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• significant groundwater resources in and adjacent to the mine area <br />is that residents in the general area haul drinking water from <br />Craig or Meeker. b~~ Cam, S~i ~II~__u5e t°~ 0 <br />Ulk~' UKS~ ~P'3'i <br />Groundwater is not currently planned for industrial purposes such ~(~.~ <br />as watering haul roads or dust control in the loadout facilities. p~ ~ <br />Water for these purposes will be supplied by Wilson Reservoir ^-~ <br />located in Section 13, T4N, R93W. See Map 32 for the location of <br />the reservoir and pipeline for conveyance to the mine area. <br />Summary of Groundwater Conditions <br />The coal beds of the Williams Fork Formation that are to be mined <br />are at a high elevation and are truncated by the mining operation <br />to the north, Goodspring Creek to the east and Taylor Creek to the <br />west. As a result, the coals and upper sandstones are drained. <br />Perched aquifers exist in the coals and sandstones, but exhibit <br />little lateral or vertical continuity. Cascading waters from <br />perched zones were encountered during drilling of exploration holes <br />on the lease. No substantial quantities of water were encountered <br />through the mine section or in the sandstones below the coals that <br />are to be mined. <br />The Trout Creek Sandstone of the Iles Formation is the first major, <br />regional aqua er that can be recognized on the mine property. The <br />sandstone occurs approximately 800 feet beneath the lowest coals to <br />be surface mined. <br />The geologic characteristics of the Williams Fork and Iles <br />Formations appear to demonstrate natural low porosity and <br />permeability that is enhanced locally by fracturing. Since most of <br />the beds in the Williams Fork are not laterally extensive, and due <br />to the relatively low yielding characteristics, the Williams Fork <br />in this area can not be considered to be a significant aquifer. <br />The groundwater quality has been shown to be of poor quality and is <br />variable from site to site. A study conducted in 1974 and 1975 <br />revealed that the specific conductance of the groundwater averaged <br /> <br />2.04.7-26 <br />