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Karen & Ralf Topper // 9628 Fallen Rock Road Conifer CO 80433 (303) 838-5636 /7-/ ~/ ~ 9'-o3~f r/ September 17, 2003 RECEIVED SEP 18 2003 Megan Sullivan Office of the State Engineer 1313 Sherman Street, Room 818 Denver, CO 80203 RE: Aggregate Industries -WRC, Inc. Application Receipt No. 510199 Dear Ms. Sullivan: Qivisian of Minerals and 6eolo'y This correspondence is in reference to Aggregate Industries -WRC, Inc. (AI) application to construct a well (gravel pit) referred to as the Jeronimus Pit on the attachment to the permit application. Karen Topper is the owner of record of property (identified as pazcel I in the applicant's mining permit) duectly adjacent to the northeast boundary of the Jeronimus pit. This property consisting of slightly over 4 acres of land houses a residence, a storage barn, an outbuilding, and three water supply wells. The property has been in my family for over 40 years. One bedrock aquifer well (permit no. 2455), permitted for domestic water supply, and one alluvial aquifer well (permit no. 2456), permitted for lawn irrigation, are housed within the same vault structure and located approximately 30-feet east ofthe property boundary. Our field irrigation well, permit no. 32883, is an alluvial aquifer well that is located approximately 20-feet east ofthe property line that was adjudicated December 31, 1972. Aggregate Industries recent mining permit application (Permit No. M-99-034) and their subsequent correspondence to me indicates that the mining operations includes dewatering of the lake on the Jeronimus property to a maximum depth of 15 feet to extract the remaining aggregate resources. My concerns and comments regazding the applicant's well permit aze in reference to injury to decreed water rights. My decreed irrigation well is utilized to irrigate crops on the adjacent field. The findings of fact in the matter of the 112c permit amendment application of AI required a 200-feet setback to my property fence line. Given this setback, this well will be approximately 220-feet from the active mining area. If the lakes aze partially dewatered, this will lower the water table in the surrounding alluvial aquifer. A lowered water table reduces the efficiency of my well's production and increases my pumping costs. If water levels in the lakes aze reduced significantly, the resulting water level decline in the surrounding aquifer may be such that my wells would go dry when pumped. A decline ofthe natural water table produced by actions of the applicant would result in injury to my decreed water right in the irrigation well and the other exempt alluvial well.