2024-06-07_PERMIT FILE - M2024026 (22)

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Exhibit G Page 3 series present within the Permit Area. The soil map units within the Permit Area are classified as well drained to excessively drained with texture of sand to loamy sand and a hydric rating of zero(0). The U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service(USFWS)National Wetlands Inventory(NWI)digital wetland mapping National Wetland Inventory(NWI)digital mapping and National Hydrography Dataset(NHD)digital waterway mapping resources revealed one stream in the northeast corner of the Permit Area and two wetlands in the southeast section of the Permit Area(See Exhibit G-3,Figure 3). Upon field verification of this desktop data during the October 2023 surveys,OHWM indicators were absent and there was no indication of a water course in the vicinity of this NHD- mapped feature.Therefore,only one waterbody feature was observed and discussed below,subsequently leaving this feature out of any other surface and groundwater feature maps in this application. Notable findings of the surveys are described in the following sections: Surface Water Resources Based on field observations,no wetlands were identified within the Permit Area. NWI-mapped wetland locations were investigated and determined to lack one or more of the three criteria necessary to define a wetland.Although hydrophytic vegetation(saltgrass [Distichlis spicata])was present,hydric soil indicators were absent,and hydrologic indicators were marginal at best. In addition,the NWI-mapped wetland locations occur in uplands adjacent to a remnant unlined stock pond historically and artificially fed by a well pump powered by solar panels. The pumped water required to fill the cattle pond is no longer necessary as cattle operations have ceased in the Permit Area. One 0.38-acre manmade stock pond was delineated along an OHWM consisting of a defined bank situated above mud cracks.The stock pond contained no water at the time of the survey and contained one inlet structure from a solar-powered well pump and no outlet structures. Vegetation was mostly absent except for intermittent patches of saltgrass and kochia(Bassia scoparia)along and above the OHWM bench.One NHD-mapped stream located in the northeast section of the Study Area was further investigated.OHWM indicators were absent and there was no indication of a watercourse in the vicinity of the NHD-mapped feature.None of the features were observed to have downstream connectivity to jurisdictional waters. A request for an Approved Jurisdictional Determination(AJD)decision was submitted to the USACE on February 8,2024,and granted by the USACE on March 11,2024. The USACE confirmed that the observed surface water feature is not a jurisdictional water of the U.S.under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act(CWA). Copies of the AJD request and the USACE AJD letter are included as Exhibit G-1 and G-2. See the Kersey Mine Wetland and Waterbody Delineation Report(Exhibit G-3)for further detailed information,photographs,and figures. Groundwater Resources The Mine Site falls within the South Platte River Valley(USGS,2000). The primary uppermost aquifer in the Permit Area is the Laramie-Fox Hills aquifer. The sandstone of the uppermost groundwater-bearing unit,the Fox Hills Sandstone,is approximately 150 to 200 feet thick and is generally comprised of fine-to medium-grained sandstone and siltstone deposits interbedded with shale and claystone(Robson and Banta, 1987).Historic records collected along the South Platte River Valley from 1953 to 2012 from 1,669 groundwater wells indicate the depth to groundwater average per decade over the entire aquifer ranges in depths of between 24 and 32 ft-bgs over the 60- year record. The average depth to groundwater between 1953 and 1962 was approximately 32 ft-bgs followed by a rise in average groundwater depth between 2003 to 2012 to 30 ft-bgs following the curtailment of groundwater Colorado Sand Company II, LLC Kersey Mine Construction Material Regular(112)Operation Reclamation Permit Application June 7,2024