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Experience within the study area has shown that, on occasion, the Pinnacle • coal bed(s) produce water at a rate of less than one gallon per minute at the top of or within the coal; but exploration drilling showed no water associated with the coal within the Meadows No. 1 permit area. This lack of water asso- ciated with the coal units is related to the limited recharge area within the mine area and the presence of impermeable overburden shale material overlying the coal units. The lower-most aquifer studied by Sun Coal Company that could be poten- tially affected by mining activities is the Tow Creek sandstone unit. The Tow Creek unit is a consolidated, fractured sandstone which, in this study area, does not yield water to local agricultural or domestic wells. Since the reclaimed mine areas at the Meadows No. 1 mine are not in a major • ground water recharge area, the infiltration in these materials is low; water probably does not get past the root zone where it is used and evapotranspired. In support of this hypothesis, two standard percolation tests were performed in both the undisturbed overburden and the existing reclaimed areas. A fifth test was conducted in overburden where the vegetation had been removed. The tests were also conducted to determine whether the reclaimed mine surface has adversely affected the recharge area by creating a more compact and less per- meable surface than the pre-mine surface: Since effective recharge capacity is a function of vegetation, material properties, depth-to-water table and runoff characteristics, these tests were conducted to determine and verify whether recharge from the mine area to ground water was possible. Table 2.04.7-2 is a tabulation of percolation test results and suggests infiltration and percolation processes are so low that the poten- • tial for significant ground water quality degradation is remote. The tests also - 88 - (Rev. 5/86)