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Mr. Carl B. Mount July 21, 2003 Page 3 of 10 systems both during and after the mining operation and during reclamation shall be minimized by measures, including, but not limited to: (a) compliance with applicable Colorado water laws and regulations governing injury to existing water rights; Ib) compliance with applicable federal and Colorado water quality laws and regulations, including statewide water quality standards and site-specific classifications and standards adopted by the Water Quality Control Commission; The Haldorson application does not reveal sufficient data, in scope, quality or extent, to conclude that the project's disturbance to the prevailing hydrologic balance and to the quantity and quality of surface and ground water systems has been designed to be, and is, minimized. Initially, the application fails to accurately and completely measure and define the prevailing hydrologic balance and pre-mining water quantity and quality of the affected and potentially affected area. Further, the application fails to accurately identify and quantify the probable impacts of the operation and reclamation on the prevailing hydrologic balance and water quantity and quality. My clients have generated substantial credible study and authority concluding that: ... the excavation of this gravel deposit to shale bedrock in a mile long, north/south strip will diminish or eliminate flows to [local] water rights, probably dry up [a nearby pond], and diminish recharge flows back to Mexican Gulch. In addition, it will cut off natural precipitation which would recharge these water rights, and would create a very large "gravel well", a groundwater sink in this section of [Spring Creek] Mesa. In our opinion, it is extremely unlikely that this gravel pit would be a dry operation 6-9 months of the year.' ' WestWater Associates, Inc., Preliminary Opinion -Groundwater Imparts of Haldorson Proposed Gravel Pit, lune 20, 2003, pp. 2-3.