region <br />were deposited from an inland sea that divided the North American continent into two landmasses <br />approximately 100 million years ago. The shifting coastal sea shore line resulted in the varying <br />marine environment responsible for the deposition with shallow water deposition represented by the <br />sandstone units and deep water deposits represented by limestone and shales (Pinel 1977). <br />The topography at the Site is generally flat with some local relief along surface water drainages with <br />shale, limestone, and sandstone outcrops. The overall gradient slopes downward to the northeast <br />towards Red Creek and the Arkansas River. Within the Red Creek drainage, sequences of erosion <br />and deposition resulted in multiple alluvial stream terraces covered to varying degree in vegetation. <br />Within the Red Creek drainage are seeps and springs flowing from fractures within the rock outcrop <br />(Photos 2-1 and 2-2). Minimal water flow was observed in alluvial sediments above the seep location <br />indicating minor flow within Red Creek independent of the identified seeps. <br />The surface water flow disappears into the creek sediments (Photo 2-3) and Red Creek is dry at the <br />boundary of the Site. Drainages south and east of Red Creek show signs of intermittent to no surface <br />water flow (Photo 2-4). Upland areas on the site are grasslands with gentle slopes, few outcrops, and <br />sparse shrubs and trees compared to the Red Creek drainage.