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<br />' replaced in a Substitute Water Supply Plan, and eventually acourt-approved Plan for Atgmentation, <br />' which will be developed using other irrigation water rights historically used on the site, and owned <br />by WMI. Therefore, the analysis presented herein, looks only at impacts caused to the stream system <br />' by the removal of the alluvial storage since these impacts are not typically addressed in a Plan for <br />Augmentation. <br />5.2 Area of Aquifer Affected <br />1 <br />To determine the future change in aquifer storage, the area of the aquifer to be removed was <br />' planimetered. Base maps of the reclaimed site were used for this effort. One affect of the mining <br />operation will be a decrease in the amount of aquifer storage available as a result of the removal of <br />' a significant portion of the alluvium. However, the decline in alluvial aquifer storage will be offset <br />to some degree by the increase in aquifer storage brought about in azeas where unlisted ponds in <br />' connection with [he remaining alluvium will be created. On a per unit basis, the amount of alluvial <br />ground water storage in the unlined ponds will be much greater than the amount of alluvial ground <br />' water storage in the azeas where the aquifer will be removed. Therefore, if there is enough new <br />' alluvial storage in the unlined ponds, the impacts of the elimination of alluvial material will be <br />minimal. <br />' Table 4 presents a summary of the area of alluvium which has or will be removed, as well as the azea <br />' of unlined ponds created. As the table shows, as much as 478 acres of alluvium ma:/ be removed <br />from the amended permit area. Approximately 159 additional acres of alluvium haw: been or will <br />' be removed as part of the mining process in the existing permitted areas (Rockin' WP North and the <br />Miller Pit). Approximately 5.6 acres of new unlined storage ponds will be created by the atnended <br />' permit and about 98 acres of unlined storage ponds have been or will be created i:i the existing <br />permit azeas. In addition to these 5.6 acres is one additional unlined pond, but the water level in that <br />' pond will be controlled, and as a result, that pond was not included in the analysis. The approximate <br />extent of these areas is shown in Figute 1. <br />' 23 <br />' ' lLJinp-llrmal n.L~n/ido:c, lu.. <br />