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NOTICE OF INTENT TO EXPLORE INVOLVING REhIOVAL OF 250 TONS OR LESS OF COAL STOVE CANYON COAL EXPLORATION PLAN AREA PAGE? Topography The rugged terrain of the XPA consists primarily of the ridges that separate East Salt Creek and Big Salt Wash. Elevations vary from approximately 7120 feet in Section 34 to 5,480 feet where Stove Canyon exits the XPA, for a maximum relief of about 1,640 feet. Topography is shown on Figure 1, Index Map. These proposed exploration holes are accessible by 16 Road to County Highway 205, then to the improved road up Lapham Canyon. The improved road up Lapham Canyon traverses about 2 miles to the northwest and then turns to the southwest. The XPA boundary is approximately 5.3 miles from where the road up Lapham Canyon turns to the southwest. The XPA includes portions of the Munger Canyon, Stove Canyon and Buniger Canyon drainage areas. Surface Water The XPA lies north of the Grand Valley in the rugged terrain drained by East Salt Creek and Big Salt Wash and their deeply incised tributaries. These tributaries are intermittent by definition. The ephemeral channels flow generally southwest and southeast through the XPA to the Colorado River, a distance of about 20 miles. The ephemeral channels flow only in direct response to precipitation in the immediate watershed or in response to the melting of a cover of snow or ice. Ground Water The occurrence of ground water in the XPA is controlled mostly by the combination of the local topography, stratigraphy and geologic structure. Water bearing strata are developed in alluvial sediments along the local streams and in the bedrock. The bedrock aquifers are contained in sandstone strata and locally in the coal seams. The erratic location of these perched groundwater occurrences, low transmissivity and permeability, and the absence of development and exploitation diminishes the possibility of being used as a groundwater resource in the foreseeable future. The Book Cliffs Coal Field area is considered a desert and only a few springs exist within the coal bearing strata. Most of the mines in the Book Cliffs Goal field are dry because most of them have been developed above the local stream beds. The McClave Canyon mine encountered water because it is below the local stream bed. Soils Soil types in the proposed XPA are categorized by the Soil Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and consists of the Glendive series; Harve series; Nihill series; and Rivra variant. The Glendive series consists of deep, medium textured, well-drained soils. These soils formed in stratified alluvium. Annual precipitation is about 10 inches. The mean annual soil temperature ranges from 40° to 47° F, and the frost-free period is 105 to 135 days.