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~~ ~ ; r. DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY Dau~~nme~~.l nl ~`4vuml Resources ~TATF 131 3 Sherman 6t.. Room ? 15 Danner, Culuraoo 80?Ul Phone: 13031 055-) 56 i FTS: I3U11 87'_8106 June 27,2000 OF COLORADO FOR YOUR CORRESPONDENCE FILE hir. Dick Wolfe Office of the State Engineer 1313 Sherman Street, Room 818 Denver, CO 80203 RE :Henderson -Groundwater Investigation ~~ DIV 1510N o MINERAL' GEOLOG`. RECLA MATIOr MINING•SA FET` 611 Owens Governor Greg E. Walchc. Execwwe Dicec~or hvchael B Long; Dwnion D~reaor The Division of Minerals & Geology requests your assistance in evaluating possible impacts to a number of groundwater users in the Henderson area from nearby, active sand & gravel pits. As you may know, Henderson is located in Adams County and near the South Platte River. Recently, the Division of Minerals & Geology has recieved three (3) sepazate complaints From various well owners in the Henderson area. The complaints are quantitative in nature and concern significant drops in the ground water surface. It appears that at least two (2) of the wells'in question are registered with the Office oC the State Engineer (OSE) and may be within 600 feet of at least one or more active mining operation. This information was confirmed by a DMG staff member on June 23, 2000 during a site visit with Robert Stahl, Water Commissioner, District 2. The Henderson area contains a number of active alluvial pits, most of which aze dewatering and using dry mining methods. A few of the pits have already been filled with water but have not yet been released from reclamation responsibility. The Division of Minerals & Geology's (DMG's) interest in this matter is to determine the following: 1) Are the operations listed on the following page in compliance with all appropriate OSE requirements, ie: well permit, TSSP, augmentation plan, etc., 2) Are there any qualified wells, ie: properly completed [o the first aquitard, functional, & registered, within 600 Feet of any of the operations listed on the following page, 3) Are there any wells (complaintan[ or other) that qualify for protection of water rights under State statutes, 4) Has a properly qualified well experienced an adverse impact, and if so, is the impact directly attributed to the practices of a particular mining operation or combination mining operations, as opposed to having been adversely affected by drought conditions or some other factor, and 5) IF a properly qualified well has been adversely and directly affected by a mining operation or mining operations, is the impact attributed to one paticular operation or [o a cumulative impact of several or more operations that may be more than 600 feet away from the well. The Division requests your assistance in this matter and would like to meet with you a[ your earliest convenience to determine a strategy for properly evaluating this concern and responding to the complaintants. Sincerely, i H. Bruce Humphries Minerals Program Supervisor cc: Tom Schreiner & Carl Mount, DIviG Roben Stahl, DWR