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<br />;ne high lenticularity and interbedding in the Vermejo give the unit <br />very low vertical and horizontal permeabilities. Consequently, the <br />rate of groundwater movement through the Vermejo is extremely slow. <br />Permeabilities of..the formation are__thought to range from 10 ft/day <br />in the cleaner, better sorted sand lenses down to less than 10-3 ft%day <br />in the silt and clay strata. <br />The lenticular beds do create isolated pe~.rched water tables in the <br />areas of the Vermejo outcrop. Wells in the Vermejo, unless tapping <br />underground mine workings, generally have very small yields. <br />The Raton and Poison Canyon formations in the lease area both <br />contain sandstones which can yield very small amounts of water. <br />The Corley well in Section 24 penetrates the Raton to a depth of 300 feet <br />• and has a tested yield of 1 gpm. All mining in the the Vermejo will be <br />conducted 400-700 feet beneath the Raton and Poison Canyon formations. <br />Because of this, and the very low permeabilities of these units and <br />the intervening upper Vermejo Formation, mining of ttse Pine Gulch <br />and Red Arrow seams should not impact these aquifers.. <br />The Pleistocene alluvial terrace gravels which cap the mesas <br />on the lease tracts vary greatly in composition and permeability. <br />Generally they are capable of storing and transmitting moderate <br />cuantities of water and if located below the water table could be <br />significant aquifers. However, these terrace gravels on the lease <br />tracts all lie topographically high on the eastward dipping mesas. <br />Ephemeral streams which have created gullies in to the underlying <br />bedrock have caused these terrace deposits to be drained throughout <br />• nos[ of the lease area. Some isolated pearched water *_ables of <br />eery limited extent may seasonally exist in these deposits, but in <br />3-7 <br />