2025-08-28_HYDROLOGY - M1983194 (7)

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Natural Soda LLC 2024 Project Status Report & Annual Plan of Development 25 January 2025 5.1.2. Storage and Evaporation Ponds The NS evaporation pond is used for wastewater storage and has a secondary liner constructed to collect and direct any condensation or leakage to tubes for removal. The evaporation pond is divided into two sections, the “Process Water Pond (3 acre)” which contains water that can be recycled and the “Wastewater Pond (7 acre)” in which the water cannot be reused. Pond pumpage information is reported to BLM. In May NS replaced the pond pump with a larger 150 gpm pump. The pond liner pump malfunctioned in October 2024 and was repaired at the end of the same month. No other changes occurred to the evaporation pond in 2024, maintenance and monitoring continued throughout the year. 5.1.3. Potentiometric Surface Maps (Confidential) Using groundwater potentiometric elevations from NS groundwater monitoring wells and other NS wells, A-Groove and B-Groove Aquifer potentiometric surface maps have been plotted and have been included with this report in Appendix B (Confidential). 5.1.4. Stream Gauging Stations NS contracts with the USGS to monitor surface waters for water quality and quantity. Monitoring was performed upstream and downstream relative to the NS mining operations and with respect to Yellow Creek and Piceance Creek at four existing stations with extensive historical data. Historical stream gauging data is reported in this document and discharge data is complete through the 2024 water year (WY) (October 2023 – September 2024). The USGS surface water data are available to the public from the USGS web site at http://co.water.usgs.gov. Table 7 and Table 8 summarize key 2024 WY data for surface water near the NS site. Data reported in Table 7 and Table 8 is compiled from the USGS web site. The Specific Conductance and Temperature data included in the tables were generated by using USGS lab test results for each stream reported on the USGS web site during the 2024 WY. The USGS notes in the 2023- and 2024-year end water reports that the 6200 (Piceance Creek below Ryan Gulch) station has diversions for irrigation upstream of the monitor station. The 6222 (Piceance Creek at White River) station has diversions for irrigation of approximately 5,500 acres upstream from the monitor station. The 6255 (Yellow Creek near White River) station has diversions to irrigate approximately 300 acres upstream from the monitor station. The 6242 (Corral Gulch near Rangely) stream which historically has been a low flow stream is not reported as having any diversions upstream from the monitoring station. The 2024 WY discharge (cfs) data in this area indicated a decrease in average stream discharge for the 6242 Corral Gulch, 6255 Yellow Creek, 6200 and 6222 Piceance Creek stream stations compared to 2023 WY. 2023 WY was impacted by above average snowpack runoff in the relevant basins that contribute water to these streams. 2024 discharge was additionally below the average Period of Record (PR) historic levels and similar to the 2016 WY discharge. The 2024 WY discharge was generally higher than 2017 WY through 2022 WY (6 Years).