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Development Consultants, Inc. June 10, 1986 Mr. Mel Granberg Mininq Engineer Project Leader Office of Surface Mining Brooks Towers 1020 15th Street Denver, Colorado 60202 Dear Mr. Granberg, As 2 mentioned during our meeting of May 15, 1986, the biological assessment included herein pertains to the identifica- tion of potential streamflow depletions resulting from mining operations at Twentvmile Coal Company's Foidel Creek Mine. The operation is located in the Upper Colorado River Basin, 15 miles southwest of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. This assessment is in response to the U,S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Windy C,ap Process which requires identification of streamflow depletions to assess potential impact on threatened and endangered fishes which are now believed to be found only in the lower Colorado River • Basin. The USFWS Windy Gap Process is a procedure whereby projects within the Upper Colorado River Basin are assessed, on a one-time basis, $15 per acre-foot of identified streamflow depletion resulting from planned operations. Assessments accrue to a $25 million conservation fund to study and protect the habitat and requirements of these fish species. The basis for our assessment is the December 3, 1984 memorandum entitled "WTC Policy for Estimating streamflow Deple- tions Under U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Windy Gap Process". These guidelines were prepared by the Administrator of the Western Technical Center of OSM and are used as a basis to evaluate projected surface water depletion impacts on steamflow. The resulting assessment may then be utilized for a recommen- dation to: 1) generally include the operation or process in cumulative streamflow depletion assessments, (2) eliminate the operation or process from further consideration, or 3) evaluate the depletion on a case-by-case basis using the recommended criteria. This decision will then be forwarded to the USFWS for review and concurrence of the assessment opinion, and if neces- sary, begin the Section 7 Consultation Process for the assessment of funds relating to depletions. Sources of water to be utilized for mining operations will include an existing deep well completed in the Trout Creek Sandstone Aquifer and underground seepage to the mine from the Wadge Coal Seam, Wadge overburden and possibly the Trout Creek Sandstone. No alluvial pumpage or surface water diversions are . proposed for mine use. 7308 S. Alton Way • Suite K • Englewood, Colorado 80112 Revised 10/24/86 (3U 3) 850-0930